UC Law SF Event Celebrates Alumni Who Have ‘Changed the Game’
UC Law SF earlier this month celebrated the accomplishments of its alumni at “GAMECHANGER,” a gala-style event acknowledging the impact of its graduates and the law school’s role in training them.
More than 200 guests attended the event held at the City Club of San Francisco. Attendees included notables in the following areas:
– Public service: Burk Delventhal ’69, chief deputy of the Government Law Division of the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office; Anthony Lew ’08, deputy attorney general at the California Department of Justice; Christine Pelosi ’93, chair of the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus; Lila Mirrashidi ‘09, deputy secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency; and Vien Troung ‘06, former president of Dream Corps.
– The judiciary: Marvin Baxter ’66, former associate justice of the Supreme Court of California; Carol A. Corrigan ’75, associate justice of the Supreme Court of California; Katherine Feinstein ‘84, former presiding judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco; Richard Flier ’71, former Contra Costa County superior court judge; Carin Fujisaki ’85, associate justice of California First District of Appeals; Brad R. Hill ’83, administrative presiding justice of the California Fifth District Court of Appeals; and Leslie Nichols ’66, former judge for the Superior Court of California.
– Practice: Simona Agnolucci ’06, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters; Khaldoun A. Baghdadi ’97, shareholder at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Shoenberger; Eric S. Casher ’06, principal at Meyers Nave; Alison Cordova ’12, partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy; Roger A. Dreyer ’80, partner at Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora; Steven E. Fineman ’88, managing partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein; Wainwright Fishburn Jr. ’81, partner at Cooley; Thomas Gede ’81, of counsel at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and principal at Morgan Lewis Consulting; Susan Harriman ’83, partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters; Thomas Miller ’73, construction defect attorney at The Miller Law Firm; Roxane A. Polidora ’88, partner at Pilsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; Richard H. Schoenberger ’85, shareholder at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger; Bruce L. Simon ’80, founding partner of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw; and Claude M. Stern ’80, partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
– Business and tech: Danelle Dixon ’97, CEO and executive director of The Stellar Development Foundation; Martha Mendizabal ’10, co-founder of TecnoLatinx XR Labs; Daniel Safier ’94, president and CEO of Prado Group; and Adelmise Warner ’01, global head of diversity and inclusion at SiriusXM and Pandora.
– Beyond the law: Nathaniel Ballard ’99, CEO of The Press Shop; and Abby Ginzberg ’75, documentary filmmaker.
Joseph W. Cotchett ’64 served as the event’s emcee.
“UC Law SF is a school that brings forth people who make extraordinary changes in all law, every day,” he said. “We’re celebrating the phenomenal graduates of UC Law SF who have gone on to become US Senators, who have gone on to become members of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the California Assembly, the mayor of San Francisco, and so on. Everybody in this room is a game changer.”
Event sponsors included Clark Construction, law firms Pearson, Simon and Warshaw LLP, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Keker Van Nest & Peters, Duane Morris LLP, Holland Law LLP, Plastiras & Terrizzi, and John Stephens, Class of ’78. UC Law SF Trustee Chris Holland ’92 was the member sponsor at the City Club.
The event coincides with the official launch of the law school’s GAMECHANGER campaign, which includes a special spring edition of UC Law SF Magazine, light pole banners and a video that features Julia Olson ’97, the environmental attorney representing 21 young plaintiffs suing the federal government over climate change in Juliana v. United States.
Olson attended the event and addressed the crowd, thanking UC Law SF and its Chancellor and Dean David Faigman for providing support well beyond her graduation.
“Faigman has been with us every step of the way — through our arguments and providing sage advice,” she said, noting additional guidance from professors Matt Coles and Rory Little.
She continued, “I never knew that when I graduated from UC Law SF that I would come back and find such support in the faculty here. It’s been incredible.”
Dean Faigman summarized the GAMECHANGER concept and event as an opportunity for everyone to observe and share in the achievements of UC Law SF alumni.
“UC Law SF really is a community,” Faigman said. “This event shows how class after class not only is devoted to what happens at this school but is devoted to those who come after they’ve been there.”