Spotlights

The spring issue of Berkeley Law’s magazine, Transcript, has been sent to alumni and friends worldwide. Our cover story tracks the dogged work of clinic and center leaders who steered seven new bills that will help vulnerable Californians. Other stories feature our Center for Law and Work, racial justice efforts, a unique climate initiative, dynamic students, faculty scholarship, and inspiring alumni. See more […]

The law library has released Black Americans and the Law, a timeline that shows how U.S. jurisprudence and law have impacted the lives of Black Americans for 400-plus years. The timeline highlights several key legal events and actions that have structured and systematized racism in the U.S. Librarians Kate Peck and Dean Rowan and 3L Randall […]

Made almost entirely from clips created by newly admitted and current students, this year’s Admit Week Experience video celebrates the inspirations, challenges, and aspirations of the unabashedly authentic individuals who will make up the Class of 2024 and embody the excellence, community, and public mission that makes Berkeley Law … Berkeley Law. Watch the video […]

Dean Erwin Chemerinsky kept up his annual custom of presenting legal arguments at the heart of a Shakespeare classic. On March 9, he played the role of prosecutor, arguing that Brutus’ acts in Julius Caesar merited convictions for treason and murder. The online audience served as jurors during the event, with scenes performed by New Swan Shakespeare Festival actors. […]

Our Human Rights Center leaders have been appointed to key global posts. Faculty Director Eric Stover joined the International Commission on Missing Persons’ Panel of Experts, which tackles issues of persons missing due to armed conflicts, natural disasters, and human rights violations. Executive Director Alexa Koenig Ph.D. ’13 now co-chairs the International Bar Association’s Human […]

On March 4, the Berkeley Law Conversations series addressing race and the law continued with a panel on race and the legal profession. Moderated by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, the event featured California Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Berkeley Law Professor Goodwin Liu (pictured) and three other experts from academia and the public sector. You […]

Professor john a. powell probes the legacy of the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld racial segregation as constitutional in 1896 under the separate but equal doctrine, in a new Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Sciences issue on Plessy. powell co-edited the issue, and wrote an article for it exploring the structural racism in America’s legal system and efforts […]

A new book by alumna Heather McGhee ’09, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, is creating major buzz. Blending interviews, personal stories, and empirical research, McGhee shows the toll of believing one group must advance at others’ expense. She’s been interviewed on “The Daily Show with Trevor […]

Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center met an unprecedented year with unrelenting energy. The center’s new annual report describes its far-reaching, wide-ranging work on human trafficking in the Bay Area, police practices across the U.S., the use of chemical weapons in Syria, child marriage in refugee settings, and other projects. You can read the report here.

Professors Steven Davidoff Solomon, Frank Partnoy, and Robert Bartlett were among six Berkeley Center for Law and Business experts who recently explored the financial market controversy around GameStop, Robinhood, and short-selling. In a special Berkeley Boosts event you can see here, they discussed government regulation and interventions and assessed the saga’s broader implications.