Congratulations to all our 2024 Moot Court Competition participants, board and judges! At the oral argument finals, Gabe Kirsch (pictured left) won best advocate and Jay Narimatsu (pictured right) was awarded runner-up best advocate. Thank you to our sponsor, Buchalter, and our wonderful panel of federal judges: Hon. Marsha S. Berzon and Hon. Kim McLane Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Hon. Hernán D. Vera of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UCI Law ranked No. 20 in Law.com's Go-To Law School Hiring Report, which recognizes the top 50 law schools that sent the highest percentage of 2023 J.D.s into associate jobs at the nation’s largest 100 law firms.
Congratulations to UCI Law's Class of 2023! For our J.D. students, 97 percent are employed in jobs that require bar passage (including 10 percent in federal or state judicial clerkships), prefer a J.D., or are pursuing an advanced degree, within 10 months of graduation.

Save the date — Tuesday, April 16th is #UCIGivingDay! Our UCI Law community is gearing up to make a big impact with the help of several generous donors who have pledged matching gifts. All gifts to Scholarships, Clinics, PILF and the Law Fund will help unlock this year’s bonus gifts. Support the next generation of skilled, reflective lawyers by making a gift to UCI Law on Tuesday, April 16. See you then!  

Our faculty are leading scholars and teachers in the nation, addressing the most important issues of our time. The 2024 Celebration of Books honored 11 books authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited by UCI Law faculty, including: Dean Austen L. Parrish, and Professors Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen, Bryant G. Garth, Stephen Lee, Christopher R. Leslie, R. Anthony Reese, Ann Southworth, and Ari Ezra Waldman.


Founded in South Central Los Angeles, Thrive Scholars helps high-achieving, underrepresented students from economically disadvantaged communities get into and graduate from top colleges. Under the initiative, qualified Thrive Scholars interested in the study of law, including those in the Thrive Scholars Law Pathway, will receive $90,000 over three years at UCI Law.


With the help of UCI Law alumni, 26 UCI Law students traveled to Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana to provide pro bono legal services at a variety of locations, including the Louisiana Public Defender's Office, Disability Rights Mississippi, Mississippi Center for Justice, Mississippi Center for Legal Services, and the prosecutor's office in Billings, Montana.

Check out Dean Austen Parrish's column in the March issue of OC Lawyer Magazine. In the Dean's Corner piece, he describes UCI Law's 15-year journey and shares some of our outstanding achievements. The magazine also features a President's Page with UCI Law inaugural alumna Christina Zabat-Fran '12, writing about her role as the 2024 President of the Orange County Bar Association.


UCI Law welcomed the future UCI Law Class of 2027 to campus April 5-6. Our admitted students had the opportunity to meet alumni, representatives from student organizations, faculty and staff, and hear about the broad variety of opportunities available at UCI Law.

UCI Law 3Ls Celine Gruaz and Robia Amjad spent the past fall in Geneva, Switzerland, where they externed at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Amjad was in the Civic Spaces Unit, and Gruaz focused on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Check out their first-person perspectives on the unique experience.

Dean Austen Parrish interviewed third-year UCI Law student Jared Gheen, tracing his journey from rural Utah to UCI Law. Jared reflected on some of his favorite pro bono memories, highlighted his passion for advocacy work for the queer community, and shared his advice to aspiring law students.

Christina Zabat-Fran '12, who serves as general counsel at Lanvin Group, was a featured panelist at Orange Coast magazine's third annual Kickass Women Luncheon presented by UCI Health at The Ebell in Santa Ana. Zabat-Fran and co-panelists shared their breaking-the-glass-ceiling moments, advice from mentors, challenges and how they overcame them. (Photo credit: Scott Smeltzer)

Distinguished Professor of Law Joseph F.C. DiMento has been elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF). The ABF Fellows is a global honorary society that recognizes attorneys, judges, law faculty and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities.


The university-wide accolade LEAD recognizes key leaders, graduate students, staff and faculty who support and champion student success and research excellence in the Latinx community at UCI and in Orange County. Brenda is one of only 15 graduate students from across the entire UCI campus to receive this honor.

UCI Law's Graduate Tax Program will host its sixth annual UCI Law / Taylor Nelson Amitrano LLP Tax Symposium on April 18, 2024. Sponsored by the Law Offices of Taylor Nelson Amitrano LLP, the theme of this year’s symposium is "The Moore Case and the Future of the Realization Doctrine."

UCI Law faculty are top scholars, educators and active leaders in a vast array of fields. Read the latest about UCI Law's faculty, including recent scholarship, conferences and influential leadership across the world.

In the Q&A below, Drew shares some insights into what it's like to be a student in the UCI Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic’s Press Freedom Project. He shares what inspires him to do this kind of work, and offers advice to prospective students.

Drew is an incoming summer associate at Carpenter & Zuckerman. He received his bachelor's degree at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Economics.
Q: What Matters to You and Why?
Freedom of the press is essential to a healthy democracy, as it enables the media to serve as watchdogs and inform the public about government injustices occurring at all levels, from federal to local. Independent journalists play a crucial role in uncovering government wrongdoing, often operating with limited funding and legal support. Legal clinics can play a significant role in offering vital legal services, supporting journalists in their pursuit of informing the public.

Q: Tell us about the work you're doing in your clinic
One of our clients recently filed a lawsuit against a police department for wrongful arrest. The incident occurred while they were covering a protest regarding the cleanup of an unhoused encampment at Echo Park Lake. We received a massive discovery dump, which included over 60,000 pages of documents, hours of bodycam footage, and police radar. It took us dozens of hours to go through it all and refine our case theory to prepare for upcoming hearings and depositions. By representing our clients, I played a small role in the effort to safeguard their journalistic rights and liberties, and defend the public's right to information. Despite initially feeling overwhelmed, advocating for our client was deeply fulfilling, particularly because it marked the realization of a dream I've held since the age of fourteen: to become a litigator.

Q: How has your clinical experience shaped your legal education?
I am very grateful for my clinical experience, which has been one of the most valuable parts of my legal education. I am grateful for UCI Law’s clinical requirement and commitment to experiential learning. It has contributed to my legal education by giving me hands-on, real-world experience with clients who may not otherwise have representation. Further, I have been able to pursue my values to work towards the goal of protecting freedom of speech and press.

Q: How has the clinic helped you develop valuable skills such as client relationships, empathy, legal research and advocacy?
I was very nervous about transitioning from learning the law in an academic setting to applying the law to real-world issues and clients. My involvement in the Press Freedom Project, working with actual clients and addressing real issues, has fueled my desire to pursue a career in law, as I've witnessed firsthand the tangible effects of my advocacy work on those I represent.

Q: How has the clinic deepened your understanding of the social and systemic issues affecting communities and individuals who seek legal assistance? 
Justice is often denied to those without financial resources. Legal clinics are a way to combat systemic inequalities in our legal system and society as they give counsel and representation to those who may otherwise not have access to an attorney. In the context of press freedom, enforcing government violations on free speech and press incentivizes the government to ensure they are following all citizens' constitutional protections.

Q: What advice or insights about your clinical experience would you offer to prospective students considering UCI Law?
No matter what school you attend, a clinic can give you “first-chair” experience under the guidance of a professor. This will ultimately prepare you for entering the legal profession in any context. UCI Law requires every student to complete a clinic, which helps you gain relevant, experiential skills that will transfer to any practice area. If you want to ensure that your law school experience is both academic and practical, I could not recommend UCI Law’s clinical program enough.
Prof. Veena Dubal was quoted in The New York Times about Washington State's "'Strippers' Bill of Rights." READ

Prof. Dalié Jiménez commented to USA Today about the ability of collection agencies to buy debt from creditors and sue for money. READ

Prof. David Kaye wrote an op-ed in Foreign Affairs that discusses how well-intentioned internet regulation efforts could jeopardize free speech. READ

Prof. Robert Solomon was quoted in the Los Angeles Times on the profitability of legal weed business hinging on the federal government rescheduling cannabis. READ
Prof. Jane Stoever was quoted in the Orange County Register about a new bill that seeks to add protections for victims of abuse. READ

Prof. Ari Waldman was featured in Mashable on the limited recourse available to users who experience harm online. READ

UCI Law was included in Above the Law's roundup of The Best Law Schools for Diversity (2023), listing UCI Law as No. 1 for Asians.
Ari Yampolsky '12 has opened a new firm, Whistleblower Partners LLP, a public interest law firm dedicated to advocating for whistleblowers and exposing corporate misconduct.

Jaclyn Stahl '13 will be doing an extended detail as an International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) attorney advisor based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she'll be focusing on training law enforcement and prosecutors on how to investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes that affect Americans.

Tiffany Aguiar '20 was recognized as a finalist in the Rising Star category at the 2024 Orange County Inspirational Women Forum & Leadership Awards.

Cassy Doutt '20 was named a Franchise Times Magazine 2024 Legal Eagle as one of the "best lawyers who specialize in all things franchising."


This year, the beloved interactive theatrical event UC Shakespeare Trial returned to the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The audience-turned-jury watched as Erwin Chemerinsky (Dean, Berkeley Law; Founding Dean, UCI Law) and Bernadette Meyler '06 (Professor and Associate Dean, Stanford Law) verbally jousted before the Hon. Andrew Guilford (ret.). Dean Austen Parrish provided introductory remarks. The event featured scenes from Measure for Measure by New Swan actors, directed by Beth Lopes.
April 11 » Reimagining the Justice System
  • Hosted by UCI School of Social Ecology, this event has been made possible through a generous gift from UCI Law Distinguished Professor, Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D. Hear how thought leaders are approaching justice in innovative ways and the impact that faculty research has on the justice system. (Details)
April 12 » CLSC | Socio-Legal Studies Book Talk: Mona Oraby - Devotion to the Administrative State: Religion and Social Order in Egypt
  • Mona Oraby, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Howard University, will present: Devotion to the Administrative State: Religion and Social Order in Egypt (Princeton University Press, forthcoming March 2024). (Details)
April 16 » Civility in the Legal Profession
  • Be among the first attorneys to satisfy the new MCLE requirement. Food, drinks, and parking validation for Lot 660 is provided. This program is complimentary for UCI alums who register in advance. Featuring Hon. Kirk Nakamura UCI '77; Justice Maurice Sanchez UCI '78; Jenny Tran UCI '05; and Ahmad Takouche '18. (Details)
April 18 » 6th Annual UCI Law - Taylor Nelson Amitrano, LLP Tax Symposium
  • The theme this year will be "The Moore Case and the Future of the Realization Doctrine." This one-day virtual symposium will be attended by tax industry professionals, government officials and academic researches from all over the world, and features keynote speaker David Kamin, Charles L. Denison Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. (Details)
April 22 » GLAS | Artificial Intelligence Regulation in China and AI Use in Legal Work
  • The UCI Law Center in Globalization, Law, and Society welcomes Professor Mingwei Liu and Kaichen (KC) Xu for discussions on Artificial Intelligence Regulation in China and AI Use in Legal Work. (Details)
May 10 » UCI Law 2024 Commencement
  • We are excited to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2024 Class of UCI Law at the Commencement Ceremony taking place at the Bren Events Center. There will be a reception serving light refreshments directly following the ceremony on the Ticket Terrace. (Details)
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