Thinkers & Doers: November 2017

THE FACULTY BUZZ:
“When you send a person with a false identity to talk to your client’s reporter, that’s not in the client’s interest,” said Professor Richard Zitrin in an article for Bloomberg discussing conflict of interest issues concerning super lawyer David Boies who has represented both The New York Times and Harvey Weinstein. https://bloom.bg/2BDYwUk
— Professor Zitrin continued his discussion on the “ethics quagmire” for attorney David Boies over the Weinstein spy hire in an article for Law360. http://bit.ly/2BCdgmx
— The Minority Bar Coalition of the San Francisco Bay Area presented Professor Zitrin with a 2017 Unity Award. http://bit.ly/2iAgbHw
— “The reason that this bill is important now is because it’s not just a matter about a felony, it’s about harm,” said Professor Zitrin in an article for The Wrap on a new California law prohibiting NDAs in civil settlements of felony sex crime claims. http://bit.ly/2i6afSR

Will America Ever Have a Woman President? “Maybe—but only if politicians start to focus on class,” writes Professor Joan C. Williams (@joancwilliams) in an article for Politico Magazine. http://politi.co/2iyLjqY
— “Blue-Collar Blues.” Henry Olsen reviews Professor Williams’ book White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America for Claremont Review of Books. http://bit.ly/2j8N4bn
— Professor Williams’ book was prominently referenced in an article for KQED News entitled “What We Talk About When We Talk About the ‘White Working Class.’” http://bit.ly/2BrvXIO
— Professor Williams contributed a “TED Talk” to the TEDxMileHigh Wonder Conference. http://bit.ly/2i6ExF5

California voters banned mountain lion hunting three decades ago, but the shooting never stopped. “The irony is animal rights groups now find themselves stymied to protect these cougars by the very anti-hunting law they passed,” notes Professor Michael Salerno in the Sacramento Bee. http://bit.ly/2BERa2X

“I don’t think there is any sane person who would look at this situation, this man who was risking his life to save people and property, and think his young daughters and wife should be left with nothing,” said Professor Veena Dubal (@veenadubal) in an article for KQED News on the family of dozer driver killed in a Big Sur fire dropping their lawsuit. http://bit.ly/2AowZWM
— Professor Dubal continued her commentary in a subsequent article for KQED News by saying, “It seems unduly harsh. It also might speak to the fears around an increased number of contractors used in fighting fires and fears of liability against the state.” http://bit.ly/2iyQHup
— “Casual workers have different and sometimes conflicting interests with full-time workers,” said Professor Dubal in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle on a ‘no delivery day’ organized by workers from Instacart. http://bit.ly/2nkMKLt
— “Given that the tests for employee status under U.S. law are subjectively applied, the U.K. decision may influence how triers of fact (both judges and juries) look at Uber drivers,” Professor Dubal told Bloomberg Law for its article on whether a ruling in the U.K. will have ripple effects on present litigation on employee status in the U.S. http://bit.ly/2AogZ6U

“In cases like the Pier 14 shooting, evidence can become a Rorschach test of jurors’ experiences and beliefs… you can’t really get into somebody’s head and know what they’re thinking,” said Professor Hadar Aviram (@aviramh) in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle on how jurors must seek truth in deciding the intent of the alleged murderer in the case of the tragic and ‘bizarre’ shooting of Kate Steinle. http://bit.ly/2BBGthk
— Professor Aviram also contributed commentary on the Steinle case in an interview for NBC and provided insight for an article in the San Francisco Magazine. http://bit.ly/2nm7x16
— “Charles Manson Was Sentenced to Death. Why Wasn’t He Executed?” Professor Aviram weighs in on the discussion for the History Channel. http://bit.ly/2kgeUpF
— Charles Manson may also have been partially responsible for driving up the cost of incarceration across America noted Professor Aviram in an article for Fortune that suggests keeping Manson in prison for 46 years cost taxpayers over $1 million. http://for.tn/2ANkg2y

Professor Sam Miller was quoted in an article for CNN Money on the Trump administration’s showdown with AT&T on a proposed merger with Time Warner. http://cnnmon.ie/2AB7Zy5

Professor Andrea Lollini was the recipient of the Marie Curie Researchers 2017 Award for work on the NEDBELS research project on Neurodiversity between law and science. http://bit.ly/2AlGdES

“If it’s really bad information for your case, you have to turn it over,” said Professor Rory Little (@RoryLittle) in an interview with Lyanne Melendez of ABC7 News on the defense’s motion to strike testimony from a key witness in the Kate Steinle murder trial. http://abc7ne.ws/2AN0cxk
— “There was not evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to shoot [Steinle] or that he intended to shoot the gun at all,” commented Professor Little in an article for KQED News on the jury’s not guilty verdict in the Steinle case. http://bit.ly/2zUPxAL

The UCLA Law Review published an article by Professor Dave Owen entitled “Auctions, Taxes, and Air.” http://bit.ly/2j7WAvA
— Professor Owen discusses the Fish and Wildlife Service’s retraction of its concerns about massive housing plan near Arizona’s San Pedro River in an article for Reveal. http://bit.ly/2Ao4JmV

Professor Emily Murphy reviewed Professor Jamie King’s new article in the Annals of Emergency Medicine titled “Don’t Hate the Player; Hate the Game,” for the Scholarship Blog. http://bit.ly/2Ao5X1s

Professor Jennifer Templeton Dunn’s case report entitled “The role of human rights litigation in improving access to reproductive health care and achieving reductions in maternal mortality” was published by BMC. http://bit.ly/2zVd6cT
— Professor Dunn’s article was later featured in UC Global Health Institute’s monthly newsletter. http://bit.ly/2BCuTTe

Chancellor & Dean David Faigman calls bar exam failure for top schools “unconscionable” in an article for the Recorder. http://bit.ly/2zHyAWe

Professor George Bisharat will be showcasing his harmonica skills under his stage name “Big Harp George” live at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco. http://bit.ly/2AMFWfk

Professor Shanin Specter and Professor David Levine both contributed insight for an article in the San Francisco Magazine’s Power Issue on the suits filed by city attorneys from Oakland and San Francisco against Big Oil. http://bit.ly/2AN2rAW

“This is designed to encourage robust public debate on matters of public concern,” said Professor John Diamond in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle on how the Bill Cosby case provides a defamation warning for others publicly claiming their accusers are liars. http://bit.ly/2njkBUZ

Professor Scott Dodson (@ProfDodson) addresses what Roger M. Michalski calls the “Parsimonious Model of Personal Jurisdiction” in a forthcoming article for Michigan Law Review. http://bit.ly/2Axvx6O

Professor Rick Marcus remarks on Professor Scott Dodson’s new article titled “Personal Jurisdiction and Aliens” for the Scholarship Blog. http://bit.ly/2AO5o3Z

Professor John Leshy contributed an Op-Ed to The Hill entitled “The Trump judiciary threatens federal public lands.” http://bit.ly/2Ar0nM5

“If you look at the reality of the law, if you didn’t have that small pecuniary (monetary) loss, you might not be able to bring that claim at all,” said Professor David Levine in an article for Moneyish that suggests a plaintiff could be better off getting mugged with an empty wallet than with a $50 bill. http://bit.ly/2AOo0kL

“In some schools we have very high rates of medical exemptions. Those schools are an outbreak waiting to happen,” noted Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss (@doritmi) in an interview with KTVU for their article on the high rates of non-vaccinated students in some Northern California schools. http://bit.ly/2zVX8im

Professor Jared Ellias commented on Professor Jodi Short’s new working paper on “Globalization, American Firms, and Human Rights” for the Scholarship Blog. http://bit.ly/2BEP1Eb

Distinguished Professor Frank H. Wu (@frankhwu) spoke at Google HQ on”Race in America Beyond Black and White.” http://bit.ly/2Aom3s0

The UCSF/UC Law SF Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors (MLPS) celebrated its Five-Year Anniversary. http://bit.ly/2zVohSP

Liz Morris, the Deputy Director of The Center for WorkLife Law (@WorkLifeLawCtr), was featured in a Q&A article for The Mom at Law. http://bit.ly/2nk6SND

Professor John Mills submitted an amicus brief, on behalf of a group of retired prosecutors, judges, and other stakeholders in Arizona’s criminal justice system, urging the Supreme Court of the United States to accept review in Hidalgo v. Arizona, which challenges Arizona’s capital sentencing statute and the constitutionality of the death penalty in and of itself. http://bit.ly/2AtnHL6

IT’S DECEMBER:
— Got a tip? Feedback? News to share? Let us know. By email: ER@UCHastings.edu

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS:
Ben Depoorter – Jodi Short – Tim Greaney – Yvonne Troya – Amy Chase – Stephanie Yee – Steven Zweig – Hiromi Cooley – Simona Scotti – Robyn Barnard – Blaine Bookey – Joseph Eichenbaum – Anthony Sotto – Kai Sun – Rajeev Sharma – Maria Burgos – John McCoy – Hilary Hardcastle

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ON CAMPUS:
— Generous donors helped UC Law SF raise over $124,000.00 for #GivingTuesday. http://bit.ly/UCHGivingTuesday-2017

— UC Law SF hosted scholars from the fields of Environmental Protection, Public Health, Health Care, and Financial Regulation for an all-day seminar on Deregulatory Frontiers in the Trump Era.

— UC Law SF staffer Jenifer Reeve was quoted in a Washington Post article about the “Martin Luther King Jr. moment” that was the election of openly transgender candidate Danica Roem to the Virginia state legislature. http://wapo.st/2BpFikj

— UC Law SF to host the Big Law Gender and Diversity Hackathon in 2018. http://bit.ly/2khqpNL

— Longtime UC Law SF staffer and 2012 Rummel Award recipient Beverly Taylor was spotlighted by her community. http://bit.ly/2AMwVTM

— New UC Law SF Spring 2018 courses “Using Artificial Intelligence in Legal Practice” and “Legal Tech Startup Skills” were highlighted in an article for Legal Tech News. http://bit.ly/2AoUFdh

— PreLaw Magazine ranked UC Law SF as a top institution in their categories for “Most Diverse Law Schools,” “Best Schools for Public Service,” and “Best Schools For Moot Court.” http://bit.ly/best-schools-for-mc

— A UC Law SF study was referenced in a San Francisco Magazine article on Black Girls Code, a group that hopes to prepare a generation to balance an uneven playing field. http://bit.ly/2AnRcvM

— Introducing Hastings Environmental Law Journal. http://bit.ly/introducing-helj

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
— The S.F.P.D. Tenderloin Station welcomed a new captain. http://bit.ly/2BsbfbL

STUDENT MIXTAPE:
— 2L Ryan Khojasteh put his hat in the ring in a bid for a seat on Capitol Hill.

— 3L and Air Force veteran Kelsey Campbell penned an Op-Ed for the San Francisco Chronicle entitled “Honor the American values for which our veterans fought.” http://bit.ly/2AkLhK2

— 2Ls Xia Hwang and Edgar Vargas cofounded a new student organization Tech x UCH to help educate fellow students about opportunities to learn about startup law at UC Law SF. http://bit.ly/techxuch-2017

ALUMNI-LAND:
— Jack Giraudo ‘80, Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for the Olin Corporation, was a panelist at a discussion hosted by Dow Jones Risk & Compliance and The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal entitled “Anti-Bribery: How the Risks are Changing.” http://bit.ly/2Ao35lc

— Thomas J. Umberg ‘80 has been selected as Chair of the Veterans Treatment Court Committee for the “Justice For Vets” project. Tom is a retired Army Colonel, veteran of Afghanistan, and Bronze Star recipient, in addition to a co-founding partner of Umberg Zipser LLP, which makes him the perfect candidate to lead this important project. http://bit.ly/2zFpDgi

— Aaron Herzberg ’95 founded the Puzzle Group PC, a law firm focused on municipal licensing for marijuana dispensaries in Southern California. http://bit.ly/2Ak2jaX

— In an article for the National Law Journal, Lynne Hermle ’81 hits back at a nasty depiction of her in Ellen Pao’s new book “Reset.” http://bit.ly/2iCDG2N

— Harold Small ’70 was honored with the Culinarian of the Year Award for 2017 by the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival. http://bit.ly/2ABdnRu

— Zoe Dolan ’05 contributed an Op-Ed to Coindesk on “ICOs on Our Terms and Conditions.” http://bit.ly/2zECRtB

— Patrick Meyers ’90 is taking over as Chief of Staff for Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. http://on9news.tv/2AnK0j5

— Downey Brand attorney Dan McVeigh ’77 was recognized at the Federal Bar Association’s 2017 Night to Honor Service for his pro bono contributions. http://bit.ly/2zVO6SE

— Port pilot John Betz ’96 discusses his non-legal career and the importance of education. http://bit.ly/2zHYVUn

— Retired San Francisco Superior Court judges, Lillian Sing ’75 and Julie Tang ‘82, are quoted in an article for the San Francisco Chronicle regarding comments made by the mayor of Osaka, Japan about a statue of “comfort women” unveiled in San Francisco’s St. Mary’s Square. http://bit.ly/2iwpNTT

— Eddie H. Ahn ’09 was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to the San Francisco Environment Commission, which sets policy for the SF Department of the Environment and its approximately 100 staffers dedicated to sustainability in energy, transportation, building, recycling, jobs, and beyond. http://bit.ly/2Ao7XH3

— Kate Cutler ’98 and Tal Winter ‘97, the founders of bkr, discuss “how to build a disruptive brand” for Forbes. http://bit.ly/2AhLVG6

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