Justice Kelli Evans '94 to Speak at Commencement

UC Davis Law is pleased to announce that California Supreme Court Associate Justice and King Hall alumna Kelli M. Evans will deliver the keynote address at its  Class of 2025 commencement on Friday, May 16.

A member of UC Davis Law’s Class of 1994, Justice Evans has devoted her career to public service. Before joining the Supreme Court in 2023, she served as an Alameda County Superior Court judge, presiding over both criminal and civil matters.

Before her appointment to the bench, Justice Evans served as Chief Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary in the Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, where she advised the governor and executive agencies on a variety of legal, policy and legislative issues.

Justice Evans previously served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General at the California Department of Justice, with a focus in criminal justice, public safety, and civil rights law and policy. Before that, she served as Senior Director for the Administration of Justice at the California State Bar; Associate Director of the ACLU of Northern California; senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; and as an assistant public defender at the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office. Justice Evans also has served as a member of federal court-appointed monitoring teams for the Oakland and Cleveland police departments.

Justice Evans sat on the governing boards of a number of nonprofit organizations, and currently serves on the California Commission on Access to Justice. She has received numerous honors, including the King Hall Distinguished Alumna Award, Stanford Trailblazer Award, Judge of the Year Award, Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, State Bar President’s Award, and a Medal of Achievement from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

Justice Evans received the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award in her final year at UC Davis Law. She earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

Chancellor Gary May will confer degrees at commencement, and UC Davis Law Dean Jessica Berg will serve as the ceremony’s emcee. Professor Nila Bala is the faculty speaker. Jordan Porterfield ’25 will be the J.D. student speaker and Andrew Timothy ’25 the LL.M. student speaker.

Professors Karrigan Börk and Clay Tanaka will serve as faculty marshals.

Natalie Palmberg '25 will receive the law school medal for highest J.D. academic achievement, and Byron (Jun Li) '25 the medal for highest LL.M. academic achievement.