Welcome Message: Fall 2018
Welcome, Class of 2021, transfer students, international exchange students, visiting scholars and professors, and LL.M. students from around the world! We hope that you all enjoyed the Welcome BBQ (with delicious ice cream). And welcome back to our second and third-year students and our faculty.
As we enter the 2018-19 academic year, UC Davis School of Law continues its commitment to excellent scholarship, accessibility to a legal education, and justice for all. During these turbulent times, King Hall remains steadfast and clear-eyed. Our dedication to upholding the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shines within the King Hall community. UC Davis School of Law scholars clarify and inform, whether addressing students or the national and international media outlets that often seek their opinions.
And the accolades keep coming. Our faculty ranked 23rd in scholarly impact in the “ Top 50 Law Schools Based on Scholarly Impact, 2018, ” a much-watched ranking of U.S. law faculties. UC Davis School of Law, already home to a groundbreaking majority-minority faculty, cracked the top 10 for student diversity among America’s top law schools in the recent U.S. News & World Report rankings; it was the only school in U.S. News’ overall top 40 to make the top 10 in diversity.
Our incoming first year students continue this welcome trend, and are likely to start new ones. Students comprising the Class of 2021 bring fascinating back stories to King Hall, including six students who served in the military, one who worked in a crime lab and testified in criminal cases, four former Division I athletes, and a student who climbed Mount Everest.
The Class of 2021: Excellence and Diversity
The Class of 2021 consists of 207 exceptionally well-qualified J.D. students chosen from a pool of more than 3,200 applicants, an increase from last year. Students of color compose more than half the class, and women make up 58 percent of it. Thirty percent of this year’s 1L students are first generation college students. Eight – the most ever – come from the King Hall Outreach Program.
We also welcome 46 incoming Master of Laws students, from around the world, including Chile, China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam. They join the 13 LL.M. students who continue their studies this year.
Faculty News
Afra Afsharipour has graciously agreed to serve as the new Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. A professor of law and Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall Research Scholar, Afsharipour joined the King Hall community in 2007. Her areas of research include comparative corporate law and governance, mergers and acquisitions, and transactional law. Before King Hall, Afsharipour was an attorney with the corporate department of Davis Polk & Wardwell in both New York City and Menlo Park. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Dean Afsharipour earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School. Earlier this year, she was honored with the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Business Associations Outstanding Mentor Award.
Donna Shestowsky, a professor of law and Martin Luther King, Jr. Research Scholar, has been named director of the new Lawyering Skills Education Program. She will teach Lawyering Process, a new spring-semester course for first-year students. She also will oversee the law school’s skills curriculum, including the legal research and writing, trial-practice and appellate-advocacy programs. Professor Shestowsky, who has a law degree and Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford, joined the faculty in 2004.
The King Hall community welcomes new Acting Professor Menesh Patel . With research interests in business law, including corporate law, antitrust, securities regulation, and capital markets, Patel this year will teach Business Associations and Lawyering Process. He spent the past two years as a research scholar in the Program in the Law and Capital Markets at Columbia. Before that, he practiced law for nearly a decade, most recently at the Chicago office of Sidley Austin. Patel received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Robert Miller has joined our Legal Research and Writing faculty. A graduate of UC Davis School of Law, Miller practiced law for many years in the California Attorney General’s Office.
This year, the Law School is conducting a search for two tenure track faculty members to teach in the core curriculum. We expect candidates to visit this fall.
Securing Employment
We have great news on the jobs front. More than 90 percent of the Class of 2017 was employed 10 months after graduation. Close to 70 percent of the Class of 2018 are currently employed. More than 70 employers, an increase from last year, are participating in the Law School’s On-Campus Interviewing program this fall. The Career Services Office is adding a new Government and Public Interest Jobs Fair for 2018-19, in addition to the annual Small and Midsize Firm Fair.
New Courses
Besides the new first year Lawyering Process class, the School of Law has added many exciting new courses in 2018-19, including Advanced Trial Practice; Access to Justice; Restorative Justice Project; Federal Amicus Project; Migration, Work and Taxation Seminar; E-Discovery and Digital Evidence; Presidential Power Seminar; Drug Law & Policy; Animal Law; Entertainment Law; Video Game Law Seminar; Brands; Insurance Law; Corporate Integrity and Responsibility; Antitrust and Intellectual Property, and Technology Transactions.
Expanding Academic Success Program
The Academic Success Program continues to grow. To help students prepare for the Bar, they now have access to for-credit Bar exam skills courses, “Passing the Bar” workshops, and the post-graduation Essay Writing Program.
First Generation Advocates
Created last year, King Hall’s First Generation Advocates program is aimed at supporting students who are the first in their families to attend college or a professional school. It has been enthusiastically embraced by students, faculty, and staff.
The program pairs students with faculty or staff mentors. An orientation was held before the Welcome BBQ. On Thursday, August 23, 5-6:30 p.m., the School of Law will hold a welcome reception for participating students and mentors in the King Hall courtyard.
Alumni Support
The Law School had an exceptional development year, raising more than $4 million. Our development success made possible the award of nearly $300,000 to 61 students in privately funded scholarships.
New Staff
New members of the King Hall community include International Recruiter and Program Coordinator Adriana Aguena; Admission & Financial Aid Assistant Manuel Alvarez; Associate Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Casey Becker; Events Manager Onell Berrios; Web Developer Ben Bixby; International Law Program Assistant Arisah Donovan; Director of Financial Aid Montré Everett; Development and Alumni Relations Coordinator Erin Friscia; Development and Marketing Assistant Eri Furukawa; Finance Assistant Tiffany Hsieh; Senior Writer Carla Meyer; Multimedia Specialist Jose Pérez; Finance Assistant Lisa Reyes; and LL.M. Admissions Officer Helen Rho.
Lectures
Mark your calendars for lectures by influential national legal scholars:
- September 17: Edward L. Barrett, Jr., Lecture with David Cole, ACLU National Legal Director and Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University. The title of his lecture is “Defending Liberty in the Age of Donald Trump: A View from the Front.”
- January 10: Central Valley Foundation/James B. McClatchy Lecture with Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History at Harvard Law School.
- January 28: The Brigitte M. Bodenheimer Lecture on Family Law features Catharine MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan and James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard.
For news and announcements, be sure to regularly check the School of Law website , the Deans' Blog , and the Faculty Blog . Follow King Hall on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .
Thanks for all that you do for King Hall. I look forward to a great year.