FROM THE DEAN

Welcome to our latest issue of DISCERN, Santa Clara University School of Law’s signature publication highlighting the many distinctive strengths of this transformative learning community. Here we share stories about the work of our amazing students, the powerful research and teaching of our renowned faculty, the dedication of our incredible staff, the generous leadership of our donors, and the important contributions to the legal profession made by our loyal alumni. In this issue, we highlight the extraordinary leadership of one of Santa Clara Law’s most distinguished alumni, the Honorable Edward A. Panelli ’53, J.D. ’55 Justice Panelli’s celebrated legal career includes serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California beginning in 1985 until his retirement from the bench in 1994. His ongoing service to Santa Clara Law is legendary: Justice Panelli served on the University’s Board of Trustees for 59 years and was its chair for 19 years. He is also an ardent Law School advocate who works to raise money for student scholarships, and he serves as Jurist-inResidence, holding court on a daily basis in Charney Hall, where he shares his wise counsel with adoring students twice-weekly. We owe Justice Panelli our deepest gratitude for his decades of dedication to the legal profession and to our Law School.

We are also proud to share an update on the work of the Workers’ Rights Clinic at Santa Clara Law’s Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC), which for three decades has empowered students to provide essential legal services to the local community while learning the practice of law. Over the past 30 years, with the insightful mentoring and guidance of KGACLC staff and legal professionals, our law students have volunteered more than 110,000 hours in the Workers’ Rights Clinic, resulting in more than $4 million dollars in claim awards. I am grateful to the dedicated KGACLC staff, volunteers, and numerous law students who work to serve these individuals in need.

Santa Clara Law is excited to introduce you to several new faculty and staff-educators who have joined us in recent months. I know you will join me in warmly welcoming them and thanking them for their enthusiastic dedication to our students and our entire learning community.

We hope these stories will inspire contemplation, deep reflection, dialogue, intellectual nourishment, and pride in our Santa Clara Law School community. We welcome your ideas for future issues and we invite your feedback on our content.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL J. KAUFMAN Dean & Professor of Law

ELIZABETH K. GILLOGLY ’93

Serving a Critical Need

BY ELIZABETH K. GILLOGLY ’93

BY ALICIA K. GONZALES ’09

Lawyers as Leaders

BY ANNIE WARR ’99, MBA ’03