CNECT News

Pro Bono Students help with Zepeda-Rivas v. Jennings

Berkeley Law students stepped up in a moment of crisis to push for the release of detained community members who face grave risk of harm from COVID-19. With the students’ support in providing foundational information for bail applications, the class action lawsuit in Zepeda Rivas has lead to the release of over 100 ICE detainees, and a reduction in population to below 50% capacity.(07/2020)

Student Sleuths: Scamhunter Project Digs for Coronavirus-Related Fraud 

Image of lock on top of credit cards on top of laptop keyboard
As students sniff out fraud, they hope to expand the program to other law schools this summer and fall.

Where there’s money, scams are sure to follow—and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception. From price-gouging on essentials to outright theft, students in Berkeley Law’s Consumer Advocacy and Protection Society (CAPS) have been uncovering fraud and swindles all over the country, and fighting back.(05/2020)

The Race to Get Migrants Out of Detention Before Covid Strikes 

Even before the novel coronavirus struck, an urgent race was on to get migrants out of America’s overcrowded detention centers, where they were already at risk of abuse, malnutrition, a lack of medical resources, and insufficient access to legal services. Now, with the highly contagious COVID-19 pandemic seeping into every fold of American society: “They’re sitting ducks,” says Mattie Armstrong, a second-year Berkeley Law student helping lead Cal’s pro-bono contribution to a project that files bond and parole requests for detained migrants.(05/2020)

Berkeley Law hosts DACA Clinic 

On Friday, October 25, Berkeley Law’s pro bono program, in partnership with Centro Legal de la Raza and Morrison & Foerster, hosted a clinic that paired law students and attorneys with DACA recipients to assist with renewal application paperwork.(11/2019)

DACA-Driven: Berkeley Law Provides Wide-Ranging Support for Dreamers 

From Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and clinic directors to pro bono program leaders and students, the Berkeley Law community has worked in various ways to protect DACA and its recipients.(11/2019)

Students Travel to Tijuana to Provide Legal Help for Migrants Seeking Asylum 

For most law students, winter break offers a welcome chance to relax. But for 10 Berkeley Law students, it meant a trip to Mexico to provide pro bono help to members of the migrant caravan seeking asylum in the United States. Supervised by a legal services nonprofit, Deborah Choi ’20, Monica Ramsy ’19, Isaac Flegel-Mishlove ’21, Lee Ann Felder-Heim ’21, Sophie Allaert LL.M. ’19, and Oscar Sarabia Roman ’21 worked in Tijuana from December 18-23. Kiki Tapiero ’20, Amanda Miller ’20, Ying Jiang LL.M. ’19, and Maddie Boyd ’19 followed from December 28-January 4.(01/2019)