Three Professors to Join Tenured Faculty at UC Law SF

The faculty at UC Law SF has voted to grant tenure to three outstanding professors. Associate professors Alina Ball, a nationally-recognized expert within the transactional clinical community, Jared Ellias, an expert in the realm of bankruptcy law, and Zachary Price, an expert on constitutional structure, will officially be promoted to full professorship starting in 2019 (pending board approval).

“These three are brilliant teachers, already accomplished scholars, and great contributors to the institutional success of UC Law SF,” said Chancellor & Dean David L. Faigman. “They embody what a law professor should be today. All three are all stars with very bright futures in academia. We could not be prouder of them.”

Ball, Ellias, and Price represent the best of UC Law SF, says Academic Dean Morris Ratner. “They are innovative scholars and teachers who seamlessly meld theory and practice,” he said.

Alina Ball 

“Alina Ball represents the best qualities in a faculty member and UC Law SF is richer because of her,” said Carol Izumi, a clinical law professor who has worked closely with Ball since she joined the law school’s in-house clinical faculty in 2013.

Since her arrival, Ball has developed the Enterprise & Economic Empowerment Clinic, developed and co-taught the Business Tax Practicum, and along the way has earned a reputation as a professor who cares deeply about all students. “Her scholarship and teaching showcase her razor-sharp intellect, her social justice DNA, and her empathic humanity,” Izumi said.

As further evidence of that, Ball earlier this year was awarded the national Shanara Gilbert Award, a prize bestowed by the clinical section of the Association of American Law Schools to an up-and-coming clinician who demonstrates a commitment to teaching and social justice.

As for earning tenure, Ball says she hasn’t made it this far to plateau.

“I feel like getting tenure has added fuel to my fire,” Ball said. “It’s a real affirmation of the investment I’ve made in my students, my scholarship and to the institution.”

Jared Ellias

Ellias has had a profound impact on the law school since he joined the faculty in 2014.

His scholarly work has been recognized nationally—most recently, he presented his paper “What Drives Bankruptcy Forum Shopping? Evidence from Market Data” at the 2018 Weil, Gotshal & Manges Roundtable hosted by the Yale Law School Center for the Study of Corporate Law; he has helped bring in several high-profile speakers to campus; and he launched the Business Law Center at Hastings, which is ramping up along with the new Business Law concentration. He regularly presents his work at gatherings of bankruptcy practitioners and has presented multiple times at the Annual Meeting of the American Law & Economics Association and the Conference on Empirical Legal Studies.

“It is highly unusual for a young, untenured colleague to have such a major impact on the scholarly culture at a school,” said Ben Depoorter, the Max Radin Distinguished Professor at UC Law SF. “He relentlessly pursues cutting-edge issues in bankruptcy law, using creative empirical methods.”

Some of his recent scholarly works include, “Bankruptcy Claims Trading,” 47 Journal of Empirical Studies 119- 149 (2018); “What Drives Bankruptcy Forum Shopping? Evidence from Market Data,” 47 Journal of Legal Studies 119 (2018) (selected for presentation at the Stanford/Yale/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum); and “Regulating Bankruptcy Bonuses,” forthcoming in Southern California Law Review.

Ellias is currently working on research that examines the governance of large bankrupt firms.

“I am looking forward to continuing my research and working with the many great faculty here at Hastings,” he said. “It’s honor and a privilege to be a part of the Hastings family.”

Zachary Price

Price stands as a prominent expert on questions of constitutional structure. Since joining UC Law SF in 2013, Price has been prolific in his commentary, having published articles on matters of constitutional law in Take Care Blog, SCOTUSblog and the Washington Post, to name a few.

Some of his scholarly works include, “Funding Restrictions and Separation of Powers,” 71 Vanderbilt Law Review 357 (2018); “Our Imperiled Absolutist First Amendment,” 20 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 821 (2018); “Reliance on Nonenforcement,” 58 William & Mary Law Review 937 (2017) (selected for presentation at the Harvard-Yale-Stanford Junior Faculty Forum); “Seeking Baselines for Negative Authority: Constitutional and Rule-of-Law Arguments Over Nonenforcement and Waiver,” 8 Journal of Legal Analysis 235 (2016); “Enforcement Discretion and Executive Duty,” 67 Vanderbilt Law Review 671 (2014); “NAMUDNO’s Non-Existent Principle of State Equality,” 88 New York University Law Review Online 24 (2013); and “Dividing Sovereignty in Tribal and Territorial Criminal Jurisdiction,” 113 Columbia Law Review 657 (2013). Price has presented his work at the Harvard-Yale-Stanford Junior Faculty Forum, the Annual Administrative Law New Scholarship Roundtable, the National Conference of Constitutional Law Scholars, and conferences at Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, and Vanderbilt Law School, among others.

Prior to landing at UC Law SF, Price clerked for Judge Catherine Blake at the U.S. District Court in Maryland, Judge David Tatel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the U.S. Supreme Court. He then practiced law as an Associate at Jones Day for two years, spent three years working as an Attorney Advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as a Fellow at the Stanford Constitutional Law Center.

In just five years, Price has been recognized by his colleagues as a dynamic scholar who has introduced his students to cutting-edge questions in public law.

“UC Law SF is a wonderfully dynamic intellectual community, and the UC Law SF faculty is an amazing group of scholars and teachers. I am delighted by the faculty’s vote of confidence in me,” Price said.

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