September 21, 2006. After a devastating car accident and 18 months in the hospital, Sara Granda '09 went on to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work, and is now attending UC Davis School of Law. It's not easy. Granda is 26 years old and a quadriplegic. Her inspirational story was recently featured in the Sacramento Bee.
On August 13, the School of Law community welcomed the Class of 2009. Of the 188 J.D. students, 40 hail from out-of-state and four foreign countries. Twenty-four have advanced degrees, including three Ph.D.s, one LL.M., and 20 Masters Degrees. Women make up 48 percent of the class, and minorities make up 31 percent. Ranging in age from 19 to 38, members of the Class of 2009 have enjoyed a variety of prior vocations. The class includes a software developer, marine/fisheries ecologist, legislative advocate, CPA, Korean Army medic, as well as other diverse careers.
Nina Sachdev '07 was among the 2006 recipients of the American Bar Association (ABA), Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Summer Minority Fellowships.
The Minority Fellowships in Environmental Law program is designed to encourage minority law students to study and pursue careers in environmental law and is open to first and second year law students and third year night students.
Stephen Abreu '07 was awarded a prestigious American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLEF) scholarship. The Sidney B. Williams Scholarship addresses the need to increase the number of minority intellectual property attorneys and to bring these attorneys to the attention of firms and corporations as candidates for employment. The $10,000 Law Scholarship is awarded to minority students developing a career in intellectual property law or holding a past or present, full or part-time position in an area related to intellectual property law.
Matt Carr, '06 was the recipient of the first Richard M. Frank Environmental Law Writing Prize. Carr's winning paper, Justified Trespass: How and Why Recreationists May Sometimes Enjoy America's Private Lands, was published in the Environmental Law Institute's Environmental Law Reporter. Carr is from Maui, HI, and came to UC Davis by way of the University of Minnesota, where he earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Natural Resource Management and a B.A. in Political Science.
Julianne Ogilvie '06, Patrick Pulupa '06, and Matthew Carr '06 were honored at a special ceremony in May for students who received the UC Davis Environmental Law Certificate. To qualify for the certificate, students completed Environmental Law, Environmental Practice, Administrative Law, and 8 units of environmental or natural resources law electives with a GPA of at least 3.0. They also wrote a substantial paper on an environmental or natural resources law topic. This is the second year the School of Law has awarded certificates in Environmental Law.
Bradley Poore '08 came in 15th out of a field of 5,000 in the Ottawa Marathon in Canada on May 28, 2006. The 26-mile race is one of Canada's largest marathons. First started in 1975, the event has grown over the years to now attract thousands of participants.
Poore ran the 26 miles in 2:24. After a controversial mix-up along the race route, where a lead pack of elite runners accidentally took a shortcut and were disqualified, Poore officially finished in third place. Congratulations!
Two Davis law students, Esmeralda Zendejas '06 and Mercedes Castillo '07, gave protesters legal advice to make sure that no laws were broken and that the safety of all was ensured during a demonstration in protest of tough immigration bills before Congress. About 200 people, mostly UC Davis students, marched nine miles from Davis on April 10, joining about 4,000 demonstrators in Sacramento.
On Saturday, April 8, the Davis School of Law moot court team, consisting of Danny Barak '06, Ella Gower '06, and Austin Bradley '06, took home the gold, winning both the Roger J. Traynor Award for Oral Advocacy and the Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy at Southwestern School of Law. In addition, the team won the second place award given by the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers for brief writing. Team member Danny Barak also received an award for Individual Achievement in Oral Argument.
