By Andrew Cohen
Berkeley Law Professor Holly Doremus ’91 doesn’t mince words about the school’s turbulent state before Erwin Chemerinsky became dean in 2017 — and the transformation he has fueled during his tenure.
“Prior to his appointment, we had four deans or acting deans in four years. That made it hard to do more than tread water,” Doremus says. “One of the most important things Erwin has brought is stability. The school has become more cohesive and collaborative, and we have clear momentum in a common mission to be the best public law school in the country.”
On April 13, UC Berkeley extended Chemerinsky’s tenure as dean by two years, through June 30, 2029. He had planned to finish in June 2027 following his second five-year term.
“I will do all I can to advance us even further in our excellence, our public mission, and our warm and vibrant community,” Chemerinsky says, adding that the extended time provides a welcome chance “to think big about what we can do to position Berkeley Law to truly make a difference in legal education, the legal system, and society.
“Berkeley Law can and must lead in a way that other schools can’t or won’t.”
The most cited constitutional law scholar in recent years and twice named the most influential person in legal education by National Jurist, Chemerinsky served as the founding dean at UC Irvine School of Law before coming to Berkeley and previously was a law professor at Duke, Southern California, and DePaul. He has written 22 books — including leading casebooks in multiple subjects — over 200 law review articles, and countless op-eds, and explains topical legal issues in the popular web series “It’s the Law.”
Chemerinsky has also argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, served as the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) president in 2022, and is a leading voice in urging law schools and lawyers to protect democracy and America’s constitutional guardrails.
Further strengthening Berkeley Law’s robust role in defending the rule of law is one of his three main priorities during his final stretch as dean, along with thinking ambitiously about its future and placing the school on strong long-term financial footing.
Under his watch, the school has greatly expanded its Clinical Program; research centers, institutes, and initiatives; Ph.D.-granting Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP) Program, Pro Bono Program (more than 90% of Berkeley Law students participate in pro bono work before graduating), and several other programs. The 1L J.D. class has the highest grade point average and is tied for the highest LSAT score since the school began tracking such figures, and the school’s job placement and bar passage figures have also soared.
In talking with faculty and alumni, John Kuo ’88 saw that “Erwin’s leadership and voice are vitally important in today’s world where our democratic institutions are under assault and the rule of law is being disregarded. Erwin and the law school faculty are actively pushing back against these abuses and winning.”
A former Berkeley Law Alumni Association president with vast experience as an executive in Fortune 1000 life sciences companies, Kuo believes Chemerinsky will continue in this vein after stepping down as dean — but that “his voice and actions are amplified and made more effective with the podium of being dean of a major law school.”
Widespread support
Current Alumni Association President and Quinn Emanuel partner Yury Kapgan ’01 joined Kuo, Professor Katerina Linos, and Assistant Dean for Development Veronica Alexander in co-writing a letter to Chemerisky urging him to extend his term. Kapgan credits him for attracting exceptional students and faculty, bolstering and adding vital programs, and creating a welcoming culture while navigating higher education’s complex landscape.
“Erwin has a truly unique combination of intellectual brilliance, integrity, humility, and personal warmth, paired with widespread respect among his colleagues as well as Berkeley Law’s students and alumni,” he says. “What impresses me most as alumni association president is how he channels all of those qualities into genuine and deeply personal institutional leadership. That kind of leadership, grounded in both rigor and character, is rare.”
Highlighting the rising challenges to the rule of law, Kapgan says Berkeley Law must remain a leader in the public discourse on how to uphold democracy’s foundational principles — a conviction that spurred him to join in asking Chemerinsky to extend his term.
“He is uniquely positioned to lead Berkeley Law through this period, not only because of the trust and credibility he has built across the legal community, but because the work he has set in motion needs sustained attention to reach its full potential.” Kapgan says. “Erwin is the one person who I believe can lead Berkeley Law in this moment. Continuity of his leadership right now is critical.”
Doremus and Linos praise not only Chemerinsky’s ability to consistently fortify the faculty despite competing against other top law schools — Berkeley Law has hired 21 professors over the past four years — but also his unwavering support of their research. The school’s faculty members are consistently tapped for national appointments and selected for prestigious honors.
“We’ve made simply terrific hires since Erwin came,” Linos says. “On the junior level we were always strong, but we have gone a step even higher. But it’s on the lateral front where Erwin’s talent really shines. We had areas of law where we’d long tried to hire top people, like tax law, and suddenly we’ve recruited top people who had many competing offers.”
Pointing to Berkeley Law’s JSP Program as a prime example, Linos describes the pioneering program as “revitalized” in part by Chemerinsky’s efforts and his appeal to faculty colleagues.
“The idea that someone can be at all places at once — on the front page of the New York Times, welcoming every guest to the law school, litigating before California courts, replying to every message substantively — and be incredibly wise and generous is simply amazing,” Linos says. “I learn so much simply by being in his orbit.”
Toni Mendicino, administrator of the school’s Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law, has worked at Berkeley Law for 30 years and also encouraged Chemerinsky to consider extending his term. Having witnessed daily operations under eight deans, she says he demonstrates a rare combination of visionary governance and profound administrative care with a morale-boosting emphasis on accessibility and transparency.
“I’ve seen a lot, and Erwin is the best of the best in his acumen, fortitude, and constant responsiveness to staff,” Mendicino says. “His inspirational leadership, tireless advocacy, and brilliant scholarship have not only transformed Berkeley Law into the nation’s best public law school, but also advanced the university’s fundamental ideals of public service, intellectual rigor, and democratic engagement to the highest level on a global scale.”
Progress through partnerships
While a renowned figure in legal education, Chemerinsky — true to form — will continue his collaborative approach to his final three-plus years as dean. Wanting Berkeley Law to “play a crucial role at this unprecedented moment in the history of our democracy,” he points to the school’s faculty, students, centers, and clinics as integral partners in upholding the school’s excellence, protecting the rule of law, and “thinking big.”
Chemerinsky says he will meet with all sectors of the school community and ask every unit “to carefully consider what we can do better and how we can accomplish it.”
2L Dexter Lim, co-president of the Student Association at Berkeley Law, points to “the institutional knowledge Dean Chemerinsky will bring to the next three years.” Lim says the final stretch of his deanship will be of “unprecedented importance that Berkeley Law ensures not only that students are educationally and financially prepared to enter practice, but that our diverse community members are protected as they learn to make a difference through novel legal service, research, and the continuous exercise of campus speech.”
Chemerinsky calls solidifying the school’s financial foundation amid myriad external challenges a huge priority. Those challenges include California steadily reducing its spending on higher education (only 6% of Berkeley Law’s revenue came from state funds this year), sustaining enrollment and revenue from the LL.M. Program despite growing visa hurdles and global volatility, and the federal government recently capping loan amounts for professional school students.
While Berkeley Law has set annual fundraising records recently, many gifts are designated for specific purposes rather than given to the Berkeley Law Fund, which provides key unrestricted support to immediately address the school’s most urgent needs. Financial aid expenditures have more than doubled under Chemerinsky, from $15.1 million the year before he arrived to $30.9 million last school year, and he calls providing access to talented candidates from all economic backgrounds “fundamental to our public mission.”
Kuo urges fellow alumni to help build structures that will help ensure long-term financial stability so Berkeley Law can continue fulfilling that mission, attract the brightest minds and scholars, and offer access to new generations of aspiring lawyers.
Doremus, incoming vice chair of UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate, sees this as an uncertain time for higher education, legal education, and the university. With questions surrounding funding for both law schools and law students, AI’s impact on job security, and the rule of law’s stability, she says Chemerinsky is ideally positioned to lead the school through such challenges.
“Erwin is a nationally prominent voice, in the media and in court, defending the rule of law,” Doremus says. “He is uniquely capable of pulling law school leaders together to maximize the strength of our voices in the political process. And he’s able to make our case to alums and others, keeping our fundraising strong in times of deep uncertainty.”
For Chemerinsky, the importance of the rule of law — and Berkeley Law’s role in protecting it while training the next generation of lawyers to do the same — made extending his term an easy decision.
“Our public mission was crucial to my wanting to be dean here,” he says. “It is about a commitment to use the law to make our community, our society, and our world better. Especially at this moment, the work of Berkeley Law’s faculty, students, staff, and alumni are tremendously important.”