UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young presents the UCLA Medal to Attorney General Janet Reno in law school commencement ceremonies in May.
The Magazine of the UCLA School of Law
Vol. 18, N° 2
Spring/Summer 1995
UCLA Law is published at UCLA for alumni, friends and other members ofthe UCLA Law community. Offices at 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, 90095.
Susan Westerberg Prager: Dean
Joan Tyndall: Assistant Dean, Development and Alumni Relations
Magazine Staff
Karen Nikos: Editor
Photography: ASUCLA Photo Service (Terry O'Donnell); Maryann Stuehrmann
Editorial assistants: Jean Lieu, Alisa Perren
Design: Lausten/Cossutta Design, Los Angeles
Printed by Typecraft, Pasadena, Calif.
UCLA Law Alumni Association Board of Directors
Honorable Laurence D. Rubin'7r: !'resident
Renee L. Campbell,'80: Vice President
John F. Runkel, Jr.'81: Secretary
John H. Weston'69: Treasurer
Richard D. Fybel '71: Alumni Representative
Robert B. Burke'66: Immediate Past President
Stanton P. Belland'59
Deborah A. David'75
Raquelle de la Rocha'87
Hon. Joan Dempsey Klein'55
Fredrick Kuperberg'66
S. Jerome Mandel'71
Michael D. Marcus'67
Alan M. Mirman'75
Holly R. Paul'91
Mark A. Samuels'82
Linda Smith'77
Hon. Gary L. Taylor'63
David C. Tseng'84
W. Keith Wyatt'77
Stephen D. Ys!as'72
COMMENCEMENT
FACULTY PROFILE: PROFESSOR GRANT NELSON
KATHLEEN M. SULLIVAN PRESENTS NINTH MELVILLE B. NIMMER MEMORIAL LECTURE
WILLIAM VAUGHN: THE IRVING H. GREEN MEMORIAL LECTURE
STEVEN DERIAN RECEIVES RUTTER AWARD
PUBLIC
right: Vincent Bugliosi'64 is one ofthe writers featured in Alums
FROM A LIFE OF CRIME, TO NEWS EVENTS, TO ROMANCE ON THE CALIFORNIA FRONTIER-A LOOK AT WHAT UCLAW GRADS WRITE AND HOW THEIR LEGAL EDUCATION PLAYS A ROLE
AlumniWho Write
Profiles byKarenNikos
VINCENT BUGLIOSI '64
Former Deputy District Attorney, prosecuted Charles Manson
Author ofTrue-Crime books: Helter Skelter, Till Death Us Do Part, And the Sea Will Tell Fiction works: Shadow ofCain and Lullaby and Goodnight. Two new works in progress-one about the Kennedy assassination and another about America's drug problem.
WHEN IT COMES TO LAWYERS who are writers, none is quite so well known in the arena of both attorneys and authors as Vincent Bugliosi, whose prosecution of infamous murderer and cult figure Charles Manson is legendary. His book about Manson and his followers and the murders they carried our-Helter Skelter-has been more widely read than any true-crime book in publishing history.
Scarcely five years after Bugliosi finished his classes at the Law School a time of his life Bugliosi characterizes as being less than academically superior-Charles Manson ordered the murders of nine people inJuly and August, 1969 The gruesome slaughter,including that of pregnant actress SharonTate in her Benedict Canyon home, created an atmosphere of terror throughout the Los Angeles basin and perplexed the world. In 1970 and 1971 a bizarre tale of mind control and murder unfolded in a Los Angeles courtroom with Bugliosi as prosecutor in what was one of the most closely watched trials in history.
Bugliosi won convictions for Manson and his co-defendants-headlining an enviable career for the young lawyer who even before the Manson case had won notoriety as a prosecutor who had never lost a murder case. The main character of a television series starring Robert Conrad, "The D.A.," was modeled after him. Winning convictions in all but one of the 106 felony cases he tried before juries during his eight years as a prosecutor, he left the Los Angeles District Attorney's office in 1972 to pursue a career as an author and defense attorney Bugliosi went on to write the best-selling Helter Skelter: The True Story ofthe Manson Murders. The eerie tale of the "Manson family" murders, found on almost any reader's bookshelf in the '70s, continues to be read widely today and has sold more than 6-million copies.
Despite his publishing success, Bugliosi still considers himself first and foremost a lawyer.
"I've had help on almost all my books," notes Bugliosi, who is quick to credit his co-authors in interviews. He had help from writer Curt Gentry in writing Helter Skelter, named for the Beatles song title that was scrawled in blood at one of the murder sites. "These people are professional writers; I have no training in writing," he says. "Bur, I am able to bring a passion for factual detail as well as clarity of expression to my books." Bugliosi explains that he writes the investigation and trial parts of his books, while his co-authors fill in color and background. Then, each edits the other's work. He adds that what he knows about writing, he has learned from preparing cases-which he dutifully writes out in some form before he puts them on in a courtroom.
"People don't like to write, and perhaps because of this or pure laziness or lack of pride on their part, lawyers walk into court with grossly inaccurate notes, which leads to all types of problems," Bugliosi says. "Day after day they walk our of court saying to themselves, 'I forgot to ask this question, I forgot to make this argument."'
His philosophy goes back to an old Chinese proverb-one, he says, he often will relay to jurors in his opening statement to urge them to rake notes during the trial.The proverb translates: "The palest ink is better than the best memory."
Bugliosi explains that he invariably scrawled out hundreds of pages of notes for the complex jury trials he handled. "I try to orchestrate a good portion of the trial before I ever enter the courtroom. I'm always well prepared for court, and that's part of the reason for my success as a trial lawyer."
Bugliosi says that writing a book really never occurred to him until he tried Manson and the young followers whom Manson ordered to carry out the killings. "There had been many books about criminal cases, but in addition to its extreme bizarreness, this case had certain sociological implications," Bugliosi says. "If there was any case that warranted a book being written about it, it was the Manson case."
Although a few quickly written books about the case hit the market even while the trial was still going on, Bugliosi knew no one was writing an authoritative, comprehensive book about the case. "I knew that if there was a writer working on such a book, the writer would have called me. And, nobody called me."
His years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office led to other memorable prosecutions, some of which Bugliosi documented in his writings. The collection includes articles and books as well as lectures. One book, TillDeath UsDoPart, published in 1978, tells the story of the trial of former Los Angeles Police Officer Paul Perveler, convicted in 1969 of murdering his second wife and his mistress' husband and attempting to murder his first wife. AndtheSea Will Tell, co-authored with writer Bruce Henderson in 1991, chronicles Bugliosi's successful defense in 1986 of a woman charged, along with her companion, of murder on a remote Pacific Island. All three of his non-fiction books have become network television mini-series. HelterSkelter and TillDeath UsDoPart each won Edgar Allen Poe awards for the best true crime book of the year.
He also tried his hand at fiction in recent years, penning Shadow ofCain and Lullaby and Goodnight. Shunning most technology, Bugliosi still writes out his books on yellow, legal pads with a No. 3 pencil.
TillDeath UsDoPart has been acclaimed in its own right by attorneys who consider it a valuable guide to good trial lawyering skills. Deputy District Attorney Bill Hodgman, one of the most experienced and respected lawyers in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, told Bugliosi after seeing him speak at a conference that he regularly loaned out his copy of the book to new attorneys in his section. After learning of this, Bugliosi sent Hodgman-now one of the attorneys prosecuting O.]. Simpson in the killings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman-a new copy to replace his worn version.
And theSea WillTell has received similar accolades from defense attorneys. Attorney Gerry Spence has praised the book during interviews. "There's no trial lawyer in America who can't learn something valuable from Vincent Bugliosi's defense in this case."
Attorney Melvin Belli said of the book: "A spectacular case capped by a gripping murder trial. Bugliosi's preparation and brilliant courtroom strategy make this a must-read for any trial lawyer. The summation alone is worth the price of the book."
Book critics draw comparisons between Bugliosi's success as a writer and his tenacity as a prosecutor, pointing out that he is as tireless in derail in his writing as in his courtroom cross examinations and summation. Large chunks of his courtroom arguments are included verbatim in his books, and critics and attorneys alike have praised the provocative and insightful legal discussions and explanations of law Bugliosi offers in his prose. Even the few critics who disparage the copy as lengthy and overstated acknowledge that Bugliosi's writing nonetheless holds a reader's attention with its rich derail.
Charles Manson prosecuror Vincent Bugliosi writes at his Glendale home-sometimes with the help of a feline friend, Sherlock.
Such rich detail, Bugliosi maintains, does not easily come to him in fiction, which is why he has decided to concentrate on true-crime writing and other non-fiction books in the future. Bugliosi's latest writing project takes a step back in time to the assassination of PresidentJohn F. Kennedy in 1963. Bugliosi aims to re-establish the case against Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone killer.This task followed Bugliosi's role as prosecutor of Oswald for a British television special in 1986 that aimed to simulate what would have happened had Oswald lived.The 21-hour "docutrial" featured Gerry Spence, a nationally known criminal defense attorney, representing Oswald.The actual Warren Commission witnesses testified in front of a real federal judge and a Dallas jury No script or actors were used.
The trial, for which Spence and Bugliosi prepared for five and half months, took place in London in an exact replica of a Dallas federal courtroom.The jury in the "docutrial" convicted Oswald.
Bugliosi decided after the project chat he needed to take what he learned while working on the case and turn it into a book. "This is a little different than my other trial books. Obviously, chis was not a real trial, but asTime Magazine said 'it was as close to a real trial as the accused killer ofJohn F. Kennedy will probably ever get.'
"There hadbeen many books about criminal cases, but in addition to itsextremebizarreness, this case hadcertain sociological implications. Ifthere was any case that warranteda book being written about it, it was theManson case. "
Bugliosi currently is updating a book he wrote a few years ago, Drugs in America, The casefor victory. The book sets forth two proposals which Bugliosi maintains has the potential of substantially reducing the nation's drug problem. "The federal government-they want to solve the drug problem, but they're not willing to cross the street in the rain without an umbrella in order to do it," he says emphatically, his advocate's spirit coming through. "If they ever become serious about substantially solving the drug problem, at least on paper, I believe my book offers the solution."
While in law school, Bugliosi-who was president of his graduating classrecalls he was an average student who always wanted to be a prosecutor. But Professor Bill Warren recalls that Bugliosi the student was far above average, making up for in tenacity and eagerness to learn what he might have lacked everso-slightly in scholarly achievement. "Bugliosi was one of those students who tried to get everything out of law school that he could, and you can't say that about all law students today or back then," says Warren. "He was serious, and he worked very hard. He wasn't a top student, but he was a serious student."
Says Bugliosi:"I really had no idea when I went down to the DA's office that I was going to do as well as I did. I was wondering, at a point, why I was winning all of my cases," he says quietly, contemplating how his life got to this point. "I determined there were several reasons, not the least of which was that I was so much more prepared than my opposition." When pressed for other reasons, he adds that being a successful trial lawyer requires an innate instinct for knowing how to dominate and prevail in a complex case before a jury. "Talent is as rare as sailors on horseback, and for the most part, its absence is not attributable to a lack of intelligence or even experience.
He says if he had a choice of trying a really good case before a jury or writing, "I'd still much rather be in the courtroom."
Bugliosi explains what has already become well known in the legal field-that he will not take a case on as a defense attorney unless he believes that the person is innocent or there are substantially mitigating circumstances. "There are plenty of lawyers out there to represent guilty defendants," he comments "In fact, I have referred several such cases to former colleagues of mine down at the DA's office.There's nothing in the canon of ethics of the American Bar Association that says a lawyer has to represent everyone who comes to his or her door."
Bugliosi steps back from his statement for a minute. He makes clear that he does not fault attorneys who defend clients who appear guilty "The right to counsel is a sacred right in our society," he adds, explaining that he too would defend someone guilty of murder if he were the only lawyer available.
"I believe in everyone's right to representation, but I personally don't want to spend 100 hours a week trying to get a murderer off. That's not how I want to spend my time; and, I really couldn't live with myself."
VINCENT BUGLIOSI
PATRICK COLE '81 Journalist, Time Magazine
AT TIMES IT WAS TOUGH. Like when he was making some $20,000 a year as the night rewrite reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal while fellow law grads were commanding salaries at two and three times that. When his friends had cars and homes, Patrick Cole was still looking for his next job and barely making a go of it financially. "But, you've got to do what your heart tells you to do," says Cole, now a Los Angeles correspondent for Time Magazine. "I stuck with journalism, and I have no regrets."
Indeed, little about 38-year-old Cole's life is regrettable. After working at his college newspaper at Notre Dame and stringing for various publications and interning for newspapers, magazines and television, Cole entered law school. He still thought he wanted to pursue a journalism career, but knew a legal education would give him a good background for almost any profession he chose. He entered UCLA's Communications Law Program, and during his law school career served as articles editor of the Federal Communications Law journal. He also was on the staff of the UCLA Law Review.
After law school, Cole worked briefly for a law firm, then attended the University of Exeter, England, on a Rotary Scholarship, earning a master's degree. While in Europe, he continued to work as a stringer for the New York Times. He returned to the United States in 1984, working for a year as a staffattorney at the Federal Communications Commission. Meanwhile, he began looking for a job in the highly competitive news-writing market.
Cole remembers it took several months before he finally got a few job offers. "There just weren't many jobs," he recalls. "It was pretty tough." He considered three beginning reporting jobs before accepting a job with the Akron Beacon Journal as a night rewrite reporter. The job-which at first seemed rather unglamorous-proved to be a good move, however. He soon became part of a reporting team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for an investigative series of stories on the attempted takeover of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
From there, his career soared. Cole went to Business Week, where he covered stories on computers, science, sports, business and health care, for two years.
"I found, by then, that I was really committed to journalism," said Cole, "but at the same time I could really see the value of my law school education. I had developed analytical skills and writing skills," he said. His legal knowledge also helped him slice through business jargon and get along with some of the chief executive officers and leaders he regularly dealt with while working for the business publication.
"Law school is a wonderful education," Cole stressed. "You get a look at how society works."
Cole continued to string for The Economist Newspaper-a highly respected London dailyand several other publications while working for Business Week. In 1991, he became West Coast bureau chief for Bloomberg Business News, a business wire service, and began working full-time for Time Magazine in November 1992. At times, instead of toiling away long hours in a law library or courthouse as a lawyer, Cole has trudged through mud in the Southern California floods, taken to the streets to cover the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and even followed Olympic skater Tonya Harding around Portland to get his stories.
"And, if I had it to do all over again," Cole said, "I'd do it."
SHELLY LANDAU '81
Television Writer
DURING AN ECLECTIC UNDERGRADUATE AND graduate education, Shelly Landau earned a bachelor's degree in biology, master's degrees in both professional writing and applied linguistics, and went to law school with the idea of possibly practicing consumer law. But ever since she wrote her first script as a New Jersey teen-ager, what she really wanted to be was a writer.
"Becoming a writer didn't really seem that likely," says Landau. "I knew it was hard to get in, so I decided to get a good education, something I could fall back on." She has, since her days as a struggling student, worked her way up through a series of television writing assignments, most recently as a co-producer for the hit NBC television show "Wings." But a full-time television writing career came only after years of burning the midnight oil while trying to make it as a writer and work at the same time.
After a series of rejections, including one she characterizes as an "awful 'M.A.S.H.' script," Landau's first break as a paid writer came in 1979 during her first year in law school. That's when she sold a story to the show, "Different Strokes," a sitcom which featured a family where a single father was raising an inter-racial family. She then wrote for its spinoff, "Facts of Life," and for a Norman Lear show, "Double Trouble" while teaching in USC's freshman writing program between 1981 and 1985.
She joined the staffof the Paramount Television show, "Webster" in 1986, where she stayed for three years as its executive script consultant, developing and writing scripts. She moved into a similar job for the hit series "Growing Pains" in 1989. She moved to "Wings" in 1993, and became co-producer in 1994- Landau has since left to pursue other projects.
When first trying to break in to the writing field, Landau kept her hand in the legal profession as well, often holding part-time jobs as a legal clerk and taking on free-lance legal work. Recently, she used her legal skills to help her husband, massage therapist Kevin de Comines, challenge a provision of Santa Monica's rent control law.
"Law school was a great education," notes Landau, adding that legal issues come up constantly in story lines.
Even while writing scripts, Landau-a PhiBetaKappa and Summa CumLaude graduate of UCLA's Biology Department-remained involved in various activities at the law school. In addition to participating in the Moot Court Honors Program, Landau served as Chief Comments Editor for the FederalCommunicationsLawjournal.
She said her law background affords her a certain level of respect among her colleagues. More than anything, though, Landau points out that law school helped her overcome some of her shyness, which could have been an obstacle in the entertainment business.
"I was always very shy-I still am really," Landau remarks, sitting casually in her small office on the Paramount lot offMelrose. "Having to go through the Moot Court experience was invaluable-it gave me a lot of confidence that has always been helpful to me. Just being called on in class at law school was at first a terrifying experience for me. I learned to deal with that."
VICTORIA KING '91
Attorney, Law offices ofJohnnie L. Cochran Jr.
Civil litigation
Non-fiction writer, author of Manhandled Black Females
VICTORIA KING '91 BECAME A WRITER in her third year of law school after reading The Blackman's Guide to UnderstandingtheBlackwoman, a book written by a black woman about the role of black women in society. The book, King said, promotes stereotypes of black women that she, as an educated black woman who began law school as a 38-year-old single parent, had been battling for years.
"I was outraged by its classifications of black women," says King, now a civil litigator for the Law Offices ofJohnnie L. CochranJr. "I just felt like it was important for me to do something." King explains that at first she meant to write something brief, such as a pamphlet. "But as I began to write, I realized it would be something longer.Then, before I knew it,I was writing a book."
In ManhandledBlackFemales, a 150-page treatise released in 1992 by Winston-Derek Publications, King seeks to dismantle misconceptions about why black women are and have been oppressed. In the book, King challenges the reader to confront racism and sexism, attitudes to which she said she had been readily exposed in her prior work as a journeyman electrician. "Coming from that background, where I had been criticized at times for taking a job from 'a brother,' this book was all very difficult to take."
"I was divorced when my son was 3 years old, and I'm supposed to sit at home?" King asks in an interview, again becoming agitated by the book's contents. "I was concerned,'' King explained, "not so much with what she thinks (the author), which is bad enough, but that her feelings are in line with what much of the world thinks of black women.I was concerned what other people might think of this book: that they might adopt her ideas as acceptable."
King, indeed, has spent much of her life overcoming stereotypes, both in her own life and in the people she represents now as an attorney. As a single parent, she attended Fordham University, achieving an economics degree and graduating Summa CumLaude in 1988. During law school at UCLA, she participated in the Moot Court Honors Program and was Assistant Comments Editor for the Women'sLaw Journal.
During law school, she served an externship with U.S. District CourtJudge David W. Williams in Los Angeles, and after that held a summer clerkship with retired Los Angeles Superior CourtJudge Thomas C.Yager. King practiced law on her own after graduation before joining the Law Offices of Milton C. Grimes, where she worked on a myriad of cases including the civil lawsuit in which Grimes represented Rodney King in his suit against the city of Los Angeles and the officers involved in beating Rodney King.InJanuary 1994, she joined Cochran's firm.
Just as she juggled the rigors of law school with a writing career, she now is working on a second book while meeting the demands of law practice. "I work seven days a week-I like to practice law.I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it," she said, explaining that she manages writing on the side. King declined to reveal the exact subject of the second book, except to say it too is from a black woman's perspective. "I feel drivei:i to write; it's something I feel I need to do."
KAREN GREEN ROSIN '81
Freelance Writer: "Beverly Hills, 90210"
KAREN GREEN ROSIN WAS A GOOD STUDENT, entering UCLA's undergraduate program as a National Merit Scholar. She wrote well-writing plays that were produced through UCLA's Theater Arts Department when she later was working toward her master of fine arts degree for playwrighting.But she felt she still needed an extra edge-an in-if she was ever going to achieve a career in entertainment.
"I really didn't know what I should do," remembers Rosin, working on a television script at her Westwood home one recent afternoon. "I didn't even type well enough to get a PA (production assistant) job, which is how a lot of people start out in the business."
So, she dropped out of her master's program and went to law school. Now, she draws on some of her experience as a law student and as an entertainment attorney to write for the successful "Beverly Hills, 902ro" television series. Karen Rosin has written I7 episodes during the series' fiveyear tenure.
"It's all worked out," says Rosin. "My knowledge in law has been incredibly useful. But, it really uses a different side of the brain."
But Rosin has successfully used "both sides" of her brain thoughout her career.To her delight, she enjoyed law school. She worked on the UCLA LawReview staff, was a Moot Court Distinguished Advocate and graduated with Order of the Coif honors. On the more creative side, she participated regularly in Professor Ken Graham's annual law school plays. She learned to write on deadline and work under extreme pressure-skills that would serve her well in writing for television. After law school, she practiced law at Loeb & Loeb, representing talent, drawing up contracts and performing other legal services for her clients in the entertainment business. At the law firm, she became the first associate in the history of Loeb & Loeb to have a baby while working there. "There just weren't as many women attorneys before my generation," Rosin said.
But after she began raising a child, working full time in law proved difficult. Rosin eventually quit practicing law in order to devote more time to her first child. As time went on, and she had two more children, she gradually delved back into her writing craft.
During that time, her husband, Charles Rosin, was rising in the ranks of television, and became Executive Producer for "902ro." It was only natural that the couple team up, and Karen Rosin became a full-time free lancer for the series.
An education in law-something Rosin had initially thought was "something to fall back on" serves as an integral part of her writing career. In a "902ro" episode recently, one of the characters held a party.In order to make the script accurate, she researched liability issues and determined if the party giver could be criminally charged for injuries suffered by someone who attended the party.A recent plotline involving child dependency court proceedings was inspired by actual clients Rosin represented during Carrie Menkel-Meadow's Trial Advocacy course in law school.
Rosin occasionally still practices law. Last year, after the earthquake, Rosin volunteered her services at a FEMA disaster relief center guiding victims through the bureaucratic maze.
"Law school was beneficial for a lot of reasons.A legal education is part of a person's basic education,I think, about how the whole system works and how society works." Rosin added that she learned in law school about topics she had previously thought impossible to understand. "I remember Mike Asimow made tax not only bearable but actually enjoyable."
KATHLEEN SAGE '76
Historical Romance novelist; ManyFires, scheduled for release in November; KidChristmas, to be released next year.
Profession: StaffAttorney, Orange County Employees Association
AT THE END OF HER fiRST YEAR PRACTICING labor law, Kathleen Sage '76 stacked up her case files to calculate her win-loss record. Her boss came into her office, saw her menacing stacks, and asked her if she had any regrets about her year's work. "I said, 'yeah. For all these briefs,I could have written the great American novel."'
Just over 15 years later, she had her novel: hand-scrawled notes in 17 spiral notebooks stuffed under the bed of her Long Beach home.Those first scribbles about a silent film actress never saw the printing presses, but two historical westerns set in the 1800s have publishers, and are due on bookshelves in coming months.
It was a bumpy road-her transition from lawyer to novelist. And finding time to write these days is a constant struggle, particularly since the Orange County bankruptcy has found her going to bat for county employees' wages and benefits on a regular basis in her role as an attorney for the Orange county Employees Association, for which she has worked since graduating law school.
Sage credits her law education with teaching her to organize her writing, but a legal mind carried its obstacles as well. "My first critiques came back saying my writing was clear, but I had a tendency-like all lawyers-to write in lists. I had to get away from that," she said. Sage had to overcome the habit of writing in "legalese." "I once had a hero drinking the aforementioned coffee."
Because of her legal knowledge, her publishers are clamoring for her to write one of the popular courtroom dramas. "It's funny, my publishers keep wanting me to write courtroom thrillers," says Sage.
Sage describes herself "as one of the original mommie trackers," having been one of the few women who sought, at the time, to practice law (her class claimed a mere 16 percent women). For 17 years, Sage has raised her family while working part time as an attorney. During those years, she has accomplished much in her career. She has litigated three cases that ended up as published state appellate court cases: two involving the Constitutional rights of peace officers and another that resulted in guaranteed medical benefits for retirees. In the retiree case, she actually lost on appeal but was able to negotiate with the county for benefits for her clients. Recently, she helped to obtain an injunction forcing Orange County to retain its seniority system in its process of laying offworkers in the fallout of the bankruptcy.
Outside the courtroom, she has always-even if only indirectly-worked on her writing career. She, her three sons and her firefighter husband, Larry Huffman, traveled California's old Indian sites and gold country, unwittingly accumulating fodder for what was to eventually become the color in her novels.
For Sage, writing was a "turning 40 thing," she said. When she penned a list of the things she still wanted to accomplish, writing a novel topped that list. So she grabbed her spiral notebooks and started writing. When she discovered her commitment to writing was serious, she converted to a personal computer.
Now, from 9 to II p.m. every night, she hovers in the corner of her living room and clicks away on the keyboard while her husband and sons become involved in their own activities. "Mother closes at 9," she comments. "That's my rule."
That kind of discipline has been necessary to continue writing while keeping up as both mother and attorney. "I really love being an attorney, but writing is a release for me," she said. Sage combines writing assignments with family time by camping and visiting Indian reservations (something, she says, "we love to do anyway"), and touring historical California sites that she works into her 18oos-vintage works. And, as a writer, she has been able to convince people who run some of the historic places to let her see some of their special rituals and know about secret customs the ordinary tourist doesn't see.
As for someday getting into courtroom drama, she has bowed slightly to the wishes of her publishers. Her second novel, KidChristmas, which she is still feverishly putting together, features a character who is a woman lawyer-one of the state's first-defending an accused rapist.
"My novels deal with 'firsts,"' she says. "That's something I get from my education. We were some of the first women to become lawyers in any great number," she said. And, Sage added, women of her generation were some of the first women to pursue careers beyond teaching, nursing and secretarial work. "That means a lot to me."
Attorney General Janet Reno awarded UCLA Medal
IN ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE of all commencements at UCLA School of Law, Attorney General Janet Reno addressed more than 3,000 parents, students and other guests as well as graduates as the law school graduated its 44th class May 21. With the Attorney General's continuing investigation into the tragic bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building only a month old, the nation's top attorney took time to visit the campus and deliver a keynote address in which she encouraged graduates to consider careers that would improve the circumstances for children in our society and improve the juvenile justice system. UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young presented Attorney General Reno with UCLA's highest honor-the UCLA Medal, for her lifelong public service. In presenting the Medal, Young praised the nation's first woman Attorney General for "her guiding vision ...of a society unblemished by violent crime, civil rights abuses, environmental blight, impoverished families and neglected children." Recent recipients of the UCLA Medal include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who spoke at the law school commencement in 1989, and Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who
right: Attorney General Janet Reno, Chancellor Charles E. Young and Dean Susan Prager.
In the following pages are excerpts from the commencement speeches:
As attorneys, let us not everforgetthe veryhumanaspect ofour work. Ionly remind you ofthis because it is so easy toforget... TodayI am aproud law schoolgraduate, but Iwas alsoonce an illegalalien. However, Iconsider myselfextremely fortunate to have been an illegal alien backwhen PropositionI87 did notexist andpeople like me were able to dream that hard work andgood grades couldlead to a better tomorrow.
DEAN SUSAN PRAGER, REMARKS
TO GRADUATES
When we al! gathered here togetherfar thefirst time it was onyour orientation day...youhademergedfromJ,I34 applicants-the second largest group ever to apply to this law school.
All ofyou had chosen to study in a remarkablydiverseenvironment,onewith a multiplicity ofintellectual traditions reflected infaculty and curriculum, one that has been, far some time now, the most racially diverse environment in all of US. legal education-and I think thatmeans theworld. AndIthink weal! know that this diversity-both ofpeople and of intellectual traditions, has enabled us to generate important ideasfar law reform and hopefully enabled each one ofyou to serve your clients more fully.
And as you leave here to begin your livesas lawyers, we areallreminded that the racial diversity, which is such an essential part ofour greatness as a law school, is threatenedby those who do not appreciate the impactofdiversity on the studyeitheroflaworon law reform, and creation ofpublicpolicy, andwho clearly do not understand that there is more to assembling a dedicated, outstanding aggregation ofoutstanding students than grades and LSATs.
•:•
MARTHA ALICIA CARRILLO STUDENT SPEAKER
received the medal in 1993. Nelson, a graduate of UCLA School of Law in 1953, was the first law school graduate to receive the medal.
Reno drew applause numerous times from the standingroom-only crowd as she related startling anecdotes and statistics illustrating the plight of children in U.S. society.
Dean Susan Prager, in addressing the audience, called to mind that this group of nearly 300 graduates had attended law school during years in which a series of events changed forever the history of Los Angeles. These students saw the worst urban riots in history their first year and an earthquake their second year. These events were partly responsible for some of the greatest pro bono efforts by students in the history of the law school as students grouped together to help disaster victims in a myriad of ways.
Reno's visit culminated a weekend of activity that included additional celebrations planned by students to highlight the significance of the graduates' achievements. La Raza Law Students Association invited families and friends to a special ceremony held on Saturday honoring Latinos' and Latinas' contributions to the legal profession. On Sunday morning, more than 600 people gathered at UCLA Griffin Commons to celebrate the contributions of African-American lawyers at the Black Law Students of Southern California Graduation Celebration. The themes of both events centered on the special responsibilities these graduates have to encourage those coming along after them. All the graduates celebrated together in the full commencement Sunday afternoon.
Chancellor Charles Young applauds after Attorney General Reno is presented a UCLA basketball championship shire.
AT TORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO:
The wide range of disciplines, the issues that this university confronts, are an examplefor all institutions of higher learning. The issues that this law school grapples with, andI've already heard a couple, the tenacity with which you approach the hard issues of living today, is an examplefor law schools across the country.This is a remarkable student body. Ihave had the opportunity to chat with some, to sit and look out on the great diversity, to reflect on this variety of voicesfrom so many
different places that have come together to learn and to goforthfrom here to serve others...
Draw strengthfrom this place...
There are too many people who don't have access to lawyers and to the justice system. And,for too many people in this country the law means little more than the paper it's written on.Go out and make sure that as you stand before agraduatingclass30 years from now as theAttorney General of the United States or as thePresident of the United States you can say that allpeople in America have access to our legal system...
How do we ensure to our children a future in which they can enjoy the rights so dear?How can we ensure them a peaceful society without the violence in which children are killing children?How do we construct a society whichgives our children-allour children-a chance to grow in a strong and positive way?NowIhave heard of so much service here, of so many
people who are already setting an examplefor others by reaching out to help others, that perhapsIdon't have to explain.But there are some of you who may say,fine, what does this have to do with me?Iintend togo with a great lawfirm, practice corporate law. What doI care?
The answer is, we're allin this together. The answer is that the destiny of our children is our destiny.
CRUZ REYNOSO: PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR
Indeed we are fortunate to be lawyers...Lawyering is indeed and has always been a service profession. You all knowthatitjoins, inwesternsociety, the evolution of the great service professions fromthemedievaldays:law, medicine, the clergy. Imust tellyou that whenIstarted practicing law I was reminded of that. I couldn'tbelievethatpeoplewerepayingme to do the things I was doing as a lawyer whenIwasinImperialCountyamere37 years ago.IrecallthatIwas then putting into practice allof those theories we had learned in law school
But I've got to tell you what most remainswithmearethecountlessformers andformworkerswhowouldcomeinafter wehadhandledacaseandbroughtto my officethosegreatwatermelons, theboxesof vegetables-to thankusfor the work that wehaddoneforthemin, really, doingour jobs, performing and being involved in a service profession. •:•
Third-year Class President Kisu Shin welcomes the crowd.
Attorney General Janet Reno meets graduates, greeting Michelle Logan-Stern as Peter Hernandez looks on. Graduate Joshua Mendelsohn is at left.
Attorney General Janet Reno meets with faculty and students before commencement ceremonies. From left are Associate Dean Julian Eule, Professor Cruz Reynoso and student Leo Trujillo.
La Raza students encouraged to lead others
held Saturday, May 20,that
have a responsibility to encourage other Latinos and
to obtain an education and contribute to their communities.
La Raza law students celebrate.
right: California State Senator Hilda Solis (D-El Monte) tells La Raza graduates at ceremonies
they
Latinas
Graduate Lucilla Rosas addresses fellow students and graduates, as well as friends and relatives.
Professor Laura Gomez congratulates La Raza graduates and their families.
Black Law Students of Southern California celebrate Graduation
Attorney Johnnie Cochran Jr. urged graduates to give back to society what had been given them in the form of a legal education. Cochran was the keynote speaker for the Black Law Students of Southern California Celebration. More than 600 parents and students assembled at UCLA's Griffin Commons to honor African-American graduates of area law schools.
Professor George Brown, Johnnie Cochran, student April Christine and Dean Susan Prager.
UCLAW faculty
Andargachew Zelleke, George Brown and Reginald Alleyne ready their robes for rhe procession. The professors later presented certificates and Kente scarves to the graduates. About 60 law students from throughout Southern California and their families and friends participated.
Crenshaw High School Choir members stir the audience.
Professor Nelson brings life to what some call arcane law
ByAlisa Perren
DECORATING THE WALL OF Professor Grant Nelson's office is a plaque numbering off"The Ten Nelsonisms"-a list compiled by some of Nelson's former students.The sizable wooden trophy, obvious to any visitor, displays what proposes to be some oft-quoted expressions of the popular professor such as "Bass Ackwards" and "Come Hell or High Water." The gift carries particular significance for Nelson because it illustrates what he believes is an important facet of making such classes as real estate finance, property, mortgages and remedies accessible-humor.
"The most fun you have in class arises from unintended occurrences-some response from a student question that turns out to be humorous," he comments.
Both humor and the law of chance have played significant roles in the development of Nelson's career. Upon attaining a bachelor's degree, PhiBetaKappa, from University of Minnesota in 1960, Nelson was a Stanford-bound, Woodrow Wilson scholar intending to teach college history.But he soon decided a legal education was a more suitable route for him. He attended the Minnesota law school, where he was Order of the Coif and served on the Editorial Board of the MinnesotaLaw Review. He practiced real estate law for a year before a yearlong stint as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He returned to law practice, but his yearning to teach resurfaced.
He began a series of visiting professorships and other teaching assignments at various law schools, including University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Brigham Young University and Pepperdine University. He taught at University of Missouri at Columbia from 1974 to 1991, where he held an endowed chair. During that time, UCLA was privileged to have him serve as Visiting Professor in 1989-90. Nelson quickly took to the students and faculty, and they to him, and he was wooed back for a tenured position a year later.
"We are very fortunate to have someone who is such an outstanding professional in the field of property law as Grant Nelson," said Professor Bill Warren, one of many faculty who believe Nelson filled a void in the curriculum when he came to campus. "We have so many students who are interested in practicing real property law, and the area of law is so important in this community," Warren continued. "I always felt that UCLA should be a center of scholarship in the field."
Nelson has won numerous teaching awards at the schools at which he has taught. He was the Enoch H. Crowder and Earl F. Nelson Professor of Law at University of Missouri-Columbia, where he was honored with both the Outstanding Professor and Professor of the Year awards.
During every year he has taught at UCLA, he has been among the faculty elected by the graduating class to perform the hooding at commencement.
Nelson, 56, looks fondly upon his years in teaching. "It's one of the best jobs in the world," he says. "A
professor selects his or her own agenda, whereas the lawyer's agenda is determined by his or her client."
Nelson also enjoys the balance he attains between teaching and research. "To be an effective legal academic, teaching and research are inextricably intertwined. Each is important co the other endeavor. It is especially gratifying to have one's scholarship relied upon by courts and fellow academics." Yet, he adds slyly, "I will say I like teaching slightly more than research."
With material that is sometimes inaccessible to students-especially at first-Nelson tries co make arcane points easier co understand by putting "a human cast on the cases." In his property law classes, for example, he speaks of the "real people" whom the cases involve-the neighbors or relatives-as he discusses the law of wills, joint tenancy in common and community property. He experiences the greatest difficulty teaching the easier material because, he explains, he is afraid co "bore people with the obvious." Conversely, he receives the greatest pleasure teaching material he defines as inherently difficult. "When teaching extremely difficult material I experience a great deal of stress beforehand," he explains. "Bur when it comes off well, you really do feel high."
Students have remarked in evaluations that Nelson's greatest talent lies in synthesizing very difficult material. "He is so good it is scary," wrote one student. "Despite maintaining ever-lubricated vocal cords with his trademark Coca-Cola can, his wit is ever so dry. He knows the stuff inside out. Yet, he teaches it so clearly that the most difficult concepts become crystal clear. He is a great, great educacor."
Brette Simon '94, who now works for O'Melveny & Myers and took three courses from Nelson while in law school said: "Professor Nelson is a walking outline, and as such, renders all commercial outlines and supplementary materials superfluous."
Students' interest in knowing more about how law effects people at every level is something Nelson tries co address in his casebooks. Included in his most recent publications is RealEstate Transactions, Finance, and Development, co-authored with former Dean of the University of Missouri, Columbia, Dale Whitman. "Dale and I have strived co make what is inherently a difficult subject as user-friendly as possible," Nelson comments. "We try to ask what was it like for us? What gave us trouble?"
Whitman, now a Professor at Brigham Young University and close friend of Nelson's, has co-authored several publications with him.The casebook is widely used in law schools across the country, and Nelson's work is often cited by courts as a leading authority on the law. Whitman also is a Co-Reporter with Nelson in a major project they undertook in 1989: a Restatement of Property(Mortgages) for the American Law Institute.With 80% of this project already tentatively approved in the rigorous ALI process, Nelson expects co complete the endeavor in a little more than a year.The final product will include a 700-800 page volume which will serve as the first definitive source of Restatement of the law of Real Estate Mortgages for the ALI.To be selected as a Reporter for one of the ALI Restatements is considered one of the highest honors in the academic world.The ALI, headquartered in Philadelphia, since the 1920s has produced Restatements of the law in Property,Torts, Contracts, Restitution, ConRicts of Law and other areas. The Restatements seek co create uniformity in each area of substantive common law.
Nelson describes the process of preparing the Restatement as being a rigorous one. "There is more peer review in that product than any other with which I am involved." Each part is divided inco three or four drafts, and each draft reviewed by committees of practitioners and academics. "It's intense," he explains, "but it is helpful in making me a better thinker and a better scholar."
His scholarly activities also include his role as co-author of the recent publication of the fifth edition of EquitableRemedies, RestitutionandDamages and the third edition of RealEstateFinanceLaw, a two volume treatise on the law of mortgages.
When not researching or writing, Nelson involves himself with his family. He takes time out to jog with his wife, Judith, also a teacher. And, he gains insight into his teen-agers' lives by acting as their chauffeur during the week. He is also active in his church, where he serves as a leccor.
With enjoyment coming from so many avenues, Nelson remains hesitant co speculate where he will be in the future. He has a couple of articles germinating now, as well as a property casebook in the works with Whitman and another colleague at the University of Washingcon. "Life is too unpredictable co determine many long-term goals," Nelson says. "For the next three or four years, I hope co be the best teacher I can and produce successful scholarship."
Professor Grant Nelson confers hood upon Heather Mactavish at '95 commencement ceremonies
"The argument for greater constitutional latitude for speech regulation has a number of variations. In common, though, the new speech regulators argue that First Amendment law draws the public/private distinction at the wrong boundary. In cu rrent law, "censorship" is understood narrowly as the restriction ofspeech by the government. IfRandom House rejects my manuscript, that's not censorship, but rathe r market forces, editorial judgment, or just plain taste. Why? The government alone has a monopoly offorce IfRandom House rejects my manuscript, I can peddle it at Simon & Schuster. On the other hand, if the government bans my no vel, I may have to move to France. "
KATHLEEN SULLIVAN
"Professor Sullivan's scholarship speaks with two voices. It edu cates even as it advocates. It is exactly what might be expected ftom one who is as adept at convincing judges as at teaching students. "
ASSOCIATE DEAN J ULIAN EULE, IN HIS INTRODUCTION OF SULLIVAN AT ANNUAL NIMMER LECTURE.
Kathleen M. Sullivan:
"Resurrecting Free Speech"
Kathleen M. Sullivan, whom Associate Dean Julian Eule described in his introdu c tio n as an icon among co ntemporary constitutional law scholars, p rese nted the ninth Melvill e B Nimmer Memorial Lecture l ast fal l. T h e audien ce was rapt with h er oratory, which leap t around th e peaks of legal philos op h y, economics and First Amendment theo r y Her lecture appears in Volume 42, No. 4, of UCLA La w Review
Sullivan teaches at Stanford Law School. She ta ught a t Harvard Law School from 1984 to 1993 , where she was the first recipient of t he Albert M. Sacks- Paul A. Freund Award fo r Teaching Excelle nce She h as published articles o n a wide ran ge of co n stituti o n al issues, including affirmative ac tion, abortio n , un constitutiona l con dition s, freedom of religion and fr ee dom of speech She has served as co-co un sel in a number of Supreme C ourt cases , including Rust v. Sullivan, in whi ch the Supreme Co urt n arrowly upheld the Bush Administratio n's gag rule on th e mention of abo rtion at fe d erally supported fa mily plann in g clinics .
Much of Profess or Sullivan's work h as foc u sed on questions about federal fundin g for the arts, in clud in g, ''Art an d Governm ent : Lessons from the N EA W ars," a speech sh e d elivere d a t law sch ools in 1993, and "Art o n Trial: the First Amendment and Funding for the Arts," a 1991 lect ure. She testified before Co ngress in 1991 regarding co nte nt restrictions for NEA grants, and currently is working o n a book abou t free sp eech tha t was prompted by the disp ute over NEA gra nts
The Irving H. Green Memorial Lecture is named for Irving Green, a tireless advocate for the underdog in a host of cases in courts across the country. The Green Family has chosen to honor Green, who died in 1990, by creating a program designed to bring truly outstanding trial laywers to UCLA to inspire law students and to engage in an exchange with them focused on the often unpopular role of lawyer. William Vaughn is the second speaker in the lecture series. Last year, civil rights and criminal law attorney Johnnie Cochran served as the inaugural speaker.
Dean Susan Prager noted that while Vaughn's practice has been very different from that of Irving Green, Vaughn exemplifies a number of the qualities of Green. "Vaughn is one of those lawyers who brings immediate credibility to court with him not only because of his experience and reputation but because he is, in the words of a colleague, 'so very carefull not co overstate or oversell his position."'
WILLIAM
VAUGHN ADDRESSES STUDENTS IN IRVING GREEN MEMORIAL LECTURE
Challenges and Rewards in the Law
William W Vaughn, '55, who has distinguished himself as an outstanding advocate in cases that range from the First Amendment, to shareholders' derivative actions, to international arbitration emphasized his First Amendment work in a speech to students, faculty and stafflastJanuary
"The First Amendment is the most important freedom we have," Vaughn, who for nearly IO years has chaired the litigation department at the O'Melveny & Myers law firm, told the law school crowd that gathered for the speech. "It sets Americans and America apart...and the cases are fascinating."
Lacing his speech with amusing anecdotes from his four decades of litigation practice, Vaughn told students of some of the rewards in advocating for clients. He spoke of the complicated sequence of events that led to his successful fight in 1985 to preserve CBS's right to air a video of an FBI sting operation in the federal government's prosecution ofJohn DeLorean, who was later acquitted of cocaine-trafficking charges. Vaughn also detailed his representation of CBS Records when the company was sued for wrongful death by parents who claimed that lyrics from an Ozzie Osbourne song on a record produced by CBS had contributed to their son's suicide. The case, in which CBS prevailed, stands as the leading case for the First Amendment's protection of artistic endeavors.
Vaughn, who worked on the first volume of UCLA Law Review as a member of UCLAW's fourth graduating class, also spoke of the pride he felt in representing the Los Angeles Black Panther Party in circumstances where he was able to prove police misconduct in the early 1980s.
"You
shouldask yourself What kind oflawyer doI want to be?...You have to, like me, have a lot ofluck, and you have to work hard. It consumes much more of your life than it really should.
LikeJohnnie Cochran said (in the Irving Green lecture last year), "preparation, preparation, preparation."You have to prepare and you have to learnfrom your mistakes. You have to serve your client with total and unswervingloyalty."
WILLIAM W. VAUGHN ADDRESSING STUDENTS
Professor Derian wins RutterAward
Steven Derian was lauded for his ability to convey the intracacies ofTrial Advocacy as effectively as the ins and outs ofthe recent baseball strike when he was presented this year's Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Derian, who began teaching at UCLA in 1987, has consistently maintained a heavy teaching schedule in a variety ofcourses ranging from the very challenging Trial Advocacy course in the Clinical Program to Sports Law (to which Derian also has added a clinical component) and Criminal Law. Dean Susan Prager, in a presentation before students, faculty, staff, administrators and volunteers in the Clinical Program in April read comments from student evaluations as a testament to Derian's highly regarded teaching methods. "Exacting but kind," read one student's appraisal. "Worthy of immediate tenure and perhaps cannonization," trumpeted another. Prager also commended Derian for his teaching talents. "His ability to offer criticism sensitively, his sense of humor, his dedication and his ability to communicate to students that he has their welfare at heart are ingredients that combine to make him a very special teacher," she said.
Derian is the 17th recipient of the award established by Bill Rutter in 1979 to recognize dedication and creativity in teaching. Rutter is the father of the Gilbert Outline (a law study guide for students), creator ofthe leading bar review course in the state and founder of the Rutter Group. Past recipients are Stephen Yeazell, David Binder, Gerald Lopez, Jesse Dukeminier, Leon Letwin, William Warren, Michael Asimow, Murray Schwartz, Gary Schwartz, Julian Eule, Grace Blumberg, Jonathan Varat, Kristine Knaplund, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, John Bauman, and Ken Karst.
Last year, Derian became the first lecturer in the history of the law school to win the Luckman University Distinguished Teaching Award for lecturers-a campus-wide honor. Before coming to UCLA, Derian practiced law for four years with Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher. He attended UC Berkeley on an athletic scholarship for both football and baseball and he spent some years playing tennis tournaments in Europe. He obtained his J.D. degree from UC Hastings College ofthe Law in 1983. In accepting the award, Derian discussed the challenges ofteaching and making law accessible to a variety of students. He said he finds he often has to present material in a variety of ways both during and after class-and encourage students to discuss the material with each other-in order for all students to fully comprehend some matters in a way that has meaning for each student. "No matter how good a job you think you are doing, no matter how many people you think understand... you can never be 100 percent successful. You have to keep working on it."
•:•
Outstanding public interestworkby students, alums and faculty recognized
Gary Blasi, a professor in UCLA School ofLaw's Clinical Program; Los Angeles civil rights attorney Barrett Litt '69; and students Meredith Blake, WendyAron andTanya Nathan received UCLAW's annual awards for outstanding public interest work in ceremonies in March. Each ofthe student award recipients receives a stipend funded by Morrison & Foerster. Additionally, "Give 35" service awards, for students who have performed 35 or more hours ofpro bonowork in the past year, were presented to 25 students. Eleven faculty were recognized for performing 35 or more hours ofpublic interest work.
Wendy Aron and Tanya Nathan, who co-chair the Public Interest Law Foundation, accept the Joseph Hairston Duff Award as Duff, right, and Nancy Mintie, left, look on. Aron, assistant managing editor ofthe Womens Lawjournal, is a volunteer with the Alliance for Children's Rights, a volunteer at the First AME Legal Clinic and has externed with the presiding judge of the Juvenile Dependency and Delinquency Courts. Nathan works for rhe San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, has served as a volunreer for the El Centro Legal Clinic and is conducting research on genocide in Bosnia. Duff '71 serves as Counsel ro Charles Drew Medical Center and is former presidenr of the Los Angeles Chapter ofthe NAACP.
Antonia Hernandez '74 congratulates Barrett Litt '69 on his receiving the Anronia Hernandez Award for alumni conrributions to social justice. Litt, a leading civil rights lawyer in Los Angeles, has sought justice in cases involving fair housing, police brucaliry, employment discrimination, slum housing and civil rights.
Gary Blasi, who co-teaches the law school's innovative Clinical Semester-a class where srudents complete real legal work full-time for a semester of their legal education-was awarded the Fredric P. Sutherland Award for contributions by law school faculry Blasi has performed extensive legal work on behalfofthe homeless and serves on the boards ofthe National Coalition for the Homeless and the Los Angeles Coalition ro End Homelessness.
Meredith Blake accepts the Nancy Minrie public interest award for a third-year law student. Blake has volunteered with Public Counsel's homeless assistance project; has been actively involved with the Public lnreresc Law Foundation (she was vice president during her second year); and participated in a citizen's committee to draft a model ordinance to protect from violent protests those seeking reproductive services. She wrote an article on Battered Women's Syndrome chat was accepted for publication in Wiscomin Womens Law Review. She also assisted with development ofa course, "Social Advocacy Against Violence" in the Social Welfare Department. The award is named for Mintie, who founded the Inner Ciry Law Center immediately after graduating from law school in 1979. The center litigates on behalf ofthe homeless on Skid Row.
Public Interest Career Day
UCLAW students gathered at the law school for a Saturday last January to hear about careers in Public Interest Law. Representatives from Public Law Center, the ACLU, Public Interest Clearinghouse, Center for Law and Justice and law firms participated. Bottom right photo: Professor Jerry Lopez (center), keynote speaker, talks to participants.
UCLAWoffers new Entertainment Law course
This year, two entertainment industry lawyers-Sheldon Presser and John Schulmanteamed up to teach Entertainment Law. The classes featured mock arbitrations and contract talks to simulate the ins and out of real entertainment law practice as well as instruction on current law in copyright, trademarks and unfair competition as well as corporate law, international law, distribution laws and rights of decedents. Guest speakers from the industry were featured in class sessions throughout the semester.
"We are notgoing to teachyoujust law here. You willbe gettingpractical I " examptes.
left: John Schulman, Vice president and Counsel for Warner Brothers, discusses arbitration with students.
above: Sheldon Presser discusses the intracacies of Entertainment Law during a class session.
"The Muzak Man"-a Ken Graham production
This year's annual law school musical took participants into cyberspace as the traditional script for "The Music Man" was transformed into a virtual reality odyssey. The usual irreverence toward law school, law practice and law faculty was-�of course-woven into the script. The production raises money for the Public Interest Law Foundation.
Cash for the lawyers' fees, cash for the filing fees
right: Professor Ken Graham gives instructions during a dress rehearsal last February.
We've got trouble my friends, right here in Emerald City...
A class ofhistory makers is sworn in to the Bar
When UCLAW's 1994 graduates were sworn into the state and federal bar associations on campus in December, they made history. This group achieved the highest passage rate for the State Bar exam in the history of the law school with 92.1 percent of first-time takers passing the stringent test.
Dean Susan Prager praised the bar passers at the annual Bar Admission Ceremony held at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall Dec. 8. "This class of 1994 has distinguished us by earning the highest passage rate ever to be achieved by a graduating class at UCLA," Prager said as she was interrupted by the applause and cheers of graduates-many whom were hearing the news for the first time.
The ceremony, attended by a capacity crowd of more than 500-including 125 graduates as well as family, friends, faculty and staff, marks the graduates' official accreditation as lawyers.
UCLA ranked third among 16 American Bar Association-accredited law schools for bar passage rates. UCLA students inched behind UC Davis, with a 94.4 percent passage rate, and UC Berkeley (Boalc Hall), whose students achieved a passage rate of 93.3 percent.
Statewide, only 77.4 percent of more than 5,000 first-time takers passed the July exam this year. UCLA has ranked in the top four law schools in the state for first-time bar passage since 1990. In 1992, UCLA's graduating class achieved the highest passage rate in the state, with 90 percent passing.
On hand to swear students in to the federal and state courts and appellate courts were Justice William A. Masterson of the Second District Scace Court of Appeal in Los Angeles and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski, who each received both their undergraduate and law degrees from UCLA, as well as U.S. District Court Judge Audrey Collins, a UCLA law graduate. Professors Cruz Reynoso, a former Justice of the State Supreme Court, and John Shepard Wiley Jr., a former federal prosecutor, also participated in the ceremony.
The jurists praised the students for their work and urged them to keep perspective on the practice of law. "One course you should use every day is your course in legal ethics," said Kozinski. "We ought not to lose sight of the very important aspects of being a lawyer."
'Tm not going to kid you-it's rough out there," Judge Kozinski continued. "Ofren the questions are not easy. Often the answers are difficult."
Peter Haven and Dawn Sellers were among 125 law graduates admitted to the bar in a ceremony at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall last December.
This is the third in a regular series on estate planning. Much of the permanent endowment which supports law schools, private and public, ws established through gifts in wills and other planned giving vehicles. As the UCLA law school moves to the end of itsfifth decade, its future will depend increasingly on the help of its alumni.
Jon J. Gallo*
In our second column, we examined the basics of the estate and gift tax system. This column compares the taxation of lifetime gifts and transfers at death and looks at basic estate planning for the married couple.
Both gifts and transfers at death are taxed using the same progressive rate structure, beginning at 37% for transfers in excess of the $600,000 unified credit and reaching 55% for transfers in excess of $3 million. The benefit of both the unified credit and the progressive rate brackets is phased out for large estates by a 5% surtax on transfers between $10 million and $21 million, resulting in an effective bracket at this level of 60%. The effective tax bracket returns to 55% at $21 million
Even though the gift tax and estate tax rates are the same, more wealth can be transferred by lifetime gift than at death because the effective tax rate applicable to transfers at death is approximately one-third higher than the effective tax rate applicable to lifetime gifts. This difference in effective rates occurs because the estate tax is tax inclusiv�the entire estate is taxed, including the funds which will be used to pay the estate tax-while the gift is tax exclusive-only the gift is taxed.
If you give $1 million to your child, only the amount transferred will be taxed. If you are in the 55% gift tax bracket, your outof-pocket cost would be $1,550,000: the $1,000,000 gift plus $550,000 in gift taxes. If you made the same gift at death, your estate's out-of-pocket cost would be $2,222,222; i.e., your estate must set aside $2,222,222 and pay $1,222,222 in estate taxes at the 55% bracket in order to leave $1 million after taxes to distribute to your child. Another way of looking at this result is that the maximum gift tax is 55°/o of the gift, while the maximum estate tax is 122% of the bequest.
For a married couple, the surviving spouse can avoid estate taxes because transfers to spouses upon death are not subject to estate tax. However, leaving everything to the survivor increases estate taxes at the survivor's death. Effective estate planning should seek to minimize taxes at both deaths.
Consider a hypothetical husband and wife with a community property estate of $1,200,000. If the husband is the first to die and leaves his $600,000 estate to his wife, no estate tax will be incurred. However, at the wife's death, her estate will amount to $1,200,000, of which only $600,000 is exempt. Unnecessary estate taxes of $235,000 will be paid on the non-exempt $600,000 of her estate. The couple could have avoided the voluntary payment of $235,000 of unnecessary estate taxes had the husband left his estate in trust for the benefit of his wife and children. The wife could receive all of the income from the trust, as well as have the right to consume as much of the principal as needed to maintain her standard of living. The wife could also serve as trustee, with full
authority to manage, sell and purchase trust assets. This type of trust is commonly referred to as a Credit Trust.
The husband's $600,000 estate would have been entirely exempt from estate taxes,irrespective of whether it was left outright to the widow or in trust for her benefit. Assuming that the Credit Trust was properly drafted, it would not be part of her estate on her subsequent death and would pass -free of estate taxes-to the children.As a result,the wife's taxableestate at the time of her death would have only amounted to $600,000, all ofwhich would have been exempt from estate taxes.
As a general rule, married couples with combined estates of more than $1,200,000 cannot completely avoid the payment of estate taxes. However, they may still minimize and defer the payment of estate taxes through proper estate planning.
Consider a hypothetical married couple with a community property estate of $1,500,000. Each spouse is worth $750,000. Once again, we will assume that the husband is the first to die. At his death, the unified credit would shelter the first $600,000 of his estate from federal estate tax. To avoid having this property taxed as part of his wife's estate at her death, the husband should create a Credit Trust for his wife and children.
The husband should leave the remaining $150,000 to his wife, thereby qualifying for the estate tax marital deduction. No estate taxes will be incurred at the husband's death.
Property qualifying for the marital deduction is subject to estate taxation at the survivor's death. Thus, the wife's estate will amount to $900,000 (i.e., $750,000 plus $150,000). However, the payment of estate taxes on the $150,000 of inherited property will be deferred until her death, at which time the total estate taxes on thenon-exemptportionofherestate(i.e.,$900,000less $600,000) will be $u4,ooo
Had the husband left his entire estate outright to his wife, rather than use a Credit Trust for the exempt amount, her estate would have amounted to $1,500,000 at her death, rather than $900,000. And, the estate taxes on the non-exempt portion of her estate (i.e., $1,500,000 less $600,000) would have been $363,000. Thus, proper estate planning in this illustration saved $249,000 in estate taxes.
*Jon Gallo, class of 1967, is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman, & Machtinger. A Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law, California Board of Legal Specialization, Gallo serves as Chair of the annual UCLA-CEB Estate Planning Institute, which draws approximately 300 experienced estate planners to a two-day program each year.
For more information on the seminars and planned giving contact Joan Tyndall in the Alumni & Development Office (310) 206-n2r.
Bar swearing-in ceremony highlights successful year for lawAlumniAssociation
byLarryRubin I995LawAlumniAssociationPresident
THE LAW ALUMNI ASSOCIATION COMPLETED ANOTHER successful year with the Law School's second annual Bar Swearing-In Ceremony held December 8th at the school. A total of 128 1994 graduates were sworn in at the Schoenberg Hall event. More than 500 were in attendance, including family, friends, faculty and alumni. By the evening's end, the graduates were members of the local federal and state courts and all the paperwork for processing their admissions had been completed by Law School staffand board members.
"This is the perfect ending to three years of!aw school," said Dean Susan Westerberg Prager. "For those faculty members who have had the opportunity to teach the graduating class, it is heartfelt to see the moment of transition from law student to lawyer." Prior to 1993 when the Law Alumni Association first established the swearing-in program at UCLA, graduates were admitted to the bar with all prospective attorneys downtown at the State Bar association's annual ceremony. UCLA's program precedes the State Bar event by a few days. One can read more about this year's event on page 28.
Administering oaths of admission were UCLA Law School graduates, Judges Alex Kozinski (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals), Audrey Collins (United States District Court) and William Masterson (California Court of Appeal).
For Judge Kozinski, it was his second consecutive appearance on behalf of the federal appellate court. He and present Law Alumni Association board member, Judge Joan Dempsey Klein, presided over the 1993 ceremony. He emphasized that of all the courses in law school, the most important was the class on legal ethics. Some of the country's greatest lawyers, such as Lincoln, Brandeis and Elihu Root, were not litigators, but were counselors dispensing advice in an effort to avoid litigation, he noted. He urged new admittees to consider that calling as they made career choices.
Judge Collins, appointed to the bench in 1994 and one of the youngest federal judges, compared her transition to the judiciary with the students becoming lawyers. "This evening is the beginning of a new career for you just as becoming a federal judge is the beginning of a new career for me. I feel more like a law student than any time since I was at UCLA." She reminded the new lawyers that their first job was not likely to be their last and closed her remarks by welcoming the new admittees "to not only the Central District, but also to the life of the law."
The third speaker, former Association board member Bill Masterson also invited the students to pursue the variety of opportunities that the law presented. He fondly recalled his own days at the Law School. "I remember showing up on September 8, 1955," he said, "six days after being discharged from the Army. I had a mighty thin wallet and I was grateful for the GI Bill." He also mentioned to the students what he had told his own daughter when she entered the legal profession: "work hard, but don't forget to have fun."
Former Law Alumni President Robert Burke served as host for the evening's festivities.
The Alumni Association will continue to hold the swearing-in ceremony, and other popular programs including the Alumni-of-the-Year Awards and the student/alumni in-house dinners. This year, the award for alum of the year has been expanded into two categories-professional achievement and public/community service. The in-house dinner program involved more than 125 students last school year.
The Board has been extensively involved in assisting the Law School in the recruitment of selected new admittees who were still deciding between UCLA and other institutions in the late spring and early summer. The highlight of the recruitment season was a picnic held in April for new admits. More than 200 prospective students in addition to faculty, staff and alums attended the panel discussion: "California Justice After 0.J. Simpson," in which faculty participated. During the picnic afterward in the Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Courtyard, prospective students were able to speak individually with current students, faculty, alums and administrators and were invited to ask questions of Dean Susan Prager and Associate Dean Julian Eule. Board Secretary Rick Runkel is chair of the new committee taking up recruitment tasks.
For further information on Board activities, please contact President Larry Rubin (310) 260-3631, Lori Boskin of the Office of Alumni and Development (310) 825-2890, or any board member.
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Professors John Wiley, Peter Arenella and Cruz Reynoso, as well as Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson (UCLAW '80), below, participated in the panel discussion: "California Justice After O.]. Simpson." The panel was part of the program at the Admissions Reception for newly admitted students held at the law school in the spring.
above:
Collins appointed to federal bench
Audrey B. Collins of the class of 1977 became the second African- American woman to serve on the federal bench in Los Angeles when President Clinton appointed her to the U.S. District Court for the Central District late last year. Collins' appointment was met with warm approval by many faculty who remember her calm, thoughtful approach and her superb academic record while she was a student at UCLA Law in the mid 1970s.
Collins' appointment adds to an exemplary career in public service in which she had held numerous positions of leadership in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Immediately prior to her judicial appointment, Collins was the Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney and was the first African-American woman to hold that position. Judge Collins, who had worked for the District Attorney's Office since 1978, also had headed the office's Bureau of Special Operations and the Torrance branch office. As Assistant District Attorney, she supervised the Bureau of Family Support Operation, the Bureau of Management and Budget and the Bureau of Crime Prevention Resources.
Judge Collins also served as deputy general counsel on the Webster-Williams Commission, which was appointed to investigate the Los Angeles Police Department's response to the April 1992 riots. In that capacity, she was one of four deputies counsel in charge of an attorney team that interviewed more than 200 Los Angeles Police officers. The commission made recommendations designed to assist both the police and the city to improve emergency preparedness.
In addition to her leadership in the District Attorney's Office, at the time of her judicial appointment Collins was serving on the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners. Collins, who before attending UCLA School of Law earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University and a master's degree from American University, joined other alums in swearing in new UCLAW graduates to the Bar last December. (See related story, page 28)
"I have enjoyed so much this return to the full breadth of the law in my new position as a federal judge," Collins told the audience at the December ceremony. "The opportunity to be in the courtroom, although in a different position, to work with attorneys, to learn the law and apply it in hundreds of different situations every month, is a marvelous one."
JUDITH WEGNER '76 LEADS AALS
JudithWegner '76,Dean of the School of Law of University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill, became the second UCLA alum to head the Association of American Law Schools when she was chosen as president this year. Wegner follows UCLAW's Dean Susan Prager '71, who served as MLS president in 1986. The accreditation and national legal education organization represents 150 law schools.
Wegner beganreaching at University of North Carolina in 1981, became Associate Dean in 1986 and was named Deanin1989. Herlegalcareerwasinthe area of public service: she was Special Assistantto U.S.SecretaryofEducation Shirley M. Hufstedler in 1979-80. She also was an attorney for the Office of Legal Counsel and Land and Natural Resources Division of the U.S.Department ofJustice from 1977 to 1979.After graduating from law school, where she was Chief Comment Editor of UCLA LawReview, she clerked forJudgeWarren Ferguson of the U.S.District Court in Los Angeles.
Wegner has been highly involved in MLS, serving most recently on the executivecommittee.Shealsohasserved ontheaccreditationcommitteeandwas chair of the committee from 1989 to 1991.ShewasontheNationalExecutive Committee of Order of the Coif (legal honorary society) and participated in the NationalLeague ofCitiesCouncilMentor program.
At University of North Carolina, Wegner chaired both itsCommittee on Diversityin1990-91anditsCommittee on the Status of Women from 1984 to 1986.
She has taught and written on a myriad of subjects including issues related to land use; property, local and state government law; and the rights of handicappedpersons. She also has spoken and written extensively on issues related to legaleducation."She has outstandinginterpersonalskillsandleadershipabilities,"saidProfessorandformer Dean Bill Warren. "I am delighted that she is being recognized by being chosen atarelativelyearlyagefor law teaching's mostprestigiousposition,rhepresidency of rhe AALS. We're proud of her."
ALUMS IN ENTERTAINMENT GRAB SPOTLIGHT
Two UCLAW grads grabbed the spotlight in a special edition of The Hollywood Reporter featuring Women in Entertainment in December. Rae Sanchini, Q.D./ MBA) '87 President of Lightstorm Entertainment and Stacey Snider, '85 President of production, TriSrar Pictures,were among those featured. Snider, who oversaw "Sleepless in Seattle," and "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," and also is credited with havinga key roleindeveloping"Legends of the Fall," also was featured in the Hollywood Reporter depicting "The Next Generation."
Alums Mark Gochman, '86 and Carlos Goodman '88 were featured in "The Next Generation" special editionaswell.GochmanisanEntertainment partner in the law firm of Greenberg,Clusker,Fields,Claman and Machringer and specializes in negotiating agreements for morion pictureandtelevisionartistsaswellas structuringtransactionsforentertainment companies. Goodman is with the law firm of Lichter,Grossman & Nichols, representing such notables as producer Lawrence Bender and director Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction").
EMAIL ADDRESS
(Note: You can now send your classnotes by email. Write to ''alumnews@law.ucla.edu")Also, we are trying to determine our aiumniS computer access capabilities. Pleasefill out the form after this section, or email us, letting UCLAWknow ifyou use Internet, and through what service. We are preparing to put many UCLAWmaterials and info on the Internet.
THE 1950s
Ed Edelman '58 has joined rhe JAMS/Endispute mediation panel in Los Angeles. Edelman, who recently retired as Los Angeles County Supervisor, will focus on environmental, e1nployment and govermnent issues.
Leon A. Farley '59 writes that the 1995 edition of The New Career Makers lists him as the third-ranking executive search consultant in the United Stares in rhe general management category. He also is listed as the leading recruiter in the legal field. The book, published by Harper Business, lists the rop 250 executive recruiters in the USA and Canada.
Charles S. Vogel '59, Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, is now chairing a new committee created by the California Supreme Court to review the existing Code of Judicial Ethics. The Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics will review the existing code with input from the legal community and judiciary as well as the public, and then submit proposed changes to the Supreme Court before January 1996.
Guy Martin Young '59 retired afrer 20 years as Judge of the Modoc County Superior Court, a one-judge court. Young is now doing assignments for the judicial council in any county needing judicial help. He and his wife, Gloria, enjoy playing with their grandchildren and boating.
THE 1960s
Lee Gire '63 has joined Steve Drummy ('65) as a member of Drummy King and White in Costa Mesa, California.
Edward Poll '65 has released Law Practice Management Review: The Audio Magazine for Busy Attorneys, an audiotape subscription series for attorneys who want to fir convenient and ongoing learning into their schedules.
Charles L. Goldberg '67 has been elected President of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers for r995. He has been a 'fellow' of the Board since 1981.
Jan C. Gabrielson '69 is the Editor of The Newsletter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He enjoys rock climbing in his spare time.
THE 1970s
Mark Silversher '70 has been engaged in law, development and environmental studies in Telluride, Colorado since 1977.
Richard J. Stone '70 is the managing partner of Zelle & Larson and heads the firm's Los Angeles office. Stone served as general counsel and staff director for Judge William H. Webster's investigation of Los Angeles Police Department actions during rhe 1992 riots. He was also Deputy Assistant General Counsel for lnrelligence at the U.S Department of Defense and Assistant to the Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Deparnnent of Energy. Prior to joining Zelle & Larson, Stone was senior partner for Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in charge of litigation in Los Angeles.
Roger P. Freeman '71 has opened a private practice focusing on noise, land use and environmental issues affecting airports. He has spenr several years as Counsel co Long Beach Airport and a term as Chairman of the Legal Committee of Airports Council International.
John Marshall Collins '72, whose wife, Zoe Lofgren, was recently elected to Congress, will open an office in Washington, D.C. He will also maintain his office in San Jose where he is a sole practitioner.
Forrest "Woody" Mosten '72 was profiled in the December 1994 ABA Journal for his practice and writings in unbundling legal services. He was an invited speaker at London Legal Access Conference and served as cochair of the 1994 Dispute Resolution Services Dinner. He specializes in family law and private mediation in Westwood. His daughter, Jordana, is IO years old and attends Campbell Hall.
Henry S. Barbosa '73 has been elected as President of the Three Valleys Municipal W.�ter District in Eastern Los Angeles. He was first elected to the Board in r992 and served as Vice-President for the past rwo years. He continues to head Barbosa, Garcia & Barnes a 14member firm which e1nphasizes representation of public agencies as well as corporate and rransactional practice. Douglas Barnes '79 is also a partner in rhe firm.
Michael L. Dillard '73 is the senior partner and head of the 25-lawyer Business Litigation section ofWeintraub, Genshlea and Sproul in Sacramento. Dillard's practice emphasizes commercial, banking and real estate litigation and he was recently appointed to a three year term on the California State Bar Financial Institutions Committee. He lives in Sacramento with wife Barbara and sons, Martin and Scott.
Richard A. Goodman '74 specializes in real estate transactions and has formed a partnership with B. Scott Levine, called Goodman and Levine. Goodman is the author of Real Property Exchanges and numerous articles on real estate. He lives in Oakland and has a 14-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son.
Scott E. Grimes '74 is a partner in the Dublin, Ohio CPA /inn of Norman, Jones, Enlow & Co. He coauthored an article on nanny tax legislation which was published in the November 1994 issue of TaxationforAccountants. This article is the seventh that he has had published in a national publication.
Marc Winthrop '74 has founded Winthrop Couchot Professional Corporation in Newport Beach, California.
The firm limits its practice to insolvency, bankruptcy workouts, business and real estate re-organization and related litigation. Members of the firm recently completed reorganizations for Rusty Pelican Restaurants, Tam's Stationers and Pacesetter Homes. Currently, Marc is representing the group of Orange County school districts that borrowed $200 million to invest in the Orange County Investment Pools. Also, for the fourth year in a row, he caught Current Development in Bankruptcy for CEB in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Robert M. Gans '75 has joined San Diego-based Price Enterprises, Inc. as their ExecutiveVice PresidentGeneral Counsel. Gans was formerly a principal in Gans, Blackmar, Stevens & Principe, A.P.C. in San Diego.
John B. Golper '75 is the Senior Partner in the Universal City firm of Ballard, Rosenberg & Golper. He was the lead counsel for the employer defendants in Turner v. Anheuser-Busch, inc. in which, he writes, the California Supreme Court modified existing standards on what an employee must establish to bring a constructive discharge case in California. John J. Manier '89 was also on the brief Golper was also lead counsel in Davis v. Consolidated Freightways, which, he writes, is rhe first published decision to discuss an employer's obligations under California's polygraph statute.
Donald S. Eisenberg '75 has merged his law practice into Stettner, Eisenberg, & Morris where he practices family law. The Glendora-based firm specializes in child advocacy and child custody.
Judge Marcelita V. Haynes '76 was appointed to the Compton Municipal Court bench on January 22, 1993. She is the presiding judge for 1995.
Pearl Lattaker '76 has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Opera.
Mark A. Neubauer '76 has been named Editor-in-Chief of Litigation, the award winning publication of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section. Litigation is one of the few ABA publications written and edited by lawyers. Neubauer has been Associate Editor of the magazine since 1982. Mr. Neubauer specializes in business, commercial and entertainment litigation at the Santa Monica firm of Stern, Neubauer, Greenwald & Pauly.
Broox Peterson '76 is the Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Visa International in the Bay Area with a hi-tech, transactional and corporate practice. He is married to Sandra, a former lawyer now in graduate school studying counseling psychology. Peterson enjoys vacationing in Italy and gardening.
Wilma Pinder '76 has been promoted from Deputy City Attorney to the position of Assistant City Attorney for Los Angeles.
LarryWalker '76 has been elected to a third term on the San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors, ending in December 1998. He is the Chairman ofMetrolink and a board member of Commuter Transportation Services and Omnitrans bus service. Larry is also involved with at-risk youth, including juvenile justice programs such as Teen Court.
Lawrence Dreyfuss '77 has moved his nine-member firm, Cameron & Dreyfuss, into a new building in Santa Ana. The firms focus is on creditor's righrs, secured lending issues and business litigation.
David Kenagy '77 has been appointed Interim Dean at Willamette University College of Law.
Neil J. Rubenstein '77 has become a partner in the San Francisco office of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard. He is in charge of the firm's Financial Services Group practice in that office.
Nancy R. Alpert '78 writes that she has been "happily ensconced" at Lifetime Television for a year. The new cable regulations came out her first week on the job, keeping
things busy at Lifetime. Alpert is heavily involved in the FCC and regulatory aspects of the business as well as programming and public affairs.
Thomas D. Martin '78 has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Audubon Society and moved to Rye, New York with wife Massie and children, Darin and Caitlin.
Donald Lively '79 Professor of Law at University of Toledo College of Law in Ohio has been retained as dean of a new law school being proposed in Jacksonville, Florida-Florida Coastal School of Law. The school plans to begin operating next year.
Bernard M. Resser '79 has joined other UCLA alums at the firm of Berman, Blanchard, Mausner, Kindem & Resser. The firm has opened an office in Century City in addition to its Wilshire Boulevard office. Other alums at the firm include Laurence M. Berman '80, Lonnie C. Blanchard III '80, and Peter R. DionKindem '80. The firm's practice is devoted to civil trial practice and prelitigation counseling.
Michael W. Schoenleber '79 is a sole practitioner and has been certified as a specialist in immigration and nationality law by the California Board of Legal Specialization. Previously, he has worked with the California Rural Legal Assistance, with the '82 Tom Bradley for Governor campaign in Sacramento and as a Yolo County Deputy DA. He lives in Sacramento with his wife, Marcia J. Steinberg, an attorney with the California Department of Conservation.
Michael David Schwartz '79, who is a Ventura County Deputy District Attorney, recently had dinner with Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Michael David Schwartz '87, and Michael Ernest Schwartz '63 of Polston, Schwarcz, Hamilton & Fenster. The three alumni also invited the other two California attorneys named Michael Schwartz, both of whom were unable to attend.
Correction: An item abour Jay Bloom '71, San Diego Municipal Court Judge, in rhe fall '94 UCLA Law magazine Classnotes section had the wrong photo next to it. The photo was of Robert L. Watson, Jr. '71.
'Robert L. Watson, Jr.
THE 1980s
Becky Mahoney Burnham '80 practices in the areas of commercial business and real property transactions. She has served as a Certified Real Property Specialist (1988-1991) and is a past member of the Governing Council, Real Estate Section (1988-1991) and the Disciplinary Commission, Bar Counsel (1987-1988) of the State Bar of Arizona. She is also the prinicipal author of the Commercial Real Estate Transactions Practice Manual, published in 1989.
David A. Lash '80 was named a new executive director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services as of October 1994.
James M. Ash '81 has joined the Kansas City, Missouri firm of Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi LC. where he continues his practice in corporate finance and technology law.
Mark Barnes '81 and his wife Ellice, had their first child, Julia Elizabeth, on September 25.Mark practices law in Washington, D.C. and Ellice is Washington counsel to the AmericanMedical Association.
Adam Kurland '81 was granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Professor of Law at Howard University Law School. His wife, Sari, gave birth to their third child, Kara Allyson, on October 18, 1994. Kara joins their other children, Benjamin, 4 and Evan, 2.
Martin H. Samson '81 has been named partner at the New York law firm of Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon and specializes in commercial litigation. Martin
lives in Port Washington with his wife, Eve, and two sons, Justin, 5, and Evan, 2 1/i.
Dirk W. van de Bunt '81 is Senior Vice President, Business Affairs for The Carsey-Werner Company, a Studio City television production and distribution company. He had previously worked at Paramount Pictures Corp. for nine years.
Greg S. Bernstein '82 joined Rosenfeld,Meyer and Susman as a partner.
Barry '82 and Teri Goldner '82 are the parents of a baby daughter, Rachel, born April II, 1993. Teri was elected President of the Kern County Bar Association this year and is the youngest person, and second woman, to hold this position. She maintains her Bakersfield practice in real estate and litigation. Barry was recently elected to the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California as the representative of the California Young Lawyers Association. Barry's firm, Klein, Wegis, DeNatale, Goldner &Muir, has grown to approximately 30 lawyers.
Daniel M. Mayeda '82 who specializes in litigation involving the entertainment and media industries as a partner with Leopold, Petrich & Smith, taught a course in Media Law at California State University, Los Angeles during spring quarter 1995.
JeffGates '83 has been named Associate General Counsel of Porsche Cars North America, Inc. He will be responsible for product liability and other areas of litigation for the United States and Canada. Before joining Porsche, Gates was Senior StaffAttorney with Honda North America, Inc.
Don Gibson '83 serves in New York as Senior Vice President of business affairs and General Counsel for Major League Baseball Properties.
Barry Lambergman '83 formerly a partner with Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth has joined the Corporate Government Relations office of Motorola, Inc. in Washington, D.C. as Manager of Satellite Regulatory Affairs. Last June he and his wife Maddy, became the parents of triplets-Bart, Laura and Jaclyn.
James Rogan '83 continues in his position as Assemblyman of the 43rd Assembly District, representing an area including Glendale and Burbank. He previously served as a Municipal Court Judge for the Glendale Judicial District as well as District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, during which time he prosecuted in a special "Hardcore Gang Murder Unit." Rogan and wife, Christine, have twin daughters, Claire and Dana.
Nancy L. Vanderlip '83 was elected an officer of ParkerHannifin Corporation in addition ro her position as Assistant General Counsel. She is married to Jim Ellis, has a daughter Emily, and another baby on the way. The family lives in Solon, Ohio.
Edward W. Zaelke '83 and Terrilyn Batson '83 were married in February 1994 in Sedona, Arizona. Edward moved to the Los Angeles office of Arnold and Porter in April 1994 where he continues his practice in real property law.
Marc Von Arx '84 quit practicing law in 1990 to return to school in the film directing program at the American Film Institute. He is also the administrator and co-founder of "The Vine," an on-line service for professionals in the entertainment industry.Marc and his wife Debbie's first child, Aimee Madeline, was born on May 17, 1994-
Stephen D. Cooke '85 was elected partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. He works in the firm's Orange County office and specializes in securities and corporate finance matters, including mergers and acquisitions.
Carlos Cordova'85 has been The Fritz Law Office in Santa Attorney for the District of a mistake like that doesn't Tobias A. Dorsey'93 practices appointed University Legal Rosa, California. They are Columbia. Previously, she happen again. In a check of in Bethel, Maine and was Counsel for California proud to announce the birth of served three and a half years as records, it seems the alumni recently appointed to the Polytechnic University, San their second daughter, Natalie a trial attorney for the United records office for the greater Board of Directors of the Luis Obispo after having Mariah, born December 1994 States Commodity Futures UCLA campus recorded the Young Lawyers Division of the served six years in the Office of Trading Commission's Division newspaper obituary of another Maine Bar. He was married in General Counsel for the Bob Roden '87 has been of Enforcement, where she attorney with the same name, August 1993. A member of Chancellor's office of promoted to general counsel prosecuted violations occurring mistakenly marching it to V. both the Massachusetts and California State University He and director of Business Affairs on the floors of the commodity James De Simone. Verification Maine bars, he has litigated is also in his final year of a of LucasArts, a Marin County futures exchanges in New York of information in that office several trials and handled an three year appointment to the entertainment company. He is and Chicago. has now been stepped up and appeal before the Supreme Executive Committee of the also the President and Member Jim De Simone-the former Judicial Court of Maine. Public Law section of the of the Board of Directors of Janie Wakatsuki Karp'89 and president of Westside Legal California State Bar. the Recreational Software her husband, Joseph Karp, Services-is on the alumni Tamar Oberman Faulhaber Advisory Council, which welcomed the birth of their mailing list. ''I've learned my '93 has become an associate of Jean Montoya'85 received oversees the newly imple- son, Quincy Hiroji, in July lesson," he said with a laugh. Stettner, Eisenberg & Morris tenure and was promoted to mented rating system for 1994, "I'll keep in rouch." in Glendora. The firm full professor at the University computer games. He lives in specializes in child advocacy, of San Diego School of Law. Richmond with his wife, Joanna Kishner'89 has joined child custody and other family Sherry, and daughter, Natalie. Warner Brothers Communica- law matters. Scott D. Pinsky'85 is serving rions as associate counsel. as Counsel to the Public Lands John J. Tormey'88 married
THE 1990s
Marc A. Koonin'93 has been Authority, Republic of Palau. Kate Rey on May 21, 1994 at Leslie Tucker Fischer'90 has working as a Judge Advocate He says friends and fellow Shelter Island, New York. John moved to Laguna Beach and General officer for the U.S. divers can reach him at: PO is an attorney for Miramax joined the firm of Allen, Army at Camp Humphreys, Box 1365 / Koror, Republic of Films in New York City. Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Korea. Captain Koonin has Palau 96940. Mallory. She specializes in served as Legal Assistance and
Ian Elfenbaum'88 is now a corporate securities and Claims Attorney for Camp Daniel A. Dorosin'86 has named partner in Kleiman, mergers and acquisitions. She Humphreys, and also handled joined Crystal Dynamics as its Whirney, Wolfe & Elfenbaum was previously associated with administrative law, military Senior Vice President, Business which specializes in union side
Kenneth E. Petersen, Jr.'89 the firm of Latham and justice, international law and Affairs. labor law and workers has recently accepted a position Watkins. civil law for the command as compensation. Michelle Zimet as senior consultant with The needed. He married Ho Cho '87 is a partner at Siemon New England Mutual Life Francis J. James'90 writes Shin of Seoul, Korea in March. Larsen & Marsh where she Insurance Company in its from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, They were due to relocate ro specializes in land use Newport Beach office. He is a that he and alum Karen Tse Washington, D.C. planning. They have three member of the Real Property, (class of'90) are training children, Amelia, Oliver and Probate and Trust section of Cambodians to become Cecelia and live in Chicago. the American Bar Association defense counsel in Cambodia's and the Estate Planning, court system. This year, they Morgan W. Tovey'88 has been Probate and Trust Section of are establishing the country's Andrew R. Hall'86 has been elected parrner at the Oakland the Orange County Bar first functioning public named partner of the Los law firm of Crosby, Heafey, Association. Previously, he was defender's office with a staffof Angeles office of Davis Wright Roach and May. He previously the legal counsel and assistant more than 35 lawyers and Tremaine. Hall, a litgator, served as a law clerk to the to the president for Koll defenders. He is the handles all aspects of state and Honorable Charles A. Legge, Management Services and a coordinator and Karen is the
Stephen P. McGrath'94 has federal court litigation matters United Stares District Court business litigation attorney supervising attorney. They joined Lane Powell Spears involving commercial issues Judge for the Northern District with the Newport Beach office were recently recognized for Lubersky in Seattle. His including contracts, torts, of California. His professional of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter their work by the California practice will focus on shareholder and partnership practice has focused on civil and Hampton. Public Defenders Association commercial litigation. disputes, real estate, creditor's litigation with an emphasis in for "Best Defender Project." rights, prejudgment and post- intellectual property and Jan A. Yoss'89 has joined
Maria A. Salas-Mendoza'94 judgment remedies, unlawful commercial litigation. Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Ron Jauregui'90 secured a gave birth to Melina Alisa on detainer, and bankruptcy Geraldson, cominuing to political appointment in the August 7, 1994, nine days after maners. Jacqueline Shim Bryant'89 practice in the area of Clinton Administration as successfully taking the bar and her husband, Timothy commercial litigation. Special Assistant to the exam. Paul N. Sorrell'86 was made Bryant, welcomed the birth of Director of The Office of partner at Belin Rawlings and their son, Morgan Rees, in Economic Impact and Badal in Los Angeles. October 1994. In Memoriam-but not Diversity at the U.S. VincentJames De Simone '85 Department of Energy. IN MEMORIAM Susanna Camacho'87 has Elena Bocca Dietrich'89 is was listed in the fall magazine's announced her marriage ro an associate with O'Melveny & In Memoriam column. Jim De Lee J. Leslie'92 joined the William Bradshaw in May at Myers in San Francisco. She Simone-or V. James De Newport Beach office of Michael Alcala'88 Big Sur. and her husband, Timothy Simone-reports ro us, Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison Susan L. Burner'75 Dietrich, have a son, Joseph however, that he is alive and in April 1994, His transactional Mayer Chapman'61 John F. Gardner'87 has been Michael, born in October 1993. well, still practicing law as a practice focuses on representa- Wallace R. Davis'63 elected partner at Cooper, Elena's sister-in-law, Betsy parrner with the Venice law tion of entrepreneurs and Richard S. Goldstein '62 White & Cooper and works at Dietrich'89, continues to firm of Schonbrun & De emerging growth companies. Sherwin Goldstein'59 the firm's Walnut Creek office. work for the City Attorney of Simone. The firm specializes in Steven A. Lande'63 He specializes in real estate, San Francisco. Civil Rights law with an Steven Levy'92 has moved to corporate and general business emphasis on employment New York City and is working Robert P. Mandel'71 matters. Lenese Herbert'89 has discrimination and police in the corporate department of Phillip L. Miller'59 accepted a position as an misconduct. Jim De Simone the law firm of Weil, Gotshal John W. Norby'61 Theresa Rodriguez Fritz'87 Assistant United Stares has now resolved, he said, to & Manges.
Charles G. Schlegel'55 and William F. Fritz'86 keep in touch with UCLAW so Benjamin Schwartz'54 continue their own practice at William Yerkes'64
Liz Cheadle appointed Dean ofStudents
Liz Cheadle '81, who most recently was Senior Staff Counsel for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, was appointed Dean ofStudents, emerging from a strong pool ofaccomplished UCLA Law School alums.
Cheadle takes over from Barbara Varat-who recently joined Julian Eule as one oftwo Associate Deans-bringing to the law school experience in both private practice and public sector roles. Immediately after graduation she clerked two years for Judge Harry Pregerson, U.S. Court ofAppeals for the Ninth Circuit, where she was able to set up the appellate court's first in-chambers nursery for her newborn son, Todd. She then moved into transactional practice as a lawyer in a large firm where she remained for three years.
For a number ofyears, she served as Assemblyman Terry Friedman's chiefofstaffin Los Angeles, where she was his principal district policy advisor and local liaison to community organizations and government office and agencies. From there she assured her position at the Conservancy, a state agency that purchases open space to preserve it as public parkland. She was recently appointed to the Conservancy Governing Board by the State Senate Rules Committee and has been elected vice chair.
Dean Cheadle brings with her the added perspective ofa UCLA undergraduate who worked halftime while on campus and took time between her undergraduate years and law school to work as a paralegal. While at UCLAW, she served as Editor of Volume 28 of UCLALawReview. She is married to Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Larry Rubin, a UCLAW '71 graduate and the current president of the Law Alumni Board. In addition to Todd, now 12, they have an 8-year-old son, Carter.
"I believe Liz Cheadle will follow in the remarkable tradition chat Barbara Varat has established, and that she will be both trusted and respected by faculty and students," said Dean Susan Prager. "The breadth ofher experience, her sound judgment and her calm and supportive manner will enable her to be a wise counselor to students, to faculty and to me."
HAROLD
VERRALL,
MEMBER OF ORIGINAL FACULTY, DIES AT
92
HaroldE.Verrall,UCLAProfessorof Law Emeritus, who came co teach propertylawatUCLA'snewlawschool in 1949, died inJanuary. He was92. Verrall wrote the pioneering casebook: CaliforniaCommunityPropertyLaw, the fourth edition of which was published in 1983. He taught at UCLAuntil1970,shepherding21years of students through their first-year propertylawcourses."Formanyyears, every student who attended the law schoolwas taughtaclassbyProfessor Verrall," remembers Professor Bill Warren, who came to the law school in 1959. "Harold always had his door open,andstudentsfeltfreetocomein and talkco him anytime."
VerrallleftUCLAin1970,butcontinued his teaching career from 1970 to 1979 at Hastings College of the Law, where he also holds the tide of Professor of Law Emeritus. His academic interests were in community property, future interests, personal property and real property.
Born in 1902, Verra!! earned a law degreefromYalein1931. Hetaughtat universitiesacrossthecountry,including Vanderbilc, Cornell and University of Minnesota.
Harold E. Verrall
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September 1995
Panel and Receptionfor UCLA (Women) Alumnae
Thursday, September 7, 1995
4 p.m. Panel
6p.m. Reception
Location to be announced
Sponsored by the Women's Law Union
Class ofr980 Reunion
Shapiro Courtyard/Law School Foyer
Saturday, September 16, 1995
5:45p.m. Tour ofthe Law School
6:30 p.m. Reception
8 p.m. Dinner
AlumniAssociation Board ofDirectors Meeting
UCLA Faculty Center, Redwood Room
Tuesday, September 19, 1995
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Class ofr965 Reunion
Fred and Susan Selan's Residence
Saturday, September 23, 1995
2p.m.
State Bar Annual Meeting
San Francisco, Luncheon, Hotel Nikko, Grey Pearl Room II
Friday, September 29, 1995
Noon to 1:30pm
October1995
Class ofr985 Reunion
UCLA Faculty Center, California Room
Saturday, October 14, 1995
f45 p.m. Tour ofthe Law School
6:30p.m. Reception
8 p.m. Dinner
In-Home Dinner Week
October 23-0ctober 27, 1995
November 1995
Melville B. Nimmer Memorial Lecture
Thursday, November 2, 1995
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Shutters By the Beach
Saturday, November 4, 1995
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AlumniAssociation Board ofDirectors Meeting
UCLA Faculty Center
Tuesday, November 28, 1995
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December 1995
Bar Admissions Ceremony
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February 1996
20th Annual Entertainment Symposium
February 9-10, 1996 Time, Location to be announced
Technology Survey
Please email us at "alumnews@law.ucla.edu" or send us the following information about your computer access. We are in the process of putting much ofthe law school's information and resources on-line.We are interested in how valuable this might be to alums.
r. Do you have an email address?
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