William Fernholz

William H.D. Fernholz, who goes by “Bill,” has taught at Berkeley Law for twenty years. He has devoted his professional career to three missions.

First, Bill has taught Fundamentals of U.S. Law, the introductory substantive law course for LL.M. students, for over a decade. In that time, he has been the first teacher for more than 1,000 LL.M. students, and introduced those talented international lawyers to the successes and failures of the American system of governance and the common-law method of case analysis.

Second, Bill has educated a generation of domestic J.D. students in the skills of legal writing and oral advocacy, primarily through the upper-level course, Appellate Advocacy. Students in that course brief and argue cases currently pending in the California Supreme Court, using materials from the actual record of the case and adhering as closely to rules of that court as the classroom will allow. Bill also supervised the competitions program at Berkeley Law until 2018.

Third, Bill teaches lawyering for social justice. He co-directs the Ninth Circuit Practicum, in which J.D. students represent indigent clients in asylum and civil rights cases before the largest federal appellate circuit in the nation. He has previously taught social justice courses, such as Employment Discrimination and Civil Rights Litigation.

Before teaching at Berkeley Law, Bill practiced civil rights and poverty law at several Bay Area law firms and nonprofits. Bill is a 1993 graduate of Berkeley Law, where he served as Senior Executive Editor of the law review.

Education

B.A., Carleton College (1989)
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (1993)

William H D Fernholz is teaching the following courses in Fall 2024:

• 208.9 sec. 001 - Fundamentals of U.S. Law
• 243 sec. 001 - Appellate Advocacy
• 243.7 sec. 001 - 9th Circuit Practicum Seminar
• 243.7A sec. 001 - 9th Circuit Practicum

Courses During Other Semesters

Semester	Course Num	Course Title	Teaching Evaluations
Summer 2025	208.9S sec. 001	Fundamentals of U.S. Law
Spring 2025	243.71 sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum Seminar
	243.7B sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum
Summer 2024	208.9S sec. 001	Fundamentals of U.S. Law	View Teaching Evaluation
Spring 2024	243.71 sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum Seminar	View Teaching Evaluation
	243.7B sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum	View Teaching Evaluation
Fall 2023	208.9 sec. 001	Fundamentals of U.S. Law	View Teaching Evaluation
	243 sec. 001	Appellate Advocacy	View Teaching Evaluation
	243.7 sec. 001	9th Circuit Practicum Seminar	View Teaching Evaluation
	243.7A sec. 001	9th Circuit Practicum	View Teaching Evaluation
Summer 2023	208.9S sec. 001	Fundamentals of U.S. Law	View Teaching Evaluation
Spring 2023	243.71 sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum Seminar	View Teaching Evaluation
	243.7B sec. 001	Advanced 9th Circuit Practicum	View Teaching Evaluation