By Andrew Cohen
Current and prospective Berkeley Law students interested in the UCDC Law Program can learn more during a Zoom event with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at 12:15 pm PT on Tuesday, April 14. Please contact Director Nicole Lehtman at Nicole.Lehtman@ucdc.edu for more information.
Amid glaringly polarized times in the nation’s capital, the UCDC Law Program provides a rare unifier. Right down the line, current and past participants praise the semester-long program for providing a slew of benefits that are helping illuminate and advance their careers.
“At a time when questions about executive power, congressional gridlock, and the courts’ role in checking the other branches have become especially prominent, it was remarkable to see those issues play out up close,” says 3L Iman Eslami. “That experience deepened my understanding of our system of government, continued to shape the way I think in my classes, and expanded the way I view my own career by showing me how many different avenues there are to influence policy and institutional change.”
A collaborative externship program for students from Berkeley Law, UCLA Law, UC Davis Law, UC Irvine Law, and UC Law San Francisco, UCDC combines a full-time field work placement with a weekly seminar. This gives students an immersive opportunity to understand how federal statutes, regulations, and policies are made, interpreted, and applied in the nation’s capital.
Gaining direct exposure to all three branches of the federal government, independent regulatory agencies, and advocacy nonprofits, the students also learn from expert guest lecturers in the seminars. That roster includes experts with firsthand experience in Congress, executive branch agencies, the courts, and nonprofits.
Beyond their regular work, students attend Supreme Court arguments, build professional networks, work directly with attorneys, and attend networking programs, social events, and trivia nights — building valuable relationships along with a foothold in the UCDC alumni cohort. Program Director Nicole Lehtman regularly sees students develop “a real appreciation for public service and for what it means to be a public servant.”
They receive 13 credits for completing the program, which is housed at the University of California Washington Center — located just minutes from the White House and federal agencies. Lehtman gains great satisfaction watching students discover forms of lawyering they didn’t know existed.
“They come to D.C. with some idea of what government or public interest work looks like,” she says. “But then they sit in a seminar with a former White House counsel or solicitor general, or they work on projects that directly shape public policy, and their full understanding of what is possible in a legal career expands.”
Meaningful experience
Aiming to work in antitrust enforcement and consumer protection and learn from professionals in those areas, Eslami also wanted to experience life in a city where all three branches of government are in constant conversation with one another. He externed for Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — uniquely positioned at the center of many that raise nationally significant questions of public law, administrative law, and separation of powers.
“I had the chance to work on matters involving a Federal Trade Commission evidentiary hearing in a merger challenge, litigation over ICE policies affecting unaccompanied minors, and other cases that gave me a close-up view of how consequential administrative law and executive power questions are litigated and decided,” Eslami says. “One of the most rewarding parts of the program was the people. I built meaningful relationships with Judge Contreras, his clerks, and others at the courthouse, and I valued being in D.C. alongside other UC law students who were pursuing careers in government and policy.”
Eslami, who will join Jenner & Block in Chicago after graduating, also attended Supreme Court oral arguments in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump — which struck down sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump while ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not authorize presidents to unilaterally impose such tariffs. His judge’s court had issued the initial opinion.
Wanting to pursue environmental law, 3L Hannah Tadros externed for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) — and saw how UCDC students are quickly given substantive work.
“I attended client meetings and even wrote sections of a filed brief,” she says. “The willingness to include me and answer my many questions allowed me to learn so much, and my time at ENRD was one of the most educational and formative experiences of my time in law school. And since I didn’t have any connections to D.C. prior to the program, it was appealing to have more of a structured program beyond my externship.”
2L and current UCDC student Michael John is externing with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), a civil rights law firm founded by the United States Supreme Court’s first Black justice, Thurgood Marshall. Reporting to Antonio Ingram II ’14, John helped file a federal suit against the University of Alabama regarding its suspension of two student-led publications, alleging that it amounted to viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.
“Working at the LDF has been a masterclass in frontline advocacy,” says John, who has also aided plaintiff outreach for upcoming legal challenges and supported organizing and advocacy efforts aimed at protecting voting rights for Black communities. “I am grateful for the opportunity to do this work under the leadership of a Berkeley Law alum, contributing to consequential and impactful litigation in this space.”
Instant insights
The weekly seminar creates space for students to take a step back and process what they’re experiencing in real time. How does their organization approach legal problems? What are the institutional constraints? How do government and public interest lawyers balance competing priorities? How do attorneys in different branches or agencies work together?
“The guest lecturers in the seminar are truly exceptional,” Lehtman says. “Students consistently tell me they’re one of the highlights of the program. These individuals are at the top of their fields, and they are generous with their time and insights.”
Ashleigh Atasoy ’22 parlayed her UCDC stint into a trial attorney position with the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, and will join the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York April 20. She credits the program for fueling meaningful friendships and paving her path to become a federal prosecutor.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the UCDC Program,” Atasoy says. “I was lucky enough to join the Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program in 2024 with advice from the mentors I gained through the program, and last year, I attended a UCDC friend’s wedding in California. In short, the program was critical to my development as a lawyer and provided friends I’m still in touch with today.”
Long interested in international work, 3L and current program student Robert Roche pounced on the chance to interview for a position within the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser. Assigned to its Office of Economics and Business Affairs and Office of Management, he has worked on areas from sanctions and investment review to Freedom of Information Act litigation and private international law.
“Every week is pretty different, and the work is really interesting,” Roche says. “The most rewarding part for me has been working in an organization that is so involved with America’s foreign policy and activities overseas. The attorneys in the office I work in are brilliant. They all have such different portfolios and expertise, so you get to learn something new on a daily basis.”
Lehtman calls the program particularly valuable for students interested in government, regulatory work, public policy, or public interest law. But she adds that even students who plan to work in California or elsewhere, or enter private practice, find that understanding how federal agencies work, how policy gets made, and how government lawyers think offers a perspective they could not get anywhere else.
“The city and our government needs talented, mission-driven lawyers, and this program gives students a real taste of what building a career here could look like,” Lehtman says. “When they leave with not just experience but genuine excitement about the possibilities in D.C., that’s incredibly rewarding.”