Thinkers & Doers: October 2017

THE FACULTY BUZZ:
Professor Joan C. Williams (@joancwilliams) appeared on the Washington Post’s PostPartisan podcast to discuss the “poisonous dynamic among white people” over who’s to blame for racism. http://wapo.st/2irDXSa
— “If anyone out there just saw this as ever being ‘fun’ behavior, it’s very clear now that it’s expensive fun, and company-threatening fun,” said Professor Williams in a USA Today article on the Harvey Weinstein effect of men being outed and fired as women speak up about sexual harassment. https://usat.ly/2A2g1vQ
— “We need to shift Americans toward a more realistic view of government,” suggests Professor Williams in a Washington Post article on how to fix American democracy. http://wapo.st/2iZq01N
— Professor Williams was interviewed by CNN to discuss whether Democrats are clueless on class. http://cnn.it/2iYcmMf

Professor Shanin Specter was elected to be a member of the American Law Institute continuing the longstanding tradition of UC Law SF faculty as proud members of this leading independent organization that produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. http://bit.ly/2iYcr2v

Why do drug prices remain so high? “Because drug companies block competition,” says Professor Robin Feldman (@RobinCFeldman) in a new study that examines all drugs on the market between 2005 and 2015, identifying and analyzing every instance in which the company added new patents or exclusivities. http://bit.ly/2zhoeiI
— The Supreme Court “opened the door a crack” to using the rule of reason when it ruled in 2013 that “reverse payment” settlements in pharmaceutical patent suits aren’t immune from antitrust claims, noted Professor Feldman for Bloomberg Law, when discussing the antitrust case of Ohio et al. v. American Express Co. pending before SCOTUS. http://bit.ly/2xUQ1BL
— Professor Feldman discussed the topic of opioids and FDA regulatory practice for Inside Health Policy. http://bit.ly/2zhF7tB
— Professor Feldman was interviewed by the SF Daily Journal about the developments in the Apple v. Samsung case.
— At least 74 percent of drugs associated with new patents were medicines already on the market, according to research by Professor Feldman cited in an article in Bloomberg BNA. http://bit.ly/2zfvOKG

Professor Carol Izumi will be recognized with the 2018 William Pincus Award from the AALS Clinical Section for her lifetime achievement in outstanding service and commitment to the clinical community. Professor Izumi enters the esteemed pantheon Pincus Award winners, including Emeritus Professor Bea Moulton who won in 1990.

UC Law SF is honored to have another winner recognized at the AALS annual meeting as Distinguished Professor Roger C. Park will be awarded the 2018 John Henry Wigmore Award by the AALS Section on Evidence to recognize his lifetime of contributions to the field of evidence. http://bit.ly/2iZr1H9

Professor Zachary Price discusses our imperiled absolutist First Amendment for Take Care blog. http://bit.ly/2yqYDV9
— Professor Price’s discussion was also broadcast in a podcast for the LA Daily Journal. http://bit.ly/2h1j9AI

Professor Rory Little (@RoryLittle) was interviewed by Bloomberg Radio to weigh in on the Supreme Court case Class v. United States, in which the court is considering whether a guilty plea inherently waives a defendant’s right to challenge the constitutionality of the law they were convicted under. https://bloom.bg/2h9pe1u
— Professor Little analyzed guilty-plea rules addressed in the oral argument for the Supreme Court action Class v. United States for SCOTUSblog. http://bit.ly/2lMRbha
— Professor Little makes an appearance on KQED News to talk about the fall term of the U.S. Supreme Court, which includes a number of cases with significance for California on the docket. http://bit.ly/2h19Kc6
— Professor Little predicts tough sledding ahead to find 12 unbiased jurors in the case of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a five-time deported, seven-time convicted illegal alien and Mexican national, who murdered a young woman in broad daylight on San Francisco’s Pier 14 and was referenced by President Trump as a reason to eliminate sanctuary cities. http://bit.ly/2ys79mJ
— Professor Little discussed the Manafort indictment for KTVU. http://bit.ly/2zcbMkA

The Washington Post referenced a letter co-drafted by Professor John Leshy that objects to Interior Secretary Zinke’s questioning the loyalty of Interior Department career staff. http://wapo.st/2A3efuj

“Social science tells us that people’s experiences, people’s demographics and people’s histories come with them to decide questions of fact. On the other hand, jurors might be able to put their views aside while grappling with issues of ballistics and forensic evidence,” said Professor Hadar Aviram (@aviramh) in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle discussing jury selection issues in the case of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate (pictured with San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi ’85 in the article). http://bit.ly/2A3PP3N

“We tend to think of the civil rights movement as something that happened in the American South when, in fact, the Bay Area has a robust and colorful civil rights history,” said Professor Reuel Schiller in an article for the Marin Independent Journal celebrating the Bay Area civil rights leader Joe James. http://bayareane.ws/2hAu1WU

Professor Scott Dodson (@ProfDodson) was “name-dropped” by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she referenced his amicus brief during oral argument in the case of Hamer v. Neighborhood Housing Serv. of Chicago. Listen in (starting at 6:00). http://bit.ly/2Aft0Ls
— Professor Dodson’s amicus was also discussed on an episode of the First Monday’s podcast (starting at 1:12:40). http://bit.ly/2zvnh7d

A report co-released by Professor Jeffrey A. Lefstin concludes that the current rules for determining what innovations are eligible for patent protection are “indefensible” as a matter of legal principle and are causing particular difficulties for bioscience fields. http://bit.ly/2hAs6Bt

“Non-vaccination was pretty rare until the ’80s and ’90s, so we haven’t had enough preventable disease transmission to raise a lot of claims,” Professor Dorit Rubenstein Reiss (@doritmi) told Healthline when weighing in on the issue of whether parents should be punished for not vaccinating their children. http://bit.ly/2ys53U4

Distinguished Professor Frank H. Wu (@frankhwu) delivered the keynote address at a conference for the Chinese Historical Society of America. http://bit.ly/2lLJhEL
— Professor Wu discusses the Nobel Prize and the urinal fly in a piece for the Huffington Post. http://bit.ly/2hdbxi5
— Professor Wu contributed a segment entitled “The Residential Segregation of Asian Americans” to the recently released book The Fight for Fair Housing: Causes, Consequences, and Future Implications of the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act. http://amzn.to/2A23Dfl
— Professor Wu added commentary to the East Bay Times article on the deep racial divides among Californians on whether college is necessary. http://bayareane.ws/2A24hth

Wildfire victims sue PG&E and Professor David Levine says, “PG&E’s defense is going to be ‘act of God.’ The defense is going to be: this was a storm, we were not responsible for the storm,” in an interview with
CBS SF Bay Area. http://cbsloc.al/2hCoija
— Professor Levine discussed jury selection in the Steinle case for KTVU.

Professor Ugo Mattei’s (@UgoMattei) new article “The Cold War and Comparative Law” is now published for The American Journal of Comparative Law. http://bit.ly/2zhL7Co

Professor Jill Bronfman (@privacytechlaw) was the keynote speaker at the third International seminar on health, human rights and IPR in India. http://bit.ly/2lJST2K

“One of the big failures of the U.S. healthcare system has been fragmentation, and these vertical mergers are trying to cure that problem,” said Professor Tim Greaney in an article for the LA Times about the potential merger of CVS Health and Aetna, and the looming threat from Amazon. http://lat.ms/2AitUqO

Does the stereotype that ‘Asian people are good at science’ help women of Asian descent in the United States? No, says new research from the Center for WorkLife Law (@WorkLifeLawCtr). http://bit.ly/2zaKJDE

Sarah Hooper, Executive Director of the UCSF/UC Law SF Consortium on Law, Science, and Health Policy, received a Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship at George Washington University. http://bit.ly/2zvmPWy

IT’S NOVEMBER:
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UC HASTINGS NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS:
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ON CAMPUS:
— The UC Law SF Street Pole Banner Campaign was mentioned in an article for Rewire about gun control and abortion. http://bit.ly/2irzlLT

— UC Law SF is hosting a lecture by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. http://bit.ly/2iqQMMm

— “The noise, the lights, it’s almost impossible to sleep really,” said Victor Ho, UC Law SF Director of Financial Aid, when interviewed by NBC about the band Coldplay breaking the 10:00 pm weeknight curfew set by Santa Clara officials for Levi’s Stadium.

— HJLSA hosted a panel discussion with President and CEO of HIAS, Mark Hetfield, and Co-Legal director of the UC Law SF-based Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, Blaine Bookey.

— UCSF Center for Community Engagement awarded UC Law SF and its partners an Education and Training Award for their work in the Optimizing Aging Collaborative. http://bit.ly/2iqGY58

— UC Law SF broke ground on a new academic facility. http://bit.ly/2zbPm2F

— UC Law SF received a $1 Million gift from Professor Shanin Specter to be used to build the new “Shanin Specter Courtroom” and to support multiple areas within the College. http://bit.ly/2hdbYJf

— UC Law SF is pleased to present “In the Moment,” a pop-up gallery featuring selected images of our faculty and alumni as captured and curated by photographer Jim Block, which will be featured on the first floor of 200 McAllister through the end of the year. http://bit.ly/2lKpUMi

STUDENT MIXTAPE:
— A decade of high-flying, high-stakes government jobs led 3L Christa Hall to law school at UC Law SF. http://bit.ly/2A4bxVh

— The American Constitutional Society for Law and Policy at UC Law SF (ACS) was named Student Chapter of the Week for holding exceptional programming & establishing themselves as a premier student group on campus. http://bit.ly/2ysa13e

— UC Law SF students hosted neighborhood children for “Halloween in the Tower” to provide a safe space to trick or treat. http://bit.ly/2zgTxIk

ALUMNI-LAND:
— Daniel McVeigh ’77, Silvio Reggiardo ’87, and William Warne ’88 were named Best of the Bar 2017 and Best Lawyers in America 2018. http://bit.ly/2AgO30m

— “I think this man is so embarrassed by his conduct that somebody must have said to him, ‘open the gate and let the courts figure it out down the line,’ ” said Joe Cotchett ‘64, the lead attorney for the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation in an action against venture capitalist Vinod Khosla to finally allow the public to use the only road leading to picturesque Martins Beach, in an article for SF Gate. http://bit.ly/2zdsuQC

— Robert Jason ’67, along with his wife Sherry Jason, received the prestigious Caring Award from the Caring Institute. http://bit.ly/2zbEz6l

— Duke University has tapped, Kate Konschnik ‘02, an environmental law expert with experience at the Justice Department and on Capitol Hill to lead its Climate and Energy Program. http://bit.ly/2irt0Qs

— As other volunteers donated food and clothing to victims of the wildfires in California’s Wine Country, members of the UC Law SF community, like Little Fawn Boland ’05, Amy Bach ’89, 2L Trang Luong, and Jon Eisenberg ’79 were doing what they do best—providing legal aid. http://bit.ly/2ztbVAt

— Bärí A. Williams ’08 wrote an Op-Ed published in The New York Times entitled “Tech’s Troubling New Trend: Diversity Is in Your Head.” http://nyti.ms/2lJc6BI

— Jennifer L. Keller ’78 was selected to the Benchmark Litigation nationwide list of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” as one of the country’s top courtroom advocates. http://bit.ly/2zirtq3

— Barbara A. Dickinson ‘89 has been appointed by Governor Brown to a judgeship in the Alameda County Superior Court. http://bayareane.ws/2h07TVb

— Liz Curtis ’09, the creator of Table + Teaspoon, was live on the Washington Post’s Home Front to answer questions on how to set the perfect table and more. http://wapo.st/2zgPmOw

— Navi Dhillon ’11 was mentioned in the Daily Journal for his continued work in representing dog and recreation advocacy groups.

— KUOW spotlighted the case of Juliana v. United States that is spearheaded by Julia Olson ’97 and Our Children’s Trust. http://bit.ly/2hBUwLr

— When a monkey takes a selfie, who owns the copyright? Andrew Dhuey ’92 discusses representing his client in the infamous “Monkey Selfie” case. http://bit.ly/2A64yeF

— Major John Kakinuki ‘84 received the US Army Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service at the California National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters in Sacramento for humanitarian acts performed, in a civilian capacity, in Japan from March to June 2011 after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. http://bit.ly/2AhlpMn

— Brianna Howard ’16 contributed a guest post for Forbes entitled “Here Are Some of the Legal Implications of Virtual Reality in Esports.” http://bit.ly/2A30kUY

— Lawrence J. Gumbiner ’82 was appointed to the position of Chargé d’Affaires to the US Embassy in Havana. http://bit.ly/2AivV6m

— Assistant United States Attorney Michael G. Freedman ’11 helped obtain a guilty plea from the leader of a narcotics-distribution ring in Los Angeles. http://bit.ly/2xUXJfb

— The Daily Journal published an ADR profile on Rachel Ehrlich ’96 entitled “A San Francisco mediator doesn’t shy away from a conflict.” http://bit.ly/2Afw9Lg

— Danny LeRoux ’10 published a book entitled “100 Things Warriors Fans Should Know & Do before They Die.” http://bit.ly/2zbxWRy

— President Trump nominated McGregor “Greg” Scott ’89 to return as U.S. attorney for California’s Eastern District. http://bit.ly/2ykQp0J

— Teresa M. Caffese ’85 has been appointed by Governor Brown to a judgeship in the San Francisco County Superior Court. http://bit.ly/2lLkLDX

CONDOLENCES:
The UC Law SF community extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of David Williamson ’74, John Racanelli ’52, and Anne Schwarzer.

— David Williamson ’74 worked as an attorney for PG&E for 30 years and refereed and coached rugby at both the national and local levels. http://bit.ly/2lJex7k

— Justice John Racanelli ‘52, a former state appeals court justice in San Francisco and author of a key ruling on water quality in California, was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977 to the First District Court of Appeal, where he served as a presiding justice. He described himself jokingly as a “double brownie,” as he had spent the previous 13 years on the Santa Clara County Superior Court, appointed by Brown’s father, Gov. Pat Brown. He retired from the bench in 1991. http://bit.ly/2zdk1KV

— Anne Schwarzer was the wife of the late UC Law SF professor, Judge William Schwarzer, and was an active member of the UC Law SF community for many years. http://bit.ly/2itTQHw

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