Thinkers & Doers: July 2016

The Hastings Appellate Project recently represented the petitioner in Barrientos v. Lynch, in which the Ninth Circuit considered the jurisdictional issue of the “prison mailbox rule.” Although HAP’s client didn’t prevail on the merits, the decision will help future litigants who are incarcerated. Kudos to HAP Director Gary Watt ’97, HAP Supervising Attorney Stephen Tollafield ’02 and HAP law students Nicholas Smith and Hain-Whei Hsueh (both Class of ’16) for their work on the case. http://bit.ly/2a6p3Rj

“I have no doubt that all the justices on the court, including Justice Ginsburg, decide cases based on their interpretations of the law and not on their personal dislike of litigants. That is what all judges do,” commented Associate Dean for Research Professor Scott Dodson (@ProfDodson), who edited The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a Guardian article about the justice’s recent comments about Donald Trump. http://bit.ly/29LspXl

“It will take a degree of maturity and discretion on the part of the prosecutor’s office. But if it’s achieved, it could crack the culture of impunity in El Salvador in a way that will allow it to confront today’s problems.” said Naomi Roht-Arriaza (@roht_naomi) in a Washington Post story about the El Salvador Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down the country’s 1993 amnesty law, which opens the doors for the eventual prosecution of war crimes that occurred during El Salvador’s civil war. http://wapo.st/2aplN2Q

“Establishing ties between China and the global philanthropy community is critical to establishing the relationships and the network that will enable cooperation and progress,” said Distinguished Professor Frank H. Wu (@frankhwu) to the China Daily. Wu chairs the non-profit Committee of 100, a group of prominent Chinese Americans, hosted the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Gordon Brown, and the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at a conference in Beijing to promote philanthropy. In addition to the China Daily’s article (http://bit.ly/2ar5f7K), stories about the conference appeared in in a few other outlets, including The Economist: http://econ.st/29ZYGqq.

Professor Joel Paul contributed an article to Huffington Post’s blog about Brexit, Donald Trump, free trade agreements and resisting isolationism. http://huff.to/29zt0ty

  • Professor Ahmed Ghappour (@ghappour) continues to be a go-to source for his expertise on cyberlaw issues.
    His forthcoming Stanford Law Review article, “Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement Jurisdiction on the Dark Web,” was listed in a jotwell.com survey by James Grimmelmann as one of the best works of recent scholarship relating to cyber law. http://cyber.jotwell.com
  • His recent comments to Ars Technica about the FBI’s use of malware to infiltrate a child pornography ring were picked up in a boingboing.net article. http://bit.ly/2aqZzdK

Professor Robin Feldman (@RobinCFeldman) has continued to write prolifically about IP matters.

  • An “Open Letter on Ethical Norms in IP Scholarship,” which she co-wrote with law professors from Stanford, Duke and the University of Chicago and was published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, was highlighted in a BNA press article.
  • “Is this what we want public money to be spent on? Going after successful companies in a patent litigation game?” asked Feldman in an NPR story about a lawsuit over a patent for a nutritional supplement that has pitted two bodybuilders against each other. http://n.pr/2appExc
  • She wrote an op-ed for the Daily Journal (paywall) about her recent Senate testimony on reforming the generic regulatory process.

Professor Evan Lee (@profevanlee) contributed an op-ed to the Daily Journal (paywall) about the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mathis v. United States, which he deems is a “big victory for the so-called ‘categorical approach’ to prior convictions.”

A couple of media outlets sought commentary from Professor David Levine.

  • He spoke to ABC7 about California parents who are suing to stop the state’s new vaccination law.
  • He spoke to the East Bay Times about the seizure of an Oakland office tower and other properties from a businessman accused of bad faith dealings. http://bit.ly/1N1G9w6

Professor Rory Little (@rorylittle) spoke to media outlets on a couple of topics.

  • “Only wealthy people can afford to do this. It’s sad really. It’s like any indentured servitude,” he remarked in an AP story about the increasing frequency of US attorneys’ offices seeking prosecutors willing to work without pay. http://apne.ws/29fkSOm
  • “If Lucy Koh can’t be confirmed, then the state of our partisan political ‘freeze’ is really quite disheartening,” said Little in a KQED.org story about the Senate’s confirmation hearing on her nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. http://bit.ly/29HeHFD

Professor Joan Williams (@JoanCWilliams) in the news:

  • “I think the idea of a glass ceiling – it just really captures people’s experience. [Women think] I’ve done everything right, but now I’ve hit the ceiling, and I just see the men sailing past it,” said in a News & Observer article about the popular metaphor. http://bit.ly/29rDcYR
  • Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls who Code, mentioned Williams and cited one of her 2015 Harvard Business Review articles in an interview for lennyletter.com. http://bit.ly/2abgkYt
  • “The next time a recruiter calls you up, she is your new best friend, even if you don’t want to move. Talk to her because she is the one who knows what you are worth on the open market,” said Williams in a NY Times story about negotiating a raise as a woman. http://nyti.ms/1NA09pK

The Center for WorkLife Law (@WorkLifeLawCtr) continues to make the news.

  • Williams and Kate Massinger, a writer and research intern at the Center, co-authored “How Woman Are Harassed Out of Science,” an article that recently appeared in The Atlantic and proposes solutions to fix this serious epidemic in STEM. http://theatln.tc/2aBJs08
  • The Center’s Deputy Director Liz Morris and Staff Attorney Jessica Lee co-authored a blog post for the Huffington Post highlighting a new federal labor law that mandates break time and private space for breastfeeding mothers. http://huff.to/29rxRAA
  • The Center’s 2014 report, “Double Jeopardy: Gender Bias Against Women of Color in Science,” was cited in a couple of articles.
  • In a Jewish Journal op-ed about the differences between workplace discrimination against women and racial minorities. http://bit.ly/29tMu4
  • In a Software Development Times story about Namrata Ganatra, the new CTO at tech startup Stockpile. http://bit.ly/2alxwwC

Professor Marsha Cohen (@msprof) wrote an op-ed for Above the Law expressing concerns about a proposal that would allow law students to gain academic credit for paid work. http://bit.ly/2afewQC

Professor John Crawford’s forthcoming paper in the American Business Law Journal, “Credible Losers: A Regulatory Design for Prudential Market Discipline,” received a positive write-up in a recent Bloomberg article. http://bloom.bg/2abkEHg

Professor Hadar Aviram (@aviramh) was one of several dozen law school professors to sign a letter, published in The Mercury News, in opposition to the recall campaign of Judge Persky, who presided over and handed down the sentence in the Brock Turner case. http://bayareane.ws/2ahkfn1

Professor Jaime King (@profjaimeking) was quoted in a zacks.com story about the proposed Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana mergers. http://bit.ly/29VqX5R

Adjunct Professor Jill Bronfman (@privacytechlaw), director of the Privacy & Technology Project at the Institute for Innovation Law, recently discussed hot topics in privacy law at an event at the Bar Association of San Francisco. bit.ly/2asHJr5

Adjunct Professor Shirish Gupta was recently profiled in a Daily Journal article (paywall) about mediation and teaching at UC Hasting’s Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution.

UC Law SF’ Source on Healthcare Price and Competition website was cited in a healthcarefinancenews.com article for its work gathering data on healthcare price transparency laws throughout the 50 states. http://bit.ly/2ahvDo5

Did you know that Gabriel Bellman ’05, associate director for graduate class advising, runs a film festival? He’s the co-founder and co-director of the San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this month. For SF Gate’s write-up about the event: http://bit.ly/2a8uEAh

Alumni News

  • Endorsements from President Obama and Vice President Biden, a gripping video homage to a popular former mayor of San Francisco, campaigns to serve in local government, an honor from the White House, the latest in our alumni news here:
  • President Obama and Vice-President Biden have enthusiastically endorsed CA Attorney General Kamala Harris ’89 for the U.S. Senate. http://lat.ms/29VtvRs
  • Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown ’58 talked to the NY Times in a gripping video about his life and the influence of African Americans on U.S. politics. http://nyti.ms/2a8XbsI
  • Vien Truong ’06, director of Green for All, was one of 10 people honored as a “White House Champion of Change for Climate Equity” for her work to help underserved communities prepare for and adapt to climate change. http://bit.ly/2aewJzg
  • Judge Katy Butler ’81, who serves on Benton County District Court in Washington, was profiled in the Tri-City Herald for her work on the bench. http://bit.ly/2atTsY4
  • Steve Zimmer ’73 is seeking reelection as vice president of the Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees. http://bit.ly/29rwSQS
  • Nick Howe ’16 recently competed in the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials for javelin. His Herculean efforts were highlighted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. http://bit.ly/29tOWZ4
  • Robert Farrell ’77 has joined Kalytera Therapeutics as President and Chief Financial Officer. http://mwne.ws/29vMRuQ
  • Jon Ellingson ’74 recently wrote a viewpoint article for Montana Lawyer on the dangers of the U.S. campaign finance system. http://bit.ly/29rD8bI
  • Kurt Gottschall ’95, a lawyer at the SEC since 2003, was recently named the associate regional director for enforcement in the agency’s Denver office. http://bit.ly/2aeD7qk
  • Nick Smith ’05, a lawyer at Lozano Smith, LLP and the current Pacific Grove planning commissioner, plans to run for the city council this fall. http://bit.ly/2a1ld74
  • Barry Engel ’79 has joined Greenspoon Marder as a shareholder in the firm’s Denver, CO office. http://bit.ly/2a52VCD
  • Alameda Superior Court Judge Charles Smiley ’97 has been appointed to the Power of Democracy Steering Committee, which promotes access to civic learning for all California K-12 students. http://bit.ly/2apwani
  • Eastside Distilling, Inc. has appointed Grover Wickersham ’76 chairman of the company’s board of directors. http://bit.ly/2aiPGAT
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