Berkeley Law supports many opportunities for student engagement during and beyond their time here. While organizations may be added or changed according to student interest, the currently active student groups are listed below.
Student organization membership is open to all Berkeley Law students.
Student Association at Berkeley Law (SABL)
The Student Association at Berkeley Law (SABL), the law school’s student government organization, is composed of all registered law students. SABL organizes activities of general law school interest and helps new students adjust to life at Berkeley Law by sponsoring social, athletic, and law-related events. The SABL council represents student interests in curriculum planning, admissions policy, faculty hiring, administration of the library, professional placement, and many other areas; the council also appoints student representatives to faculty-student committees. In addition, SABL allocates funds to each of the student groups at Berkeley Law. You can contact the SABL at:
Student Association at Berkeley Law (SABL)
Email: sabl@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/students/student-association-berkeley-law/
In addition to the below registered student organizations, Berkeley Law also has robust opportunities with:
2023-2024 Registered Student Organizations
Email: animallawsociety@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/animal-law-and-advocacy/
Mission: The Animal Law and Advocacy Project (ALA) assists supervising attorneys at Animal Outlook in advocating for a more compassionate food system. Animal Outlook’s Legal Advocacy Program has been working since 2004 to use the legal system as a powerful tool to fight the systemic injustices of factory farming. They focus on creatively using existing laws and litigation to target large-scale animal cruelty on factory farms and to protect compassionate consumers from manipulation and unfair business practices by the animal agriculture industry. Farmed animals are given almost no protection under the law, at both the state and federal levels, which makes the task all that more challenging — and important. A compassionate food system means compassion and justice for all. The ALA’s projects also intersect with other social justice issues, especially those pertaining to climate change, public health, food justice, and worker’s rights.
Email: aldfberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/animallegaldefense
Mission: To protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.
Email: artlawsociety@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Organization exists to inspire creativity among law students, foster community between students and art law professionals, and to encourage participation in and access to the arts at Berkeley Law.
Email: airprobono@berkeley.edu
Mission: AIR’s mission is to connect the worlds of law and art by supporting artists locally and around the world. By informing artists about their legal rights and safeguarding legal protections for artistic speech, students can help to empower the artistic community, who is often found at the helm of social change.
Email: aalj@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/aalj/
Mission: The Asian American Law Journal (AALJ) is one of only two law journals in the United States focusing on Asian American communities in its publication agenda. Known as the Asian Law Journal until 2007, AALJ was first published in October 1993 in a joint publication with the California Law Review. AALJ’s first independent issue was published in May 1994. AALJ serves dual purposes for the Asian Pacific American and legal communities. First, the journal sets a scholarly foundation for exploring the unique legal concerns of Asian Pacific Americans. Second, AALJ seeks to put that scholarship in action and open the dialogue between those who study law and those who are affected by it. In pursuit of these goals, AALJ strives to provide a forum for the many voices and opinions of the Asian Pacific American community through events such as its annual Spring Symposium and Neil Gotanda Lecture in Asian American Jurisprudence.
Email: berkeleyapalsa@gmail.com
Website: https://www.berkeleyapalsa.com/
Mission: Berkeley’s Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (APALSA), established in the 1970s, is a political, community service, academic, professional and social law student organization. APALSA is dedicated to serving and empowering the Asian and Pacific Islander American (AAPI) community at Berkeley Law and the Bay Area community at large. On the whole, APALSA’s goal is to promote a greater awareness of the diverse culture, rich history, and current struggle of Asian Pacific Americans. APALSA serves to create a safe space for AAPI students to explore their identities, build community, and honor their cultures. APALSA also works very closely with other affinity groups and student organizations in coordinating various educational and social events.
Email: bblj@berkeley.edu
Website: http://businesslawjournal.org/
Mission: The Berkeley Business Law Journal (the “Journal”) is a scholarly legal publication, which is published twice a year. The Journal publishes timely articles on topics around business law. The Journal’s primary agenda is to publish quality articles by established authors. The Berkeley Business Law Journal is a community of students who are committed to corporate social responsibility through publication of an online journal, a blog, and campus events.
Email: bercatberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: The purpose of BERC Law is to connect, educate, and engage law students with an interest in energy and resources law. It does this by (1) connecting students at Berkeley Law to energy-related education, opportunities, and resources at UC Berkeley, particularly through the campus-wide Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) and (2) compiling special information, guidance and peer support to empower students to pursue their education and career goals in energy and resources law.
Email: berkeleyimmigrationgroup@berkeley.edu
Website: http://berkeleyimmigrationgroup.org/
Mission: Berkeley Immigration Group’s (BIG) mission is to support the legal rights of immigrants through pro bono legal services, advocacy, and partnerships with organizations working to dismantle the carceral immigration system.
Email: bjalp@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/bjalp/
Mission: The Journal seeks to publish social policy and legal scholarship addressing economic, political, philosophic, and sociological issues affecting Black people. As we see it, the challenge facing the Journal is threefold: First, the Journal aims to disrupt the centering of whiteness in legal academia. We hope our journal will ultimately serve Black communities by infusing intellectual discourse with provocative and innovative scholarship, thus deepening thinking about policy options and choices. Second, the Journal will give rise to the voices of emerging scholars, organizers, and advocates. The Journal will bring these folks into conversation with community members, professors, judges, policy-makers, and practitioners. Finally, we see the Journal as a training ground where students can sharpen their editing and writing skills, and gain experience in critical thinking by wrestling with ideas revolving around Black liberation, equality and justice.
Email: bjcl@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.bjcl.org/
Mission: The Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law is one of the nation’s preeminent forums for discussing regional, national, and international criminal law issues. Since its inception in 2000, the journal has published cutting-edge scholarship by professors, judges, research fellows, clerks, and law students from across the country.
Email: bjell@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/bjell/
Mission: BJELL’s mission is to provide a forum for academics and practitioners to discuss emerging developments in the field. In addition, BJELL is committed to helping students connect with attorneys working in the employment and labor fields.
Email: bjesl@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/bjesl/
Mission: The Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law (BJESL) is dedicated to providing a wide selection of intellectual and practical discussions from scholars, practitioners, and students on legal issues that contemporaneously impact the sports and entertainment industries, both domestically and internationally. As an interactive and electronic law review, BJESL presents a unique platform for rich discourse on legal topics regarding copyright, trademark, art, sports, film and television, communications and broadcast media, First Amendment, right to privacy, music, antitrust and unfair competition, and contracts, among others.
Email: bglj@berkeley.edu
Website: http://genderlawjustice.org/
Mission: Our mandate is to publish feminist legal scholarship that critically examines the intersection of gender with one or more axes of subordination, including, but not limited to, race, class, sexual orientation, and disability.
Email: bjil@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.berkeleyjournalofinternationallaw.com
Mission: The Berkeley Journal of International Law (BJIL, or the Journal), is a student-run international law journal at the University of California Berkeley’s School of Law (also known as Berkeley Law, or Boalt Hall). b. Mission: As one of the leading international law journals in the United States, the Berkeley Journal of International Law infuses international legal scholarship and practice with new ideas to address today’s most complex legal challenges. BJIL is committed to publishing high-impact pieces from established and newer scholars likely to advance scholarly and policy debates in international and comparative law. As the center of U.C. Berkeley’s international law community, BJIL hosts professional and social events with students, academics, and practitioners on pressing international legal issues. The Journal also seeks to sustain and strengthen U.C. Berkeley’s international law program and to cultivate critical learning and legal expertise amongst its members.
Email: bljlp@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/bljlp/index.php
Mission: The Latine Journal of Law and Policy is the longest-running Latine law journal in the country. Managed and edited by students, the Journal provides a previously unavailable forum to analyze legal issues affecting the Latine community. The Journal seeks to maintain an open forum for the analysis of legal issues affecting the Latine community; publish and elevate works written by Latine students, scholars, and practitioners; serve as a legal research resource; and influence public discourse on Latine issues.
Email: blast@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: Berkeley Law Alternative Service Trips (BLAST) is one way students at Berkeley Law can engage in pro bono legal services. BLAST allows students to take a short, but deep dive serving clients over school breaks outside of the Bay Area. Students work alongside established grassroots legal services agencies, gaining insight into the ways these organizations adapt their work to the unique challenges and needs of their respective communities. BLAST is a service-learning experience that helps equip students with the tools to understand the complex needs of communities similar to and different from their own, helping foster an active generation of thoughtful community lawyers. In years past, BLAST has traveled to rural Kentucky, the Central Valley of California, Mississippi, South Texas, Tijuana, and Los Angeles. BLAST, like SLPS, is student-initiated and operates in conjunction with the Berkeley Law Pro Bono Program.
Email: batpro@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/berkeley-law-anti-trafficking-project/
Mission: The Berkeley Anti-Trafficking Project offers Berkeley Law students the opportunity to provide legal services to survivors of human trafficking, support local legal organizations fighting against human trafficking, and raise awareness about human trafficking in the Bay Area through community outreach.
Email: berkeleyfederalistsociety@gmail.com
Website: https://www.berkeleyfederalistsociety.org/
Mission: The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities.
Email: berkeleylawqc@gmail.com
Mission: Since its founding in 1978, Queer Caucus has worked to eradicate the legal, political, and social oppression of LGBTQ people, and to provide an affirming, supportive base for students of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. This mission is complemented by our commitment to intersectional work and coalition building with a broad spectrum of other student organizations and journals on campus.
Email: btlj@berkeley.edu
Website: btlj.org
Mission: The Berkeley Technology Law Journal is a student-run publication of Berkeley Law. The Journal should primarily strive to keep judges, policymakers, practitioners, and the academic community abreast of the dynamic field of intellectual property and technology law. The Journal should also secondarily serve as a common thread for individuals in the Berkeley Law community with a similar interest in intellectual property and technology law, and as a resource for the Berkeley Law community generally.
Email: boardofadvocates@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/professional-skills-program/advocacy-competitions-program/
Mission:
The Board of Advocate’s general membership includes over 90 students who participate in both regional and national competitions in four main areas: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Trial Advocacy, Appellate Advocacy, and Technology & Intellectual Property. Competition for a place on these teams is fierce during the Board’s yearly try-out process, with multiple students vying for each spot. Teams receive coaching from professors, Executive Board Members, alumni, and fellow students.
The Board also places a strong emphasis on training fellow students and future members through internal competitions, offering scholarship money and the opportunity to be heard by federal judges in mock arguments. The Board of Advocates provides further opportunities for students to hone their advocacy skills, hosting multiple skills workshops throughout the year.
The Board recognizes the importance of diversity in the legal profession. The Board acknowledges the systemic exclusion of marginalized groups, especially people of color, from legal advocacy spaces and from the legal community at large. Each of the Board‘s branches will maintain inclusive policies for recruitment and admission that increase diversity within the teams and the broader legal advocacy community. All Board members commit to valuing diverse perspectives, experiences, and opinions in all areas of their work. The Board and its branches commit to leveraging their power to dismantle systems of oppression in all forms and make legal advocacy inclusive for everyone.
Email: carc@berkeley.edu
Mission: The California Asylum Representation Clinic’s (CARC) primary mission is to help guide and represent asylum seekers. CARC aims to create a community of law students passionate about working with asylum seekers as they assist clients throughout their asylum cases. CARC also provides resources about events, jobs and internships, and advocacy related to asylee and immigrant rights, as well as opportunities for participants to connect with others committed to similar social justice issues and/or career paths.
Email: berkeleylawcanadians@gmail.com
Mission: To provide a welcoming community for all Canadians at Berkeley Law.
Email: catholicsatberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: We are a community of Berkeley Law folks dedicated to living out the Catholic faith. CABL is a sibling to Berkeley’s main Catholic graduate student group, Newman Grads. Our community is under the patronage of St. Óscar Romero, champion of justice and martyr for the faith. St. Óscar Romero, pray for us!
Email: chinalawassociation@gmail.com
Mission: CLAB seeks to provide a platform for all students and scholars interested in Chinese law and culture. Through developing social activities, CLAB seeks to enrich the academic experience of its members, building relationships between CLAB members through facilitating conversation and dialogue. CLAB also seeks to support the development of its members through hosting professional and academic events, laying the foundation for its members to develop their professional and academic experiences and capacities.
Email: christiansatberkeley@gmail.com
Mission: We provide weekly Bibles studies and a community within the law school for those seeking spiritual support. We offer a time for those who self-identify as Christians, and those interested in learning more about the Christian faith, to encourage one another through the ups and downs of law school. We also provide networking opportunities to connect people to churches, other bible studies, and other faith groups at Berkeley. We also hold occasional social activities, including dinners and networking events with other graduate student groups.
Email: cleanenergyleadersinlaw@berkeley.edu
Mission: Clean Energy Leaders in Law (CELL) seeks to accelerate an equitable transition to renewable energy. Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color disproportionately experience the burdens of climate change and often lack access to renewable energy alternatives, such as residential solar. Through CELL, students can support non-profits aiming to address these inequities and improve access to community-owned renewable energy projects.
Email: coalitionfordiversity@gmail.com
Mission: Coalition for Diversity at Berkeley Law (CFD) was founded in 2001 to promote diversity at Berkeley Law through strategies to increase the enrollment of students of color; queer, trans, and gender-non-conforming students; first-generation and working-class students; and other under-represented law students. Over the years, CFD has hosted a number of pipeline programs for prospective and admitted law students, including the For People of Color Conference for prospective law students and a variety of programs during Admitted Students Weekend. Additionally, CFD acts as an umbrella organization for the various affinity groups on campus, and CFD’s range of perspectives has assisted underrepresented law students in finding community during law school.
Email: cmtl@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: The Coalition of Minorities in Technology Law (CMTL) is a student organization established within UC Berkeley School of Law with the purpose of providing community, mentorship, career resources, and advocacy on behalf of students who are interested in technology law and who come from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the technology, legal, and technology law fields.
Email: trw@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: First, the organization provides valuable services to the East Bay community by targeting low-income residents in need of legal information and/or services. Second, CLO provides a needed educational outlet for first-year law students at Berkeley Law.
Email: caps@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://consumer.berkeley.edu/
Mission: CAPS is dedicated to fostering research, discussion, and advocacy in the field of consumer protection law. We are committed to strengthening ties between consumer law groups and the Berkeley Law community.
Email: c3po@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: Consumer Protection Public Policy Order (C-3PO) is a student-led project at UC Berkeley School of Law designed to address consumer protection issues affecting everyday consumers, especially communities most vulnerable to predatory financial practices. Students can help fight for economic justice by conducting research and drafting reports, white papers, administrative comments, and other projects that tackle widespread inequalities and drive policy change.
Email: contracostareentry@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: The Contra Costa Reentry Project (CORE) assists the Contra Costa County Office of the Public Defender with its Clean Slate practice, which works to help remove the barriers that a prior conviction can present to employment, housing, public benefits, and family reunification.
Email: defenders@berkeley.edu
Mission: The purpose of the Defenders at Berkeley (DAB) is to provide Berkeley Law students with a supportive community and opportunities to learn about criminal defense careers through both networking and discussions about important topics in criminal defense.
Email: digitalrightsproject@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: At the heart of the Digital Rights Project (DRP) is a belief that technology must be used and regulated in a manner that respects the dignity of the user. As technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous, novel questions over how to respect civil liberties in the information age have emerged. Should law enforcement surveillance technology be equipped with facial recognition? Can government officials legally block users from following them on Twitter, and can Twitter legally restrict the speech of government officials? How can we examine and work to dismantle the racist logics underpinning surveillance technologies? The Digital Rights Project gives Berkeley Law students an opportunity to address some of these questions and to conduct substantive work at the intersection of law, technology, and social justice. DRP is committed to doing this work through a lens that acknowledges and addresses the impacts of racism and systemic inequality on surveillance and technology. Our organization engages in legal research and community advocacy where law, technology, and social justice intersect. Our work is underpinned by the belief that privacy is a fundamental right and a desire to unearth how race, class, and power are implicated in government and corporate surveillance. It will provide a space to interrogate how the history, development, and implementation of surveillance technologies impact the communities we work with and the work that we do.
Email: disc@berkeley.edu
Mission: Diverse Iranian Students’ Collective (DISC) is dedicated to empowering the Iranian community at Berkeley Law. DISC works in solidarity with other organizations in pursuit of students’ academic and professional development as well as to provide a social forum and address challenges our broader community faces. DISC works to promote diversity in Berkeley Law, the legal profession, and beyond.
Email: dreamersclinic@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: East Bay Dreamers Project partners with the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) in providing immigration legal services to support and empower Bay Area undocumented community members. EBDP specifically focuses on DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. EBDP helps clients with their initial and renewal DACA applications and advance parole (permission to travel outside the US). Apart from DACA, EBDP also helps EBCLC conduct general immigration consultations to identify other options for legal status.
Website: https://www.ecologylawquarterly.org/
Email: elq@berkeley.edu
Mission: ELQ provides a forum for environmental scholarship through publication of high-quality writing by scholars, practitioners, and students. At Berkeley, ELQ represents and advocates for the environmental law community, sustains and strengthens the environmental law program, encourages student writing, and fosters a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive social and academic community.
Email: ecoslp@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/environmental-conservation-outreach-eco/
Mission: Environmental Conservation Outreach’s (ECO) mission is to engage students in environmental law pro bono work in order to address environmental injustices, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, and to combat climate change. We also offer research and writing opportunities for projects that can have real impacts.
Email: familiesatberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/FamiliesatBerkeleyLaw
Mission: The mission of Families at Berkeley Law is to provide information, advocacy, and support for parents, caregivers, and students at Berkeley Law. The group establishes a secure forum to discuss issues surrounding family life while pursuing a career in law. The forum is open to all students.
Email: familydefense@berkeley.edu
Mission: The purpose of the Family Defense Project (FDP) is to provide holistic legal support and advocacy for low-income parents in dependency court proceedings. In particular, Black and Brown parents are at disproportionate risk of being aggressively surveilled and unnecessarily separated from their children by the family regulation system (also known as the child welfare system). This happens because the dependency court system is highly discretionary and often conflates poverty with failed parenting, which could be mitigated by adequate provision of social services instead of by tearing apart loving families. Too often, racism and bias also bleed into dependency court decisions, which leads to less institutional trust of parents of color and a misguided belief by the system that their children are better off in state custody. In partnership with the East Bay Family Defenders (opens in a new tab), FDP will help fight this racism and classism by advocating for parents in the East Bay who are at risk of unjust family separation or have already been separated from their families.
Email: berkeleylawfgp@gmail.com
Mission: First Generation Professionals (FGP) is a student-led group that strives to address the needs of first generation law students through mentorship, career advising, and social activities. Born of the common experiences and challenges of students from working-class backgrounds who are often the first in their family to attend college, FGP is a truly diverse community that fosters inclusiveness, well-being, and academic achievement throughout students’ time at Berkeley.
Email: foodjustice@berkeley.edu
Website: https://foodjustice.berkeley.edu/
Mission: The Food Justice Project is a student-initiated legal services project (SLP) and is part of the Berkeley Law Pro Bono Program. With the understanding that hunger on college campuses is a serious and preventable problem, the Food Justice Project serves members of the UC Berkeley community who have been denied CalFresh benefits. Members will assist individuals in navigating the appeals process by providing direct client services in an intake interview system.
Email: fostered@berkeley.edu
Mission: More than 437,000 youth are in the U.S. foster system. Foster youth are significantly more likely to experience unplanned school changes: in California, foster youth lose four to six months’ worth of learning time with every transfer. Compared to a statewide graduation rate of 85%, foster youth have a 56% graduation rate. They are more likely to be enrolled in the lowest-performing schools, have the lowest participation rate in state testing, and experience suspensions at five times the rate of the rest of California’s students. (HHS, 2019); (CDE, 2019).
The Foster Education Project at Berkeley Law serves foster youth in the Bay Area. We pair each member with a foster student in need of an educational advocate. Law students become the legal educational rights holders, ensuring the child receives an appropriate school placement, representation in disciplinary proceedings, any services for disabilities or special needs, and the support needed to succeed. Members may serve as a point of contact for social workers, teachers, attorneys, and other stakeholders in the child’s life, such as group home staff. Members are expected to actively evaluate their student’s school placement, engage with teachers, administrators, and school counselors, and advocate for the needs of the child. Students may also produce education timelines based on foster student records and develop know-your-rights graduation requirement presentations.
We anticipate law students will be able to serve as education rights holders in person for Fall 2022. FosterEd trainings and meetings will likely take place in person during the lunch hour, but may be held over Zoom in the evenings if it makes sense to do so. A year-long commitment is required, however three-year membership is highly encouraged for consistent representation of our foster youth.
SOURCES:
Children’s Bureau. AFCARS Report #26 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).
Data Reporting Office. Foster Youth in California Schools (California Department of Education, 2019).
Email: ftlp@berkeley.edu
Mission: FTLP seeks to provide support to grassroots organizers in their land, housing, and environmental justice goals. We want to provide opportunities for Berkeley Law students to engage with BIPOC-led organizations in the Bay Area fighting for the liberation rights of the most vulnerable communities.
Email: globl@berkeley.edu
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/globl
Mission: The purpose of the organization is twofold: first, to make it easier for current and future international students to navigate various career paths; and second, to build a vibrant network of legal professionals, practitioners, and academics.
Email: gvpp@berkeley.edu
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/gvpp
Mission: In June of 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States established that “historical tradition of firearm regulation,” should be the test for whether or not a state can curtail the Second Amendment (as the Court understands it today). The Court dismissed any consideration of facts or public policy. One month earlier, a gunman in Uvalde, TX had killed 19 children and 2 teachers in their school. This, nor any mass shootings before or since, did not dissuade the highest court in our nation from promoting access to firearms at seemingly any cost. Despite recent Supreme Court actions, the Gun Violence Prevention Project (GVPP) is committed to pursuing gun violence prevention in the United States and abroad. We believe that gun violence prevention is central to achieving racial justice, economic justice and gender equality. This year, GVPP is taking a global perspective to the prevention of gun violence, in acknowledgement of the international effects that the U.S. gun industry has had across the world. The U.S. gun industry supplies almost all of the guns used in two of the leading gun death countries, acting as a conduit for violent crime in the U.S. and in our neighboring countries. We are looking forward to exploring international gun violence prevention to protect people around the world from the irresponsible sales of firearms made in the United States.
Email: hspprobono@berkeley.edu
Mission: The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the largest unhoused populations in the United States. Our unhoused neighbors face a variety of legal challenges. 1. Crime: Unhoused Californians are disproportionately likely to be the victims of crime. The Bay Area Council, a policy consultancy, estimates that unhoused Californians are 10 times more likely to be murdered than others. 2. Deprivation of Rights: Unhoused Californians are frequent victims of government overreach and indiscriminate policing. In a 2020 settlement, Caltrans admitted to the wholesale and indiscriminate destruction of the property of hundreds of unhoused members of the East Bay Community in violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights. 3. Issues Accessing Government Entitlements: Despite higher rates of disease and disability, unhoused Californians frequently face obstacles in obtaining basic government entitlements, and are unable to access disability payments and other welfare benefits. Notwithstanding these challenges, unhoused Californians struggle to obtain legal services. Scarce financial resources, social stigma, and practical difficulties in transportation and communication mean that lawyers are often hesitant to engage unhoused Californians as clients. Furthermore, despite their susceptibility to crime, unhoused Californians often find themselves harassed, rather than protected by local police. Often, unhoused Californians rely on local non-profits for meaningful legal assistance. These nonprofits provide basic legal advice, essential services, and drive impact litigation on behalf of the unhoused population of the Bay Area. The Homelessness Service Project (“HSP”) works with a variety of local, community based organizations under the supervision of attorneys to provide general legal services for the unhoused population of the San Francisco Bay Area. The diversity of services performed by HSP reflects the diversity of challenges faced by our clients. Despite this, HSP’s responsibilities under these organizations typically involve client intake and interviewing, provision of general, non client-specific legal advice, and legal research of homelessness issues, including 14th Amendment and section 1983 issues.
Email: berkeleylawIWH@gmail.com
Website: https://www.ifwhenhow.org/
Mission: If/When/How is a national nonprofit that trains, networks, and mobilizes law students and legal professionals to work within and beyond the legal system to champion reproductive justice. If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice at Berkeley educates, organizes, and supports students with interest in reproductive justice law and advocacy to ensure that a new generation of advocates will be prepared to protect and expand reproductive rights.
Email: ipls.berkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: The Intellectual Property Society (IPLS) caters to the interests of all budding Intellectual Property lawyers! IPLS is committed to cultivating research, discussions and advocacy in the field of Intellectual Property Law. We strive to provide all kinds of fruitful opportunities for the students interested in intellectual property law, thereby strengthening their ties with the Berkeley Law community. We work towards:
1. Building networks between intellectual property law attorneys, advocacy organizations and the Berkeley Law student body in order to promote the field of intellectual property law;
2. Spreading awareness of intellectual property law as a career path for young scholars in the Berkeley community at large;
3. Providing training opportunities for students and supporting the intellectual property law curriculum at Berkeley Law.
Email: ihrw@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/internationalhumanrightsworkshop
Mission: Through careful legal research, detailed data collection, and comprehensive analysis, the International Human Rights Workshop is dedicated to working alongside international courts and organizations to protect and promote human rights around the globe.
Email: ilsberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: To promote the international legal community through educational and professional networking events, as well as through advocacy of international law courses and faculty.
Email: irap@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) Berkeley works with pro bono attorneys, IRAP Headquarters, and IRAP chapters across the United States and Canada to advance legal pathways to safety for refugees and other displaced people through casework, policy advocacy, and litigation.
Email: jsabl@berkeley.edu
Mission: JSABL’s mission is to enrich Jewish student life and make positive contributions to our campus and the law. We envision a world where our members are inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life and the legal community.
Email: jmeil@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/ir/jmeil/
Mission: JMEIL is committed to furthering and fostering discourse on issues related to Middle Eastern and Islamic law through the sponsoring of future colloquia, speakers, and work with Berkeley Law faculty to establish a structured program of research in Islamic law.
Email: laalianza@berkeley.edu
Website: https://alianzaberkeleylaw.com/
Mission: La Alianza Law Students of Latin American Descent (“La Alianza”) seeks to empower Latinx students. La Alianza hopes to shape the law to enhance our diverse communities’ cultural, economic, political, social, and spiritual vitality. La Alianza facilitates members’ diverse legal interests by maintaining an inclusive environment where members can engage deeply with their studies and each other. Drawing upon el poder de la comunidad, La Alianza manifests solidarity with other progressive individuals and organizations who seek to transform social conditions in the United States y el mundo. Together we realize the bright hope de la humanidad.
Email: laalianzaslp@berkeley.edu
Mission: La Alianza Workers’ and Tenants’ Rights Clinic is one of the oldest SLPs at Berkeley Law, created in 1969 by La Raza law students who founded Centro Legal de la Raza after seeing the immense need for free legal representation for Oakland’s Latinx community. The historic organization has since become a cornerstone of legal services in Oakland, serving the Bay Area and now all of Northern California in the areas of Workers’ Rights, Tenants’ Rights, and Immigration.
The SLP gives law students the opportunity to contribute to the crucial work being done in El Centro’s Workers’ Rights and Tenants’ Right clinics. The Workers’ Rights clinic meets with predominantly Spanish-speaking and immigrant workers who are facing a variety of job-related issues including wage theft, discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, unemployment, and threats to health & safety.
The Tenants’ Rights clinic meets with tenants, roughly 60% of whom speak English and 40% who speak Spanish, Cantonese, and Vietnamese. Tenants at the clinic face a range of housing issues including evictions, illegal rent increases, landlord harassment, and uninhabitable conditions. The goal of this clinic is to stop displacement of low-income residents and stabilize rapidly changing communities through eviction defense.
Email: Berkeley.lpesoc@gmail.com
Website: lpesoc.org
Mission: The Law and Political Economy Society (LPE Soc) at Berkeley offers a community through which Berkeley Law students can build creative thinking, dissent, and systemic critique into their study and practice. LPE Soc is a student-run organization dedicated to fostering interest and discussion in the emerging LPE movement, which seeks to expose how legal rules concentrate economic and political power among dominant social groups, and simultaneously build and expand modes of legal thinking which embed the economy in social life. By revealing the artificial divide between law, politics, and economics, we seek to help students exercise their power to reimagine the social order.
Email: jspstudents@googlegroups.com
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/lsga
Mission: Our purpose is to provide networking, professional development, and social opportunities for graduate students in Jurisprudence & Social Policy and the field of Law & Society.
Email: lsad@berkeley.edu
Website: https://ucberkeleylsad.com
Mission: The purpose of the organization is to articulate and promote the needs of Black law students in the law school. As an active member of the National Black Law Students Association, LSAD seeks to foster a unique sense of community among its members and to serve as an academic, political, and social resource for Black law students. LSAD actively participates in the recruitment and retention of Black law students. LSAD promotes academic and professional excellence among its members and is committed to forming lasting relationships with its Black alumni, members of the Black legal community, and the Black community as a whole.
Email: LOVE_SLP@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Bay Area accounts for the largest homeless veteran population in the Nation. L.O.V.E.’s purpose is to provide student advocacy for veterans to overcome legal obstacles. This objective covers a wide variety of legal areas governed by several different entities, namely the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and state and local agencies. We have a working relationship with Swords to Plowshares, a Bay Area-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting all veterans. L.O.V.E. has worked with Swords in assisting veterans seeking to obtain their earned benefits and by participating in monthly in-take clinics where our members work with local attorneys to assist veterans who are applying for discharge upgrades. This includes the veteran’s character of service (e.g., honorable, bad conduct, dishonorable) and the “narrative reason for separation.” Among the many possible “narrative reasons for separation” are “misconduct,” “disability,” “personality disorder,” and “homosexual conduct.” L.O.V.E. will also provide legal research support for the Veterans Law Practicum and their efforts to advocate for veterans who have been deported after their period of service.
Email: Massmediaberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: Mass Media at Berkeley Law (MMaBL) is a group for law students interested in the intersection of Media Law and Journalism. We are interested in building a community for students with previous media industry experience while also exploring ways that journalism and digital media can work in service of progressive legal goals and break down barriers to make the legal field more accessible.
Email: berkeleylawmelsa@gmail.com
Mission: The Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association (MENALSA) empowers and builds community among Middle Eastern and North African students at Berkeley Law. MENALSA works in solidarity with other organizations to develop students academically and professionally, as well as provide a fun social forum and address challenges our broader community faces. Comprised of students who identify as Middle Eastern and North African, as well as students who have an interest in the cultural, political, and legal events affecting people from the Middle East and North Africa, MENALSA seeks to foster a cultural, political, social, and academic space for the MENA community at Berkeley Law. MENALSA works to promote diversity in Berkeley Law, the legal profession, and beyond.
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/bamv
Email: mvbl@berkeley.edu
Mission: Military and Veterans at Berkeley Law’s mission is to create a community where veterans can help veterans succeed in law school and beyond. This means, first and foremost, promoting social cohesion among veterans and military service members at the school. Additionally, we seek to develop veteran-specific professional opportunities for our members, as well as host events geared toward educating the wider student body on military-related topics in the law.
Email: berkeleylawmsa@gmail.com
Mission: Muslim Law Students Association (MLSA) brings together Muslims of diverse sects, backgrounds, and cultures under a unified community. MLSA also seeks to be a community that protects students against Islamophobia and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims at Berkeley Law. MLSA is an inclusive, safe space that fosters a sense of community and identity among Muslims and those of Muslim backgrounds.
Email: ngcw@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/name-gender-change-workshop/
Mission: Name and Gender Change Workshop provides legal assistance to help transgender, nonbinary, and gender variant clients apply for court-ordered name and gender marker changes and provides them with guidance for updating this information on their state and federal identity documents.
Email: nlgatberkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: The National Lawyers Guild, Berkeley Law Chapter is an association of progressive lawyers, law students, paralegals, judges, legal secretaries, and community activists, dedicated to the fight for civil rights and social justice.
Email: NALSA.ucberkeley@gmail.com
Website: https://www.nalsaberkeley.com/
Mission: NALSA is a community of law students that seeks to promote the success of Native students, create awareness around Native issues, and foster a positive culture of unity, cooperation, and respect. Serving as an academic, political, and social resource for Native law students and their allies, NALSA is committed to forming lasting relationships with Native alumni, Native members of the legal community, and the Native community as a whole. From social trips to educational lectures, conferences to mentorships, NALSA actively provides its members with opportunities for academic and legal prosperity, a deeper sense of engagement with Federal Indian Law, and a supportive community of peers. NALSA at Berkeley Law is an active chapter of National NALSA.
Email: nalaproject@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/native-american-legal-assistance-project/
Mission: The Native American Legal Assistance Project (NALA) is a research- and direct services-based SLP that works to address legal issues faced by Native American tribal nations and people.
This year, NALA will assist California Indian Legal Services (CILS) implement the organization’s Military Discharge Upgrade Project (MDUP). The project aims to help Native veterans with less than honorable military discharge histories improve their discharge classification in order to restore access to medical coverage, pensions, home loans, and educational opportunities. Additional research-based projects will be available for students who wish to build legal research and memo-writing skills.
Additional opportunities for client-facing projects may be available for students who wish to work directly with Native clients.
Email: berkeley.owls@gmail.com
Mission: Older, Wiser Law Students provides a sense of belonging and community to non-traditional and second career students, helping them transition to and anchor themselves in the Berkeley Law community. Our objective is to connect students from diverse career backgrounds and to help them thrive in their studies at Berkeley Law by allowing them to share advice and mutual support in an informal setting.
Email: peerwellnesscoalition@gmail.com
Mission: The Peer Wellness Coalition (“PWC”) is a student organization dedicated to increasing wellness and mental health resources in Berkeley Law and in the legal profession more generally. Studies consistently reveal an unacceptable prevalence of substance abuse, depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues among lawyers and law students even as compared to other demanding professional vocations. PWC is committed to reversing this trend by providing Berkeley Law students the resources necessary to (1) manage their wellness and mental health needs and (2) develop the skills and habits required for maintaining work-life balance. PWC aspires for students to take these skills with them as they enter the legal and other professions.
Email: pals@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Pilipino American Law Society (PALS) at Berkeley Law seeks to create a supportive community for Filipino American students during their time in law school. PALS facilitates this through mentorship, social events, and professional networking. PALS welcomes all individuals, regardless of ethnic background.
Email: pla.law@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Plaintiffs’ Law Association (PLA) is a student organization at Berkeley Law and an official AAJ* chapter dedicated to cultivating future plaintiff-side attorneys. We are a comprehensive resource for students interested in plaintiff-side careers–providing community support, professional guidance, and exposure to a variety of practice areas.
Email: Berkeleypolicereviewproject@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Police Review Project (PRP) focuses on supporting survivors of police brutality and police abuse through direct-client work and research. There are two different branches within PRP that work to achieve these goals. The first branch of the PRP assists in representing civilians who file complaints against members of the Berkeley Police Department with the Berkeley Police Accountability Board (PAB). Our students review complaints and evidence collected by the Board, interview complainants and help them understand the PAB process, communicate with the Board regarding any new evidence and witnesses, prepare complainants for their hearing, and present opening and closing statements on behalf of complainants at their hearing, if one is granted. After the hearing, the complaint is either dismissed or sustained. If a complaint is “sustained,” meaning the PAB agrees that misconduct took place, they submit their findings to the Chief of Police. Students also have the option to to attend public PAB meetings to provide feedback to the city on the PAB process’s strengths and weaknesses. Our mission is to provide support to community members who have been negatively impacted by police misconduct, so they do not have to navigate this unfamiliar process on their own. The second branch partners students with the ACLU Louisiana Justice Lab: Putting Racist Policing on TrialTM. This effort challenges racially discriminatory policing practices and combats police violence against people of color. The Justice Lab primarily assists complainants in bringing challenges under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, in addition to § 1983. Additionally, as an alternative to litigation, the Justice Lab provides a way for impacted people to share their experiences through the Storytelling Program. Students participating in this branch will conduct research on § 1983 cases, engage in educational programming, receive direct writing feedback from supervising attorneys, and learn how we, as a community, can combat police violence.
Email: peep@berkeley.edu
Website: https://callink.berkeley.edu/organization/PEEP
Mission: The Political and Election Empowerment Project (PEEP) mission is strengthening democratic norms and voting rights in the United States.
Email: p-cap@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/post-conviction-advocacy-project-p-cap/
Mission: P-CAP is a student-initiated legal services project (SLP) whose primary purpose is to train Berkeley Law students to assist incarcerated people with the parole process. Students will meet with their clients, prepare them for their parole board hearing, and help represent them at that hearing.
P-CAP’s mission is to help secure the freedom of people who may spend the rest of their lives in prison, even if they pose no threat to society. Indigent incarcerated clients regularly receive inadequate representation from board-appointed attorneys. Support from P-CAP’s student volunteers helps ensure that clients are well-prepared and have a fair chance at their hearing.
Email: privlab@berkeley.edu; info@privlab.berkeley.edu
Website: https://privlab.berkeley.edu
Mission: Privacy Law at Berkeley (PrivLAB) is a student-run organization that brings together Berkeley Law students interested in data security and privacy law and introduces them to the substance of their future practice. We host talks by eminent privacy experts, write briefing notes and opinion pieces, organize crypto-parties and privacy events, analyze foundational and complex privacy scholarship, and promote a multifaceted and inclusive understanding of information privacy in Berkeley and beyond.
Email: berkeleyprobonotes@gmail.com
Mission: The ProBonotes is an a cappella group dedicated to producing sweet melodies and perfect-pitched harmonies. Relying on the power of voice alone, the group brings together students who want to sing and support each other through establishing a musical scene in the law school. The ProBonotes aim to perform music across a range of genres and eras for the many fans across the law school who enjoy musical showcases.
Email: queerjustice@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/queer-justice-project/
Mission: The Queer Justice Project aids LGBTQIA+ advocacy organizations in their efforts to provide assistance to LGBTQIA+ people in their fight for equality, safety, and liberation.
Email: quirs.bl@gmail.com
Mission: QUIRS is a non-hierarchical community of students at Berkeley Law committed to dismantling systems of domination and oppression. To us, liberation means a radical transformation of our society. We plan to pursue liberation at every turn. Queer and trans justice is about ending colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, cis-hetero-patriarchy, ableism, and all other forms of subjugation. Queer and trans justice is prison abolition, no nations or borders, universal housing, Palestinian self-determination and right to return, redistribution of wealth, indigenous sovereignty. We acknowledge that we will not always get everything right and that this list is non-exhaustive. However, it is our mission to hold ourselves accountable and better ourselves and our community in the face of missteps.
Email: reentryadvocacy@berkeley.edu
Mission: The Reentry Advocacy Project (RAP) works with Root & Rebound, an Oakland non-profit, to provide free legal information to currently and formerly incarcerated individuals on navigating the legal barriers imposed by a criminal history when reentering society. RAP volunteers will work with attorneys on Root & Rebound’s legal aid hotline to take calls from clients in prison and across California, conduct legal research, and provide follow-up information and resources. By engaging in this work, students will learn about California criminal law and procedure while seeing the real-world effects of criminal law on individuals in the system and their loved ones.
Email: reproductivejusticeproject@law.berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/reproductive-justice-project/
Mission: The Reproductive Justice Project at Berkeley Law provides legal support to attorneys and organizations working in various reproductive rights and justice domains across the country. We focus on legal research projects and have provided support to abortion providers and other legal groups seeking to practice across state lines and those engaged in active litigation.
Email: salsa@law.berkeley.edu
Mission: We are an organization that aims to support and uplift South Asian students at Berkeley Law, both personally and professionally. We provide professional development opportunities and opportunities to create community amongst other students, as well as celebrate various South Asian cultural events.
Email: sels@berkeley.edu
Mission: The mission of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society (SELS) is to educate the Berkeley Law community about legal opportunities and issues in the entertainment and sports industries. SELS also strives to facilitate opportunities for students to network not only with each other, but also with legal professionals in these industries. SELS regularly sponsors many events during the academic year, including both guest lectures and social events. SELS thereby provides a resource for students to connect with alumni and other industry-leading professionals and seek employment opportunities in the sports and entertainment industries.
Email: startuplawinitiative@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/startup-law-initiative/
Mission: The Startup Law Initiative (SLI) is a pro-bono student-initiated legal services project that provides law students an opportunity for hands-on transactional work and helps underrepresented minority startup founders overcome cost preventative barriers to establishing their businesses.
Email: BerkeleyLawSAP@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/
Mission: Our mission is to explore legal avenues to support prevention, advocacy, and healing efforts related to sexual violence issues.
Email: berkeleylawacs@gmail.com
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/students/american-constitution-society-for-law-and-policy/
Mission: The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) promotes the vitality of the U.S. Constitution and the fundamental values it expresses: individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, access to justice, democracy and the rule of law. The abiding principles are reflected in the vision of the Constitution’s framers and the wisdom of forward-looking leaders who have shaped our law throughout American history. As a result of their efforts, the Constitution has retained its authority and relevance for each new generation. The American Constitution Society embraces the progress our nation has made toward full embodiment of the Constitution’s core values. ACS believes that law can and should be a force for improving the lives of all people. We are revitalizing and transforming legal and policy debates in classrooms, courtrooms, legislature and the media, and we are building a diverse and dynamic network of progressives committed to justice. Through these efforts, ACS will ensure that the institutions of American law reflect the highest values of our nation and serve the needs of its people.
Email: thedefendance@gmail.com
Mission: The Defendance seeks to create space for Berkeley Law students to celebrate dance and movement. The Defendance will be an oasis for which to move and groove the stresses of law school away, collaborate choreographically, explore different dance genres, and give space for students to teach their colleagues the dance wisdom they know. Though the centering force of The Defendance is dancing for pure enjoyment, we will remain open to exploring performance opportunities at Berkeley Law and beyond.
Email: transfers.berkeleylaw@gmail.com
Mission: TABL is committed to addressing the needs of both 2L and 3L transfer students through career and academic advising, mentorship, social activities, networking, and other events and programs.
Email: undocustudents@berkeley.edu
Mission: UndocuStudents at Berkeley Law seeks to empower undocumented law students pursuing their legal education. The organization will provide resources to support students in seeking professional opportunities, academics, financial aid, and legal services.
Email: witl@berkeley.edu
Mission: Women in Tech Law (WiTL) is a student-led organization that strives to recruit, support, and empower women who are interested in pursuing technology law through providing outreach, mentorship, and educational resources. WiTL aspires to use outreach as a medium to not only encourage women to enter the field, but to also expand the presence of women in the field by providing awareness to the opportunities and potential that tech law can hold for women from both STEM and non-STEM backgrounds. WiTL seeks to use mentorship and other platforms to increase members’ accessibility into tech law, in an attempt to break the glass ceiling of the technology industry. Ultimately, WiTL strives to empower women interested to excel and improve in the realm of law and technology.
Email: wobl@berkeley.edu
Mission: Women of Berkeley Law (WOBL) is committed to advocating for women on campus and in the legal community. We work toward advancing a more diverse, inclusive legal community through education, community service, mentorship, and activism.
Email: berkeleylawwocc@gmail.com
Mission: The Women+ of Color Collective (WOCC) is dedicated to providing a supportive community space for Asian & Pacific Islander, Black, Latinx, Middle Eastern/North African, Native American, and other womxn-identifying people of color at Berkeley Law.
By providing cultural, social, professional, educational and community service programs, WOCC seeks to advance the passions, goals, and needs of womxn-identifying people of color and enrich their educational experiences at Berkeley Law. WOCC is committed to working in solidarity with other organizations to promote diversity in Berkeley Law, the legal profession, and beyond.
Email: yap@berkeley.edu
Website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/experiential/pro-bono-program/slps/current-slps-projects/youth-advocacy-project/
Mission: To advocate for youth in the carceral system or impacted by the carceral system in Contra Costa County in obtaining mentorship and adequate individual education programs and legal representation.