News

At the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento Gala on Sept. 17, Senior Associate Dean Donna Shestowsky presented UC Davis Law alumnus Yoshonori "Toso" Himel '75 with an award recognizing his lasting, and remarkable, contributions to the legal community.  

By Carla Meyer

In an era of extreme division, Professor Aaron Tang has found a national – and creative – platform to encourage civil discourse.

UC Davis School of Law will honor two outstanding alumni at its upcoming Reunions on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Hannah Buxbaum, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, has been elected to the Institut de Droit International, a leading society that promotes the development of international law.

UC Davis School of Law has appointed four luminary faculty members to open endowed chairs. The chairs were established previously through generous gifts from alumni and are awarded to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in scholarship, as well as in teaching and service.

By Carla Meyer

Michael Kahrs ’97 found his calling, at age 41, through the Civil Rights Clinic. Now Kahrs, a longtime Seattle solo practitioner who represented many incarcerated clients, has pledged $200,000 to help current and future King Hall students find a similar path.

Professor and Immigration Law Clinic Co-director Holly Cooper spoke to the Christian Science Monitor for a July 1 story that starts with a visit by President Donald Trump to the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site in Florida.

Professor Raquel Aldana spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 7 about the U.S. Department of Justice’s push to “denaturalize” U.S. citizens whom the government finds to have gained their citizenship illegally.

Professor Kevin R. Johnson spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle on July 14 about federal “border czar” Tom Homan’s suggestion that agents can question people “based on their physical appearance.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court cited an article co-authored by Professor Lisa Pruitt in reversing a lower court ruling in Wis

In August, UC Davis School of Law welcomed Eric Toscano '09 as the new president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Toscano succeeds Errol Dauis '11 who provided excellent leadership and service as past president. 

In an op-ed published Aug. 7 in The Fulcrum, Professor Chimène Keitner discusses President Donald Trump’s position that recognizing a Palestinian state “rewards Hamas.”

Professor Kevin R. Johnson spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle for an August 18 story on the White House blaming California sanctuary policies for a fatal crash in Florida allegedly caused by an undocumented semitruck driver.

Professor Lisa R. Pruitt spoke to The Practice, a magazine published by Harvard Law School's Center on the Legal Profession, for its August issue about legal deserts, or rural areas with too few lawyers and judges to meet demand.

In the noteworthy case of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, the U.S. Supreme Court's majority opinion, on June 27, 2024, cited Professor Vikram Amar’s scholarship on the importance of honoring the historical understandings of jury-trial rights under the Seventh Amendment.

On Aug. 20, Professor Vikram Amar participated in the American Bar Association's webinar, “The Roberts Court 2024-25: Trumpeting Presidential Power.”

Lindsay Chuang has been named Assistant Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at UC Davis School of Law.

Chuang joined UC Davis in 2022, and had served as Interim Assistant Dean since June. Before that, she was Senior Director of Admission and Associate Director of Admission. In these capacities, she has been instrumental in shaping the past three classes of exceptionally talented first-year students.

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin commented for the Washington Post on Aug. 20 about a recent policy memo from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services indicating it will increase its efforts to determine whether citizenship applicants display “good moral character.”

Professor Raquel Aldana spoke to the Wyoming Star News for an Aug. 18 analysis of the debate over Gov. Mark Gordon’s decision to align with federal authorities’ immigration enforcement strategies.

The American Bar Association has reappointed Professor Raquel Aldana as a special advisor to the Council of the Latin American and Caribbean division of the Rule of Law Initiative.

Aldana will embark on her  third one-year term as a special advisor after chairing the board for three years and serving on the board before that. As part of her role, Aldana advises the team of lawyers who implement ROLI projects in Latin America.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Fresno Superior Court Judge Arlan Harrell ’90 to be an associate justice at the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District.

Harrell took the bench in Fresno in 2006 after three years as a court commissioner. Before that, he was a deputy district attorney in Fresno County from 1994-2003.

Read the full press release on Newsom’s recent judicial appointments.

Professor Vikram Amar submitted amicus briefs to the United States Courts of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the Federal Circuit in cases challenging President Donald Trump’s broad authority to impose tariffs.

Amar co-authored the briefs with former Oklahoma Congressman Mickey Edwards.

Professor Vikram Amar debated Chuck Cooper on the topic of birthright citizenship in April at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Amar and Cooper, founding member and chairman of Cooper & Kirk PLLC, addressed the question: “Are persons born in the U.S. to temporarily or illegally present parents U.S. citizens by birthright under the Fourteenth Amendment?”

Professor Vikram Amar has co-authored a new series of columns about 2025 Supreme Court cases with his brother, Yale Law School Professor Akhil Amar, as part of the SCOTUSblog’s new format.

Three of the Amars’ “Brothers in Law” pieces address U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case of first impression about what the Constitution says and does not say about transgender issues.

Professor Shayak Sarkar was invited to a workshop held July 14 at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany.

Sarkar commented on the forthcoming book Tax Discrimination and Competition, co-authored by University of Pennsylvania Professor Michael Knoll and University of Virginia Professor Ruth Mason.

Shayak Sarkar's scholarship addresses the structure and legal regulation of inequality. His substantive interests lie in financial regulation, employment law, immigration, and taxation.