Student Awards

From a new, multipronged leadership initiative for students to our Human Rights Clinic’s hefty impact and growing domestic agenda, the latest Transcript issue is packed with examples of visionary work.

Four Class of 2024 alums form the inaugural cohort of the Chris Larsen Justice Fellowship, which will fund their first year of public interest work on criminal justice issues. 

They headline a deep public service commitment that this year saw students do nearly 28,000 pro bono hours and 91% of the graduating class engage in pro bono work.

The Berkeley Law Board of Advocates Tech & IP Team won its regional and took runner-up honors among 76 overall teams in the National Patent Application Drafting Competition.

The two-year program in Washington, D.C., awarded annually to just three 3Ls from hundreds of applicants, develops skilled and dedicated indigent defense counsel through rigorous training.

Mariam Elbakr, Sophia Fenn, and Mia Stange are among 28 students and recent graduates to join the two-year fellowship program in 2024.

Claudia Liss-Schultz ’25 and Kayvon Seif-Naraghi ’25 each gain key skills, confidence, and a $2,500 prize for producing the best briefs in their 1L class.

Honored at the annual public interest and pro bono graduation ceremony, the recipients exemplify Berkeley Law’s far-reaching work to help disadvantaged people and communities.

Holding its annual gala Feb. 24, the Dale Minami ’71 Public Interest Fellowship connects API alumni, honors deserving graduates, provides financial support to deserving lawyers, and more.

Sewit Beraki, Brandon Dailey, and Kavya Dasari finish atop 50 teams at The Negotiation Challenge, a prestigious annual event for top law and business schools worldwide.

This year’s award recipients stand out among extraordinary individual and collective commitment across the legal landscape to improve people’s lives.

2Ls Julia Bennett, Elle Mahdavi, and Fatima Ladha won for best oral argument and best brief, and Bennett was named best oralist. 

Nilam Faqhir, Andrea Zachrich, and Miles Jasper, who was named Best Advocate, prevail at the annual event in New Orleans.

LL.M. students and final-round competitors Laura Quazzo and Capucine Freydrich see the experience enhancing their legal careers.

A dozen Berkeley Law community members, including nine students, are honored for their exemplary efforts providing legal help. 

Serving more than 125 students from 14 countries, the course probed the many ways in which the pandemic has undermined equality across the world.

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky says the total, second most among all law schools, “so reflects our public mission and commitment to public service.”

Editors-in-chief of two top-ranked Berkeley Law journals describe new challenges and opportunities to sustain excellence and build community. 

Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program student Cristina Violante wins the American Bar Foundation Graduate Student Competition from the international journal Law & Social Inquiry.

Kiki Tapiero ’20 and Alex Copper ’20 win Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Champion award while Safa Ansari-Bayegan ’20 and Miguel Soto receive its Eleanor Swift Award for Public Service.

Seven Latinx Berkeley Law students receive fellowship to pursue public interest internships and judicial externships—and to help diversify the legal profession.

Extraordinary 3Ls Savannah Reid, Bill Nguyen, and Camila Gonzalez wowed their supervisors, peers, and project partners en route to their awards. 

As Berkeley Law’s admitted students weigh their options, its current students continue to inspire and amaze.

Hannah Braidman ’21, Daina Goldenberg ’20, Alex Lyons ’20, and Paul von Autenried ’20 best more than 50 other law school teams at the ABA Student Trial Advocacy Competition in labor and employment law.

Given to just three graduating law students each year, the E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship develops top indigent defense lawyers through rigorous training and strong support.

The rankings, which cover 2014 to 2018, reflect the journals’ influence in legal academia and the judicial system.

The new fellowship will help Berkeley Law compete with other top law schools in attracting outstanding J.S.D. candidates.

The school, which hosted a recent five-day admissions workshop for prospective law school applicants, has a growing number of Native students who reconstituted Berkeley’s chapter of the Native American Law Students Association.

Sebastien Wadier ’20 and Jenna Zhang ’20 won the event’s best brief and best oral argument awards. 

Both displayed exceptional leadership and diligence as housing rights advocates.

Second-year students best 55 other teams in the marquee event, the largest inter-school moot court of any kind held under one roof.

Sarah Morando Lakhani ’19, Reynaldo Fuentes ’19, and Emma Mclean-Riggs ’17 will be funded for two years of focused public interest work.

Kurt Kurzenhauser ’19, Elizabeth Hall ’20, and their business school teammates shine in a compelling final-round negotiation.

Both taught by Professor of Legal Writing Lucinda Sikes, the students each received a $2,500 prize and a certificate.

The coveted two-year fellowship supports promising lawyers who develop innovative projects serving low-income populations.

Mark Leinauer of the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program is leading a study of bias against gay and lesbian parents in child custody cases. 

Oscar Sarabia Roman and two Berkeley Law classmates were among 10 finalists chosen from more than 1,200 entries.

Five students are chosen for the coveted positions: Sanjana Parkih ’20, Lana El-Farra ’20, Djenab Conde ’19, Andrew Huang ’19, and Jack Siddoway ’19.

The students were hailed for their work ethic and legal acumen at Berkeley Law’s East Bay Community Law Center and Death Penalty Clinic, respectively.

Chetan Gupta ’16 LL.M. and Professors Paul Schwartz, Kenneth Bamberger, and Deirdre Mulligan are recognized for their seminal privacy scholarship.

The annual award honors the top briefs submitted by first-year students in a hypothetical case.

Six recent graduates who received the prestigious two-year fellowship will serve low-income populations in California, Texas, and New York.

A growing roster of student participants and volunteer coaches yield impressive results.

A two-year standout at Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic, Tiet was honored for her work ethic and legal acumen.

Saul Rodriguez ’19 and Xiuyuan Hu ’19 are the first Berkeley Law students chosen by their respective programs. 

Both students demonstrated a deep commitment to social justice and a passion for protecting immigrant communities.

Kaplan was honored for his extraordinary work with Berkeley Law’s Policy Advocacy Clinic and East Bay Community Law Center.

DeCarol Davis ’17, Jared Ginsburg ’17, Colin Jones ’16, and Jason Wu ’16 credit coaches Suzanne Jaffe ’12 and Emily Tienken ’12 for their national championship.

Laura Lim ’17 wins first place and Peggy Ni ’17 takes third, marking the fourth time since 2010 that a Berkeley Law student has claimed the top prize.