By Gwyneth K. Shaw
Since it was established in 2018, the Christopher M. Patti Legal Fellowship — which memorializes an esteemed former chief campus counsel — has been given to one recent Berkeley Law graduate each year.
This year’s applicant pool was so stellar that two were chosen: Brandy Doyle ’22 and Haley Broughton ’23, who will work in both UC Legal’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and UC Berkeley’s Office of Legal Affairs over the course of the full-time, one-year appointment.
The fellowship, a partnership between the OGC and Berkeley Law, honors Patti, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while cycling in 2017. A constitutional law expert with a deep commitment to equity and diversity — particularly access to higher education for underrepresented groups and securing the rights of the LGBTQ+ community — he spent 27 years at the OGC and was UC Berkeley’s chief campus counsel in his final seven years.
“As a new attorney, I thought the fellowship would be a great opportunity to be exposed to many areas of law I might not otherwise encounter early in my career,” Doyle says. “If anything, the work has been even more diverse and interesting than I expected.”
Similarly drawn to the chance to hone her legal skills and to explore a vast array of practice areas, Broughton is equally enthused by her tenure so far.
“The attorneys I have worked with really take care in supporting and mentoring me. I appreciate the breadth of projects I am assigned,” she says. “So far, I’ve written legal advisories, memorandums, and case summaries and analyses. Observing litigations and mediations has also been illuminating.”
Serving the public interest
The fellowship is aimed at Berkeley Law alumni who’ve graduated within the past three years and are interested in public service. The Oakland-based OGC is stocked with more than 100 attorneys who cover a wide swath of issues in offering legal services to the UC’s 10 campuses and five medical centers.
“Chris was deeply committed to public service work and to issues of equity and diversity, and the fellowship was established to help develop the next generation of attorneys into the kind of exceptional counselor and lawyer that he exemplified,” says Kelly Drumm, UC Legal’s deputy general counsel for legal policy and operations. “We are very happy to be welcoming both Haley and Brandy as the newest Christopher M. Patti Legal Fellows this fall.”
Fellows are exposed to the broad spectrum of issues facing public and nonprofit entities, including affirmative action, constitutional law, contracts, employment, free speech, governance, intellectual property, international research affiliations, public-private partnerships, public and private research collaborations, real estate developments, sexual violence and sexual harassment, student, faculty, and staff affairs, and the UC system’s unique status as a constitutionally protected public corporation. Ideally, their work is 90% client service and 10% leadership, including supporting the OGC’s commitment to diversity efforts.
“Not only does the Office of General Counsel deal with every area of law you can imagine, but the attorneys are engaged in such a wide variety of activities every day, from litigation to contracts to policy development,” Doyle says. “The fellows get a bird’s-eye view of the issues facing the university, which are changing every day.
“I’ve already worked on pressing matters like free speech and gender recognition policies, and I’ve had the chance to identify areas of my own interest to dig in on.”
A progressive organizer before law school, Doyle continued to work in public sector lanes in law school, doing internships and field placements with organizations including the ACLU of Northern California and the California Attorney General’s Office. She was executive editor of Ecology Law Quarterly, a board member of Election Law @ Berkeley Law, co-president of Older Wiser Law Students, and worked on the California Asylum Representation Clinic — one of the school’s 40 Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects.
Broughton has an equally impressive resume. As a student, she was a research assistant for Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and a podcast editor for the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. She also worked in the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic and did an internship at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Robust mentoring
Like Doyle, she’s finding her time digging into the legal issues of the UC galaxy inspiring and stimulating.
“I attended Berkeley Law in hopes of pursuing a career in public interest and complex litigation,” Broughton says. “The Chris Patti Fellowship has been, and will continue to be, an amazing first step towards my career goals. It is an honor to have been selected for this fellowship.”
A big highlight, both women say, is the deep stable of thoughtful, committed lawyers whose passion is matched by their expertise across a range of fields. It’s a pillar of the fellowship, named for a man who took mentoring seriously and made an impact on scores of public sector attorneys.
“I know I’ll be a better lawyer because of my time here, regardless of the path my career takes,” Doyle says.