Gail Silverstein

Bio

Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Clinical Professor of Law,  Professor Gail Silverstein graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a B.A. in Spanish Literature (1995); and UC Berkeley School of Law, J.D. (1999). After finishing law school, where she was awarded the annual public service award, Professor Silverstein was the recipient of a public interest fellowship sponsored by the firm formerly known as Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro to work on a special project advising, representing and being a part of policy initiatives supporting federal disability benefits recipients on the legalities of returning to work.

After her fellowship, Professor Silverstein joined East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC), a community-based clinic of Berkeley Law and the largest provider of free legal services in the East Bay. During her tenure at EBCLC, she was a staff attorney and clinical supervisor in the HIV/AIDS unit, specializing in legal services to women and children in a variety of civil matters. In this position, she was also Chair of the Executive Committee of the Family Care Network, a multi-disciplinary group of AIDS service providers.

At UC Law SF, Professor Silverstein co-directs and co-teaches Individual Representation Clinic and Mediation Clinic, as well as co-teaching the Social Justice Lawyering Concentration Seminar and serving as the Associate Dean for Experiential Learning. She has litigated in the areas of state and federal public benefits, employment, housing, and “clean slate” law. She represents clients in state court and at state and federal administrative hearings. Professor Silverstein has also mediated hundreds of cases and has developed expertise in housing and employment discrimination and retaliation matters, workplace disputes, and small claims court matters.

When not supporting students in their social justice, litigation and mediation knowledge, skills and mindsets, you can also find her supporting the top-ranked clinic, externship and pro bono programs at the school, working on scholarship and innovative pedagogical modalities regarding the attorney-client relationship and professional identity formation, being a faculty advisor, and participating in the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education and ABA Section on Dispute Resolution.

Professor Silverstein is an active member of her community. She is on the Board of Directors for SEEDS Community Resolution Center, a non-profit community-based dispute resolution organization. She is also an honorary director of the Berkeley Law Foundation, a post-law school public interest fellowship funder. She lives in Berkeley with her two children and cat. She enjoys chocolate, podcasts, poetry, cooking, hiking and yoga.

Education

• University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law
  J.D., Law 1999

• University of Michigan
  B.A., Spanish Literature 1995

Selected Scholarship

• All's Well that Ends Well: The Importance of Full and Effective Closure in Lawyer-Client Relationships
  Clinical Law Review 2013

• United We Fly
  Thomas M. Cooley Journal of Practical and Clinical Law 2001