USF Lawyer Magazine Fall 2020

U N I V E R S I T Y O F S A N F R A N C I S C O S C H O O L O F L AW • FA L L 2 0 2 0

Supreme Calling Alumnus Ming Chin’s career of service, from Vietnam to the California Supreme Court

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN We have begun the new academic year with a mix of anxiety, excitement, concern, and appreciation as the global pandemic disrupts our communities in ways we never imagined. At the same time, I so appreciate the foresight of our local public health officials who decided relatively early in the summer to preclude us from opening campus in the fall in the hybrid model we had envisioned. We alerted students in time for them to adjust their housing plans, and we upgraded our training and technology so that we could deliver the high-quality teaching and individualized attention that are our hallmarks.

Even in the remote context, there are many exciting developments to share. I am thrilled by the launch of our new Animal Law program, led by our fully endowed Justice for Animals chair, Matthew Liebman (see page 16). I’m also very happy to have recently promoted and hired two talented USF Law alumnae.

Associate Dean Amy Flynn has already shown herself to be invaluable in her new role (page 2), which she assumed when Professor Green returned to the faculty. Among other duties, Associate Dean Flynn oversees the Academic and Bar Exam Success Program (ABES), including our latest addition, ABES Co-director Katie Moran ’16.

We are so grateful to Justice Ming Chin ’67 for sharing his inspiring story in this issue of USF Lawyer. Justice Chin retired from the California Supreme Court this August after 32 years on the bench and has consistently dedicated time and energy to our school and our students. Another distinguished and engaged alum, David Sutton ’08, also serves the public as the L.A. Trial Chief in the largest federal district in the nation (page 20). Two alumni

discussed privacy in the age of COVID-19 as part of the engaging webinar series we hosted this spring and summer (page 31). Our virtual events highlighted the expertise and impact of our alumni as well as faculty, and the series itself illustrated the law school’s ability to pivot quickly to embrace an alternate educational platform.

During a time of considerable tumult, our communities’ talents help us thrive. We are grateful to have welcomed a capable new group of students this fall and look forward to their contributions as well. As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and concerns and hope to meet, in person or virtually, with many of you this coming academic year.

Stay well and be safe,

PAUL J. FITZGERALD, S.J. University President TYRONE CANNON Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs SUSAN FREIWALD Dean AMY FLYNN Associate Dean for Academic Affairs STEPHANIE CARLOS Assistant Dean for Student Affairs ALICE KASWAN Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship CAROLINE KNOWLES Interim Director, Development and Alumni Relations SHELLI FYFE Editor / Marketing Partner

Susan Freiwald Dean

DESIGNED BY USF Office of Marketing Communications

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CONTENTS FALL • 2020

DEPARTMENTS

2

IN BRIEF Amy Flynn ’04 Becomes Associate Dean for Academic Affairs The Power of Data and Due Diligence Maria A. M. Zavaleta ’21 Is One to Watch

8

FACULTY FOCUS Achieving Change Through Mindfulness Lara Bazelon Named Barnett Professor of Trial Advocacy Professor de la Vega Marks 30 Years at USF

12

26

SUPREME CALLING Alumnus Ming Chin’s Career of Service, From Vietnam to the California Supreme Court

ALUMNI NEWS Class Notes From the Classroom to the Boardroom: Frank Cassidy LLM ’16 The Right to Your Data

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20

28

32

ANIMATING FACTOR

A TALE FROM TWO CITIES

QUIZ MASTER

CLOSING ARGUMENT

Accomplished litigator and advocate Matthew Liebman named Justice for Animals chair.

David Sutton ’08 takes a holistic approach to advocacy in the Federal Public Defender’s Office.

Eli Wagner ’11 keeps Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on the straight and narrow.

Jordanna Thigpen ’04 perseveres to protect client’s right of publicity

ON THE COVER: California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin ’67 (retired)

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IN BRIEF Steady Leadership in Unprecedented Times MEET TH E N EW A SSO C I AT E D E A N FO R ACADE MI C AFFAI RS

Amy Flynn, the USF Law professor who was named associate dean for academic affairs on June 1, is no stranger to turbulence — and just the person to have on your team during a pandemic.

Born and raised in the Richmond District of San Francisco, Flynn was 5 years old when she first climbed the steps to Lone Mountain.

“The building and the campus made an impression,” she says. Years later, when she decided to go to law school, she applied to only one.

“USF felt like home,” she says. “I fell in love with the law here.”

Flynn graduated summa cum laude from USF Law in 2004. Before joining the faculty in 2007, she served as an assistant public defender in Contra Costa County. She is co-author of California Criminal Law: Cases and Problems, 4th Ed.

Today, as associate dean, Flynn supervises the curriculum, including the Academic and Bar Exam Success Program, a series of workshops, tutoring, and general preparation for the bar exam. She also addresses student questions and issues.

“I’m thrilled to have Amy on board,” says Dean Susan Freiwald.

“She has the skills and talents of a successful teacher, administrator, and litigator — plus the deep concern of an alumna who wants our students and our law school to thrive.”

At USF, Flynn has taught criminal law, criminal procedure, legal drafting, criminal practice, appellate advocacy, and legal research, writing, and analysis. She also directs the moot court programs and the Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project, a program that enlists law students in the reform, and ultimate abolition, of the death penalty in the United States.

Flynn is also a former whitewater rafting guide, with 15 years of experience leading expeditions in places like Africa, Nepal, and the Grand Canyon, so she knows how to navigate rough waters.

“It’s tough to move forward during a pandemic, but we have an opportunity to manage this crisis with grace and to come out stronger,” Flynn says.

She adds that while 2020 graduates will clearly face coronavirusrelated challenges, there is also employment growth in fields including privacy law (think Zoom and contact tracing), tax law, employment law, and law related to climate.

Flynn notes “USF has an advantage because we’re a caring and committed community, with Jesuit core values that we can draw on to make tough decisions.” n

AFTER 30 YEARS, LEE RYAN RETIRES by Professor John Shafer ’86 When a thousand

an invaluable resource for faculty

words aren’t enough,

scholarship, and served as a model for

how can you sum

how to be a consummate professional in

up what someone

a hectic and demanding academic world.

means to the law

contribution to the University, Ryan was

words?

awarded the Father William J. Dunne

That was the challenge presented to

Award, bestowed upon those who have

faculty and staff to mark the occasion

demonstrated excellence to USF and

of Senior Research Librarian Lee Ryan’s

the community at large through service,

recent retirement after more than 30

creativity, innovation, and leadership.

years of service. Ryan was only the second

2

In 2010, in recognition of her

school in just six

When it came time for the inevitable

reference librarian hired at the law library,

retirement party, Ryan’s co-workers tried

she taught thousands of law students, was

to say how they felt in just six words.

USF SCHOOL OF LAW

Here are a few of those statements: “COULD TEACH ANYONE FROM ANYWHERE. “ “LEE AND MEDIOCRITY HAVE NEVER MET.” “KNOWING LEE RYAN IS MY SUPERPOWER.” “HER PREPAREDNESS DESCENDS AS AN AVALANCHE.” “RESEARCHED LIKE TERRIERS CHASE RATS.” “WICKED SMART, WITH LOTS OF HEART.”

Shafer is a research librarian at the Dorraine Zief Law Library n

The Power of Data and Due Diligence US F LAW STUDENT P ERS ISTS TO P ROV E A MAN INNOCENT

While working with a USF Law program in Jackson, Mississippi, student Zynal Aziz ’20 uncovered evidence that exonerated an innocent man accused of murder.

Jonathan Shumaker was accused of killing a gas station clerk in a small town in Mississippi and was charged with capital murder in 2015.

Aziz and fellow students in the Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project spent the summer of 2018 working on his case, when Aziz made a critical discovery: cell phone data placed Shumaker 13 miles from the crime scene at the time of the murder.

The Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project (KTC), established in 2001, operates under the direction of Associate Dean Amy Flynn ’04, a KTC alumna herself. The program gives students hands-on experience in cases where clients face the death penalty, with the ultimate goal of abolishing capital punishment in the United States.

The program has a particular focus on the South, where more executions take place than any other region. Each summer, students spend 10 weeks in several southern cities working with local capital defense lawyers.

In 2015, Jonathan Shumaker was arrested at his home along with two friends and his

girlfriend shortly after the gas station murder. Shumaker’s two friends originally said that all four were innocent, but after spending time with police, Shumaker’s friends changed their stories and placed the blame on Shumaker.

Based on these testimonies alone, Shumaker was taken to jail to await trial. Aziz and a fellow KTC student met with Shumaker, who had always maintained his innocence, and Aziz immediately felt that something didn’t sit right with this case. The students investigated all aspects of the case, including more than 1,000 pages of cell phone records from one of the friends who was with Shumaker at the time of the crime.

After several days of sifting through the records, Aziz found a sound clip that was time stamped just minutes after the crime took place and geographically miles away.

Listening to the recording, one can hear Shumaker’s friends rapping and Shumaker’s voice in the background. The cell phone data proved that Shumaker could not have been at the gas station at the time of the murder.

Shumaker was released from jail in December 2019, more than four years after being incarcerated for a crime he did not commit.

“It feels great,” Aziz said. “I don’t think anyone had time to do what we did, just comb through those thousands of pages of material.”

Aziz acknowledges Dean Flynn’s guidance throughout the summer. “She basically gave me hope and helped me understand that there’s something that can happen” with the data that he discovered.

“Without Zynal’s hard work and dedication to his client, Shumaker could be on death row right now,” Dean Flynn said. “This KTC victory highlights the importance of the practical skills and hands-on experiences we offer in the program — to both our students and their clients.” n

Michelle Sklar Moves On After four years directing the law school’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations, Michelle Sklar has moved on. The USF Law community expresses our gratitude and best wishes to Michelle: “Michelle always conveyed a sense of community, commitment, and belief in the world of law and academics, and made me remember that those of us who graduated from the school remain an integral part of it, no matter how many years or miles separate us.” – Jean Afterman ’91 “USF gets more than its fair share of dedicated and extraordinarily talented people who are drawn to its mission, vision, and values. Michelle was a shining example of that.” – Greg Blaine ’91 “Michelle always has a smile on her face, is upbeat, dedicated, willing to jump in and help in any way needed, and is devoted to the law school.”

– Lawrence M. Cirelli ’84 “Michelle is a compassionate leader. Her enthusiasm and dedication to USF Law was contagious.”

– Stephen A. Hamill ’78 “Since my graduation in 1974, I’ve loved the law school from afar. About four years ago, I reconnected with the school with a rekindled sense of love and caring. Michelle, more than anyone, lit that match.”

– Gary Scholick, ’74 “Michelle cares deeply about the law school and its mission, and she had an outsize impact in her four short years here. Her enthusiasm about the school and her genuine delight when others decide to join her in supporting it are infectious. USF was lucky to have her.” – Jessica Vapnek “Michelle has been more than a development officer for the University of San Francisco — she has been an ambassador to the community on behalf of the institution.” – Mark Vorsatz

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IN BRIEF

ONE TO WATCH: MARIA A. M. ZAVALETA ’21 In 2000, 7-year-old Maria Zavaleta migrated with her mother from El Salvador to the U.S., seeking a better life. A year later, her older half-brother was granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a humanitarian form of relief, and joined the family. Maria traces her passion for the law to her fight to help her brother retain his legal status after the Trump administration ended the program for immigrants from El Salvador. Maria is a Dean’s Scholarship recipient. She worked as a summer law clerk for the Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office and is a research assistant in Zief Law Library. She was a student advocate with the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic and is a representative for the Student Immigration Law Association and co-president of the American Constitution Society Chapter.

Did you dream of being a lawyer as a kid?

I never thought I would become an attorney. It wasn’t until I was fighting to keep my family together that I saw the important work attorneys do. I decided to pursue law school because the law affects us every day, and the law can and should be studied and used as a tool for justice.

How do you plan to use your law degree?

I want to continue advocating on behalf of the TPS community through policy work. There are more than 300,000 TPS holders who have been living in the U.S. for 20+ years. Like my brother, many have families, property, businesses, and continue to contribute to the U.S. economy and society. In the midst of COVID-19, we recognized that more than 100,000 TPS holders work in industries deemed “essential critical infrastructure” by the Department of Homeland Security. I believe Congress should pass legislation that permanently protects them, and I want to be a part of that effort. I also want to use my law degree to represent groups like immigrants and the poor — who are not fully protected by the Constitution — as they fight for civil liberties.

“I left Nogales wishing that I was already an attorney so that I could do more for the people that I had met.”

What is one of your most memorable experiences at USF? Traveling to Nogales, Mexico, with the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic to counsel asylum seekers will forever be one of my most memorable experiences. We worked with the Kino Border Initiative and the Florence Project to conduct legal consultations with asylum seekers from different countries. Under the supervision of Professor Bill Hing and Professor Jacqueline Brown Scott, I was able to put into practice what I had learned in the classroom and better counsel these asylum seekers about the asylum process. Many expressed fear about remaining in Mexico because they had experienced kidnapping attempts, robberies, or sexual assault. I left Nogales wishing that I was already an attorney so that I could do more for the people that I had met. Their stories will forever be in my memory.

Which class has challenged you the most?

Constitutional Law definitely challenged me the most, but I loved it. Shortly before the semester began, Professor Luke Boso emailed the class and wished us good luck with the uncharacteristically challenging first assignment. He absolutely scared me but as a result, I allocated more time for my Con Law readings and ultimately won the CALI Award for highest grade in the class. I really value what I learned in the class because every doctrine is important to our everyday lives. n

PRESS CLIPPINGS “ Proposition 13 restrained how much local government could raise property taxes each year and caused cash-hungry cities to zone more land for commercial use so they could collect more sales tax.”

Prof. Tim Iglesias told NBC Bay Area News in a segment called “Making It in the Bay: How the Bay Area’s Housing Crisis Spiraled Out of Control.”

“ …in subjecting more people to prosecution for an array of sexually inappropriate conduct, the shortcomings of the criminal justice system have become more pronounced.”

Prof. Lara Bazelon in her co-authored The New York Times op-ed “#MeToo Doesn’t Always Have to Mean Prison” on why restorative justice is an alternative we should also consider.

“ I think, as a matter of governmental power, the county’s likely to lose against the state.”

Prof. Julie Nice told the Los Angeles Times about Modoc County’s early reopening plan in the midst of the pandemic and in defiance of the state of California’s public health restrictions.

“ There’s no one way to engage in the struggle for justice… and there’s no wasted effort in alleviating the suffering that is around us.”

Prof. Rhonda Magee in an episode of Ten Percent Happier LIVE called “Mindfulness for Working Against Racism.”

“ Enemy combatant is not a real term… there’s no such term under the Geneva Conventions, you’re either a lawful combatant or an unlawful combatant… and the government used that because they wanted to circumvent the Geneva Conventions.”

Prof. Peter Jan Honigsberg told The Majority Report in a video interview about his book, A Place Outside the Law: Forgotten Voices From Guantanamo.

“The argument that immigrants are abusing welfare programs is unsubstantiated.”

Prof. Bill Hing in a video interview with Fox KTVU about new immigration rules preventing those using public benefits from obtaining permanent residency.

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IN BRIEF

After Two Decades in Prison, a New Beginning USF LAW H ELP S A M A N R E T U R N TO SO C I E T Y After committing murder, how does a person find redemption? Hieu “Rocky” Nguyen, 39, is doing his best. With the help of USF’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Law Clinic, he’s been able to return to society and to tell his story of hope and transformation.

When Nguyen was 19 years old, he was sentenced to 23 years to life for murder. Before that, he’d already had a rough life. He was born in a Vietnamese prison camp because his father — who was later executed — had supported the United States during the Vietnam War. In the camp, Nguyen witnessed horrific scenes, including murder and friends blown up by landmines. He had to steal and rely on his wits to survive.

When he reached Milpitas, California, with his mother and siblings on asylum, he didn’t speak English and had no community. His mother struggled to find work. For Rocky, gang life was a means to escape the mountains of pain his life had brought.

One Step at a Time One day, in a fight with a rival gang, Rocky killed a person.

It was too much for the teenager to handle. In custody, he attempted suicide. He went to Folsom State Prison and then to San Quentin — and over the years began to turn his life around.

“I don’t know how I’m going to change, but I want to do good,” he told himself. “I’m going to take one step at a time and be a better person every day.”

At San Quentin, he co-founded the prison’s chapter of Criminal

by guards, teachers, and prison administrators.

“I’ve never had so many letters of recommendation in a parole

and Gangmembers Anonymous, a 12-step group for former gang

hearing,” says O’Donnell. “It was the quickest parole board hearing

members. He earned his GED and associate’s degrees, and took

I’ve ever done. Rocky’s story should be taken as the seminal case for

numerous prison classes on bettering himself. He performed paid

restorative justice.”

work and donated the money to charities in the name of his victim.

“Everything he possibly could do there, he did,” says Professor

Better Every Day

Erin O’Donnell ’00, who supervises USF’s Criminal and Juvenile

Now Rocky, who was released in June, is working as a security

Justice Law Clinic. “In the end, Rocky was actually teaching his

guard in San Francisco. He’s also volunteered with the Alameda

fellow prisoners in these classes.”

County District Attorney’s Office to tell his story to attorneys and

Model Inmate O’Donnell worked with students Katherine Abalos ’20 and Alex Klimenko ’20 on preparing a case for parole. While the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Law Clinic typically works on misdemeanor cases, it has recently started taking on parole hearings for inmates as well.

O’Donnell and the clinic students traveled to San Quentin every

inmates. He appreciates the work the USF Law clinic put in for him.

He says that many other inmates get a prison-appointed attorney who visits only once before their parole hearings.

O’Donnell has invited him to USF Law to talk to students about the powerful impact the clinic had on his life.

“USF said, ‘We care about you, and we want you to succeed and be somebody productive in society,’” says Nguyen. “It touched my

week to gather information. The students wrote the brief arguing for

heart. They are the ones that remind me that there are a lot of people

Nguyen’s release.

that care about me and support me. That I have to push myself

“They worked amazingly hard,” says O’Donnell. “I was extremely impressed with both of them.”

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The brief contained more than 30 character references written

USF SCHOOL OF LAW

harder, that I have to do better. For the rest of my life I have to continue to give back.” n

#USFLAW

/usflaw

@usflaw

@usflaw

Stay connected with USF School of Law on social media.

Tag your posts to share your #USFLaw moments!

FEBRUARY 2020 Virginia Taylor ’12 and Adrian Tirtanadi ’12, founders of Open Door Legal, a nonprofit, pro bono legal aid office serving low-income clients in San Francisco, expanded their offices to two additional locations, in the Excelsior and Western Addition. So proud to call you #USFLaw Dons!

JULY 2020 With appropriate protective gear, Prof.

Erin O’Donnell and Elliot Millerd-Taylor ’21 spent the day in court advocating on behalf of two #USFLaw Criminal & Juvenile Justice Clinic clients. Students in the clinic do the work of trial attorneys — client and witness interviews, investigations, court appearances, client counseling, motions practice, suppression hearings, trials, appeals, and writs of mandate.

MARCH 2020 MARCH 2020 #USFLaw Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic students and staff, led by Prof. Bill Hing, are in Nogales, Sonora, working with the Kino Border Initiative and The Florence Project to counsel asylum seekers. The Clinic serves more than 300 immigrant families and children annually in California. Pictured here with Fr. Sean Carroll, Director of the Kino Border Initiative.

#USFLaw International Human Rights Clinic students, including #LLM student Lury Prado Muci de Lima, traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Students participated in presentations on a variety of issues including right to housing, exploitation of children, food insecurity, and counterterrorism.

AUGUST 2020 APRIL 2020 Great news from our #USFLaw 3L class!

Post graduation, Isabel Callejo-Brighton ’20 will join the Animal Legal Defense Fund as a Litigation Fellow. Callejo-Brighton will act as counsel for cases under attorney supervision, build litigation skills through filings, appearances, and arguments, and present at professional conferences and fundraising events. Congratulations, Isabel!

S.F. Mayor London Breed and Public Defender Mano Raju announced a new paid internship program that provides employment and mentorship opportunities for students interested in criminal justice issues. #USFLaw student Athena Edwards ’22 co-leads intern activities and says the program inspires “students to use their own power as educators and activists for change.”

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FACULTY FOCUS Achieving Change Through Mindfulness In the age of anxiety, many people are turning to the practice of mindfulness. Can practicing mindfulness also contribute to tackling large systemic issues such as racial justice? Professor Rhonda Magee, a trained mindfulness thought and practice leader, believes so. She spoke to USF Lawyer about tuning in, calming down, and the inner road to a more just legal system.

What’s mindfulness?

listening — listening in a way that is not

It’s a way of describing certain practices,

infused with our biases or assumptions.

such as mindfulness meditation, that help us cultivate the capacity to be present to whatever is arising around us and happening

prevalent. Cognitive stereotyping is

within us.

something that all humans do, all the time.

The idea is that we develop the capacity to pause and to take in what is happening so that we don’t act reactively and automatically.

Your new book is called The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness. When most people think of mindfulness, they don’t associate it with racial justice. How are the two related?

We do it around race, intersecting with gender and class and immigration status.

If we can be more aware of how our brains categorize the world, we may be able to intervene — to disrupt misapplications of law and disrupt discrimination in progress.

I also work with judges who are relying on mindfulness to assist in taking more thoughtful action in complex scenarios in the courtroom.

individual kind of practice. But historically

Many stories in your book are drawn from experiences at USF Law. Can you share one?

it’s also invited us to deepen our awareness

One story in the book is about a former

In our contemporary era, mindfulness is often presented as a very personal,

of how we are in the world. Mindfulness helps us become more aware of assumptions that we make about others: our unconscious or conscious biases and stereotypes.

Being able to bring awareness to the bias in our own experience is vital. We know that the ability to work with bias is an important factor when it comes to the application of law and minimizing disparate impact — and frankly, racial oppression — within our legal system. Mindfulness can be one of the many tools that we might turn to.

What are some of the ways mindfulness can be used in this way?

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Another example is to teach students to be aware of the fact that stereotyping is

student. He wanted to write a research paper about the police beating of Rodney King, from the angle that the beating was “deserved.”

It was provocative, and I could feel the temptation to react in a way that could have shut down that learning opportunity. That’s what bias does. It kind of hijacks us and engages often our sense of flight or fight, the sense that we need to defend and take quick action to minimize whatever threat there might be.

There are all kinds of ways this can happen in the classroom, and it’s important to develop more emotional intelligence, more ability to notice when

Teaching law students to experience and

that is happening, and to respond rather

develop mindfulness practices on their own

than to react to those triggers. Through

can be a benefit as they go out and provide

mindfulness, you recognize that you have

direct services to people. For example,

choices; there is an array of different ways

we can train young attorneys in mindful

to meet these moments.

USF SCHOOL OF LAW

Now you are working on deepening USF’s work in mindfulness and racial justice?

Yes, during my recent sabbatical, I explored creating an opportunity for scholars, teachers, and practitioners of mindfulness as well as legal scholars to come together and examine how USF Law can model and illustrate what’s possible when we bring mindfulness more directly to bear around issues of injustice.

USF is a leading institution in the kind of thought leadership that is necessary to shape the direction of the field of contemplative law, a new field that I think we’ve already been at the forefront of helping to establish. Underscoring the possible links between this new field and racial justice work is what can distinguish USF Law even more, and I think it is the distinctive call of these times. n

Lara Bazelon Named Barnett Professor of Trial Advocacy This spring, Professor Lara Bazelon, a champion of criminal justice reform and an outspoken public intellectual, was appointed the Phillip and Muriel Barnett Professor of Trial Advocacy.

Bazelon is the director of USF’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic and Racial Justice Clinic. She is also a regular contributor to outlets including Slate, Politico, and The New York Times.

“I’m really grateful to the law school for giving me this opportunity,” said Bazelon.

The Barnett Professor of Trial Advocacy is an endowed chair position that recognizes a faculty member with significant experience in trial advocacy. As part of her new role, Bazelon organizes public events to educate students and the public about criminal justice issues and USF’s social justice mission.

“The goal is to raise awareness about systemic unfairness — including racism, gender bias, and socioeconomic bias — in the criminal justice system, and also to energize the students to go out and make change,” she said.

because litigation is very dynamic. Part of being effective requires being able to change strategy midstream.”

Bazelon, who teaches classes including criminal procedure, also acts as a mentor and role model.

“She’s so well respected within the criminal law community, and she has such a vast body of knowledge that she’s absorbed throughout her career,” says Kendall Baron ‘21. “I feel like I learn something new every time I’m with her. She’s also just genuinely very supportive and is always trying to help us succeed.”

“I think it’s important to instill this fighting spirit in students, where they’re not going to accept the status quo.”

A Voice for Women In addition to championing her clients and students, Bazelon has been a vocal champion of women attorneys.

In a 2018 article in The Atlantic, she outlined gender bias in the courtroom — including her own experience with a sexist judge.

Creating Confident Advocates

She wanted issues that come up frequently in legal practice to

Bazelon joined USF Law in 2017 after serving as director of the

“get out into the real world and really get discussed in a full-throated

Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent, a program to exonerate

way,” she said.

wrongfully convicted inmates. She also spent seven years as a federal public defender in Los Angeles.

In her role as director of USF’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Clinic

Freiwald commended Bazelon’s ability to communicate her field to the broader public.

“Professor Bazelon has raised the law school’s profile through her

and Racial Justice Clinic, Bazelon supervises 2L and 3L students

widespread following and her excellent reputation as an author and

whose responsibilities include speaking for inmates at parole

scholar,” she said.

hearings, representing clients facing misdemeanor charges, and advocating for students facing expulsion hearings.

“She has provided her students with incredible learning

Bazelon’s advocacy extends to the classroom, where she lectures on a host of topics, including implicit bias, gender and racial bias, and grassroots activism. She also invites guest speakers to talk to

experiences — including many groundbreaking successes at court

students about how they’ve managed to cope with and combat

and in bail hearings, and she has even raised money for the clinics,”

negative experiences.

said Dean Susan Freiwald. “Her clinic graduates emerge with skills, confidence, and the ability to land impressive jobs.”

Bazelon’s goal is to make students their own best advocates, she said. “They learn how to be nimble and flexible in the moment,

“I think it’s important to instill this fighting spirit in students, where they’re not going to accept the status quo,” she said. “They’re going to work to overcome this kind of bias so that other people don’t have to deal with it moving forward.” n

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IN BRIEF FOCUS FACULTY

USF Law Scholars Make an Impact Last year, the University of San Francisco School of Law faculty ranked 47th in overall scholarly impact in a survey by Paul Heald and Ted Sichelman* and were recognized for “punching above [its] expected weight” given its size. Writing across a wide range of subjects, USF Law faculty embody USF’s mission to illuminate and contribute to resolving many of the world’s most pressing issues. Here are some recent highlights.

Professor Lara Bazelon Drafted a restorative justice resolution (and associated report) approved by the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section Council and that will next be voted on by the House of Delegates. Co-authored “Restorative Justice From Prosecutors’ Perspective,” forthcoming in Fordham Law Review, and “Victims’ Rights From a Restorative Perspective,” which explores when restorative justice may be an appropriate option for some victims of sexual violence, forthcoming in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. Professor Luke Boso Published “Rural Resentment and LGBTQ Equality” in the Florida Law Review, which examines the sources and modern manifestations of rural resentment against LGBTQ rights and provides foundational insights for the ongoing fight to protect all vulnerable minorities.

Professor Joshua Davis Co-authored “Procedural Self-Inflicted Wounds,” which criticizes a proposed revision to federal procedural rules that would expand interlocutory appellate review in complex litigation, published in the Lewis & Clark Law Review.

Professor Connie de la Vega Participated in a panel discussion on the U.S. death penalty before the Geneva Bar Association.

Presented about children’s rights and access to water rights under international law at multiple national conferences.

Professor Tristin Green Published “Rethinking Racial Entitlements: From Epithet to Theory” in the Southern California Law Review, which examines the modern concept of racial entitlement in political and judicial rhetoric.

Authored “The Juxtaposition Turn: Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust” in the Seton Hall Law Review.

The article explores a key turn in employment discrimination jurisprudence that has significantly impacted civil rights protections.

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Professor Bill Ong Hing Presented throughout North and Central America on the administration’s treatment of asylum seekers at the border. Authored “Mistreating Central American Refugees: Repeating History in Response to Humanitarian Challenges,” published in Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal. In recognition of his advocacy on behalf of immigrants, the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California awarded Hing the prestigious Jose Rizal Award in 2020.

Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg Traveled and presented extensively in the media on his book, A Place Outside the Law: Forgotten Voices From Guantanamo, an ABA Silver Gavel Award Finalist.

Professor Tim Iglesias Published “Mindfulness As Resistance” in the Southwestern Law Review, exploring common misperceptions of mindfulness practice that have been inadvertently fostered by its popularity.

Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship and Professor Alice Kaswan Authored “Statutory Purposes in the Rollback Wars” in the Hastings Law Journal, addressing the Trump administration’s failure to adhere to statutory purposes in rolling back environmental protections, as well as an introductory chapter on “Distributive Justice” for Environmental Justice: Key Issues. Gave talks at national conferences about climate change policy and reforms and published a white paper on carbon pricing mechanisms.

Professor Daniel Lathrope Published Fundamentals of Corporate Taxation, 10th ed., and Selected Federal Taxation: Statutes and Regulations, 2020 ed.

International Human Rights Law Professor Marks 30 Years at USF Professor Richard Leo Published four book chapters, including “Police Interrogations and Suspect Confessions” in The Cambridge Handbook on Policing in the United States and “A History of Interrogation and Interrogative Suggestibility” in The Litigator’s Handbook on Forensic Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychology.

Professor Rhonda Magee Received the Garrison Institute’s Insight + Impact Award for her new book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness. Presented on mindfulness and racial justice throughout the country at interdisciplinary scholarly symposia and provided numerous media interviews.

Professor Maria Ontiveros Filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit in Slaight, et. al. v. Tata, arguing that discrimination motivated by immigration status can be national origin discrimination actionable under Title VII. Published a book chapter “Commentary on EEOC v. Sears” in Feminists Judgments: Rewritten Employment Discrimination Opinions.

Michelle Travis Published Dads for Daughters, a rallying cry for fathers of girls to join in the fight for women’s rights. Presented and interviewed extensively in media outlets including Stew Freidman’s Work and Life podcast on Sirius XM and the Inclusion Podcast. *”Ranking the Academic Impact of 100 American Law Schools” Heald, Paul, and Sichelman, Ted, Jurimetrics 60, no. 1 (2019) n

There’s a lot to celebrate about Professor Connie de la Vega’s career — from being named the California State Bar’s Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year, to helping influence the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the juvenile death penalty.

This year, she’s celebrating 30 years at USF School of Law. The school’s focus on justice and human rights, she says, has made it “easy” to remain with the university for so long.

“We’re helping clients who are not going to be able to get help otherwise,” says de la Vega, director of the Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic and academic director of international programs.

“This is why I became an attorney.”

De la Vega was an attorney with Stanford’s East Palo Alto law clinic before joining USF Law to direct the Civil Litigation Clinic. She and a team of USF Law students took on cases from the eviction of low-income tenants to racial discrimination at bars and theme parks.

Outside of USF, de la Vega is involved in Berkeley-based Human Rights Advocates, an NGO she co-

founded that regularly advocates for international human rights before the United Nations. At the behest of her students, de la Vega began incorporating some of that work into the Civil Litigation Clinic. The work caught on and in 2005 de la Vega formed the Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic.

As part of the clinic, students visit a UN body to present on critical human rights issues such as those involving women and children, access to adequate housing, and access to clean water.

“We’re one of the only — if not the only — law clinics in the nation where students participate in UN meetings,” de la Vega says.

A prolific writer, de la Vega is author of several books, including A Practical Guide to Using International Human Rights and Criminal Law Procedures, which she co-wrote with her former USF Law student Alen Mirza ’13. Her amicus brief detailing international human rights was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court when it struck down the juvenile death penalty in 2005.

“Professor de la Vega’s International Human Rights Law class provided a valuable lesson of the history and development of international human rights law as well as the functions and work of the human rights system of the United Nations,” says Kristen Elsasser ’05, who is now a human rights officer at the UN Office of the President of the Human Rights Council. “I can honestly say that a great deal of what I do in my job every day ties back to

what I learned in her class.” n

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SUPREME CALLIN Alumnus Ming Chin’s career of service, from Vietnam to the California Supreme Court

By Riley Roberts

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He started his career in the Vietnam War. He concluded it during a pandemic. But in between, for 32 years on the bench and 24 years on the California Supreme Court, he brightened the world with his work, with his warmth, and with his service to others.

“It’s been an adventure better than I could have imagined,” said Associate Justice Ming W. Chin BA ’64, JD ’67, as his retirement approached on Aug. 31, 2020, his 78th birthday. “But it’s time to let someone else have the privilege of doing this job.”

For Chin, as a boy growing up on a potato farm in Klamath Falls, Oregon, judge was a job that seemed out of reach.

“I didn’t think it would be possible for an Asian American to become a judge. There were very few,” Chin says. “But I set my sights on becoming a lawyer and wanted to be the best lawyer possible.”

Chin’s father had arrived in the United States in 1913, at the age of 18 — “without funds, without family, and without language,” his son recounted more than 100 years later. The youngest of eight children, Ming was also the only one who didn’t have two first names: one Chinese, one English.

“I was just Ming. I don’t know how that happened,” he laughs.

“I found it difficult when I was young because it was so unusual.

But I got used to it — and I kinda like it now.”

As the only Asian American students in the area, Chin and his siblings encountered racial discrimination. They also faced tragedy: When Ming was 4, a fire claimed the family home and the life of one of his brothers. But Klamath Falls rallied around the family.

After a neighbor couple heard the news while on their honeymoon, they rushed home to offer their house keys to Chin’s parents.

When Chin was in seventh grade, the living quarters of his Catholic boarding school were forced to close, threatening to interrupt his education. Once again, a family friend — this time a local judge named David Vandenberg — intervened, giving Ming a place to stay while he completed his studies.

“He gave me Blackstone to read when I was 12,” Chin recalls, referring to Sir William Blackstone, the 18th-century English jurist. “Are you kidding me?”

Judge Vandenberg also took his young protégé to the courthouse, encouraging him to watch jury trials. This marked Chin’s first exposure to the legal profession. It would change the course of his life.

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Drawn to the city of San Francisco and to Jesuit education, Chin enrolled at the Hilltop. “My experience at USF, both the undergrad and law school, was exceptional,” he says. “We had a good group of students and a wonderful faculty, so I’ve always been grateful.”

This may be an understatement. Over the course of his career, Chin has taught at USF Law, served on the University’s Board of Trustees and the law school’s Board of Counselors, and he made it a point to hire one or more USF externs nearly every semester.

“He’s one of, if not the most distinguished USF alums,” says Daniel Ruby ’11, who says he considers his 2010 externship with Chin a career highlight. “I know he wanted to help current students and alumni as much as he could.”

Perhaps this explains why, to a person, Chin’s USF Law externs describe him as unusually accessible compared with his colleagues.

“Incredibly warm. Always had a smile on his face,” recalls Michael Haley ’19. “He’s really good at making you feel like you’re the most important person in the room.”

Dayna Louie ’19 recalls the advice Chin offered.

“I remember him encouraging me to ask questions, reach out to people, use your connections,” she says. “Networking and mentoring are good things to do, but sometimes they’re on the back burner. But it was important to him.”

When Chin discusses his own career, he talks less about the positions he’s held than the people who made them possible. The district attorney who gave Chin his first job as a prosecutor. The judge who recommended him to a law firm. The advocates, allies, and California governors who elevated him from a superior court judge to an appellate justice and, in 1996, to an associate justice of the California Supreme Court.

Chin speaks even more glowingly about his staff. “They are just wonderful people in every way,” he says. When he retired in August, all but one of his employees had served in his chambers for 25 years. One had been with him for 30.

In 1967, after graduating from USF Law, Chin joined the U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam, rose to the rank of captain, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Commendation Medal.

“It was an important part of my life,” he says. “I met terrific people from all over the country under very trying circumstances.”

The parallels between that moment and this one — a global crisis unfolding, a country divided — are not lost on Chin. Yet he sounds determined to find his way through this latest stretch of darkness, and confident that his state and his country will, too.

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He’s really good at making

you feel like you’re the most important person in the room.

“In times of conflict, we learn more about ourselves,” he says. “I think we learn more about ourselves when we’ve lost something than when we’ve won.”

When he was sworn in on March 1, 1996, Associate Justice Chin made history as the first Chinese American ever to serve on the California Supreme Court. To celebrate his confirmation, a daughter of the late Judge Vandenberg — who had sparked Chin’s interest in the law so many decades earlier — presented him with her father’s old gavel.

“I think Dad would want you to have this,” she said.

Touched, Chin put the gift on display in his chambers alongside an old photo of the judge — with a recommendation letter the judge had written for Chin’s application to USF Law tucked away behind it.

By the time Chin packed up these mementos 24 years later, he’d authored more than 350 majority opinions and 100 separate opinions, mentored dozens of USF externs, and helped pave the way for the Supreme Court of California to become the most diverse in the nation.

With his retirement, the former justice will spend more time with his family and more time on the golf course — during daylight hours instead of before dawn, which is when he played during his later years on the bench.

“I didn’t even start playing until I was 65,” Chin says. “It just proves you’re never too old to learn something stupid.”

He says he’s happy to reconnect with Carol, his wife of 49 years, and to take their grandchildren to the driving range.

“Family is important to him. He’s extremely proud of his kids and grandkids,” says Raul Jacobson ’20, who served in Chin’s chambers as a Supreme Court extern this past spring. Jacobson adds, “His devotion to public service is obviously what his legacy will be — and creating opportunities for people who don’t have it as easy as others.”

After 32 years on the bench, Chin’s parting advice is simple.

“We are privileged to hold these positions,” he says.

“Enjoy every minute of it.” n

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BY ANNIE BREEN Some facts about the green conure: It’s tiny — at 4 to 5 inches long and weighing about an ounce, it’s the smallest bird in the parrot family. It lives a long time — a 20-year lifespan is average, but it’s not uncommon for some to live into their 30s. A green conure is responsible (albeit indirectly) for bringing Matthew Liebman to USF as the School of Law’s first animal law chair.

Chaplin the tiny parrot was adopted as an infant by a 15-year-old Liebman in a pet store in Dallas, where his parents had moved him and his twin brother Jeremy from Berkeley, California, at age 6 to be closer to family and employment opportunities. Having always had a fondness for animals, a teenage Liebman entered the store intent on leaving with a pet of his own, but without a specific type in mind. It was as much a surprise to him as it was to his parents when, after a few more visits to the pet store, he brought home a 5-week-old green conure that he named Chaplin.

“I raised him basically from birth, fed him formula as an infant, and cared for him as his mother should have been doing (which I realize now). Chaplin was my constant companion and best friend.” For his relatively brief lifespan (he died prematurely at age 6), Chaplin was also his conscience. Liebman became a vegetarian in high school, despite knowing only one other non-meat-eater, because he couldn’t understand the difference between eating chicken and eating Chaplin. Being mostly alone in his commitment to not eating animals didn’t bother him, though — Liebman describes himself as “kind of a punk/contrarian” who was used to questioning the status quo. He thinks that’s probably why he became a philosophy major.

“My first year of undergrad at UT Austin, I took a philosophy course, and one of our assignments was to read Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation. That book is what sparked my philosophical interest in animal ethics, and from there I went vegan and declared a major in philosophy with a special focus on our ethical relationship to the nonhuman world.” From that point on, Liebman’s sole professional goal has been to advocate for creatures great and small.

DECISION TIME After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors in philosophy in 2001, Liebman was invited by his college debate coach (yes, the iconoclast was an excellent debater) to join him at the University of Richmond, where he would work as his assistant coach. Without a clear idea of what a philosophy major should do upon graduation, Liebman followed his coach to Virginia.

Because assistant-coaching a college debate team wasn’t enough to pay the bills, Liebman took a position at a deli in a natural foods store.

His particular job turned out to be in direct opposition to his vegan lifestyle — he was charged with working the meat slicer.

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“LAW SCHOOL STRUCK ME AS THE MOST PRACTICAL WAY TO ALLEVIATE ANIMAL SUFFERING.” Liebman knew then that it was time to make a choice, and both options under his consideration included more schooling: He would either get his doctorate in philosophy and spend his career teaching and thinking about animal ethics, or he would go to law school and start practicing what he preached. The latter satisfied his desire to tangibly change the world, and so he went to Stanford Law School with more direction than most first-years: He wanted to specialize in and practice animal law.

“Law school struck me as the most practical way to alleviate animal suffering.”

FOCUS ON THE CAUSE Upon receiving his J.D. from Stanford in 2006 and leaving law school with a slew of honors under his belt (Deborah L. Rhode Public Interest Award, Stanford Law School Public Interest Fellow, National Animal Law Moot Court Competition winner, to name a few), Liebman stayed on track. After clerking for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson on the Ninth Circuit, he joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the nation’s foremost animal law advocacy organization, as a litigation fellow. And there he achieved his vision of impact at the ground level, working his way up from staff attorney to senior staff attorney to chief legal counsel to director of litigation.

At ALDF, a team of 12 lawyers litigated every aspect of animal law under Liebman’s direction, and that included constitutional and environmental litigation. The goal has

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always been to improve — and save — the lives of as many animals as possible.

When asked about big wins, the first successes he names are individual cases like Ricky the bear, who for 16 years lived in a concrete cage in Pennsylvania before ALDF represented her in court, and Bear, a wolf who ALDF liberated from a filthy roadside zoo.

But the scope of ALDF’s work extends far beyond rescuing single animals. They have litigated high-profile national cases, too, on behalf of large populations of animals.

“We’ve shut down puppy mills, protected the First Amendment rights of undercover slaughterhouse investigators, defended state animal protection legislation from constitutional challenges by exploitative industries, and made in-roads to fundamentally transforming animals’ legal status away from the current property paradigm,” Liebman said. Fighting climate change and promoting animal rights activism have also been on the organization’s agenda.

And the fight is just beginning.

“What’s surprised me most about animal law is its rapid growth. Although it’s still in its early stages, it’s come a long way since its founding in the late 1970s. Many judges are now treating these cases with the seriousness they deserve, whereas 40 years ago, my mentors faced ridicule and hostility from the bench.” Liebman goes on to note that, especially in California, many of the most recent legislative victories were inconceivable only 10 years ago, citing the banning of the sale of fur, the testing of cosmetics on animals, the inhumane confinement for farmed animals, and the use of wild animals in circuses. “We still have a long way to go, but the progress we’ve made is staggering.”

COURTROOM TO CLASSROOM Liebman acknowledges that swapping the front lines for the classroom requires a different skill set, but says he’s relishing the challenge. “Teaching presents an exciting opportunity to share the knowledge I’ve

gained from more than 12 years of practice.

Today’s law students are tomorrow’s lawyers, judges, activists, and policymakers, and animal law is such an exciting field because it’s so unchartered. We can determine the direction of the field.” It’s also an area of public interest law that offers timely and tangible results profoundly impacting the lives of others. Liebman hopes that having a robust program on campus will inspire students who might not otherwise have considered animal law.

Being part of an academic institution is what influenced his decision to accept the position as the Justice for Animals program chair in the first place. “I was deeply impressed by the faculty and the students.

Everyone I met was kind, welcoming, and happy. My conversations with the faculty were engaging, whether we were discussing my area of expertise or theirs.” He also mentions sharing a common goal with USF Law — he, too, wants to educate leaders who will strive toward a more humane and just world.

“Humaneness and justice are such important animating concepts for me,” he says. “On the one hand we need kindness and compassion — the emotive side of ethics is what drew me to this work in the first place. But ethical treatment of animals requires more than just humaneness — we also need a commitment to justice for animals.” He points out that USF Law could not be more committed. Thanks to a $6.1 million gift from an anonymous donor, the school is creating a dedicated program and putting resources toward living up to its ideals.

And Liebman has big plans for the program’s design. He’ll start broadly and teach the introductory survey course on animal law this fall, before adding niche courses like farmed animal law, food law, animal legislation, and wildlife law. He imagines seminars designed to explore the relationship between animal law and social justice, and eventually wants to provide students

with real-life experience in animal law practice through an in-house clinic that addresses a multitude of animal law issues.

THE NEXT LEGAL FRONTIER Those issues aren’t going away anytime soon, according to Liebman. He sees the animal rights movement as one in which the main battles are still on the horizon.

“Our society still believes that animals are, in a fundamental sense, here on Earth for humans to use,” he said. “The concept of animals as property has extremely deep cultural roots and underpins multibilliondollar industries with a vested interest in continuing to exploit animals with impunity.”

But where there are challenges, there is opportunity. The very fact that animal law is in comparative infancy can be an advantage.

It’s Liebman’s vision to make the most of that advantage through his own and the program’s scholarship. “The future of animal law is unwritten and therefore demands theoretical inquiry. USF could become an epicenter for addressing animal law questions about ethics, political theory, ontology, and epistemology through legal scholarship, multidisciplinary conferences, symposia, and speaker series.” He’s convinced that creating a program that caters both to students’ growing academic interest in the field and to the everincreasing urgency with which animal rights need to be addressed in the courts is a unique opportunity to further set USF Law apart from the pack.

Of course, setting himself apart from the pack is nothing new for the vegan philosopher from Dallas. These days, though, when he’s not crusading for the rights and protection of animals big and small, he enjoys spending time with family.

He married his college sweetheart, Salena Copeland, whom he credits with giving him the final push he needed to go from vegetarian to vegan back in 1999. Copeland joined him at Stanford Law School and is now the executive director of the Legal

“THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS REQUIRES MORE THAN JUST HUMANENESS — WE ALSO NEED A COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE.” Aid Association of California, where she works to ensure access to the justice system for underserved Californians. They live in the East Bay with their two children, 7-year-old Myra and 4-year-old Felix, and their cat, Pishi, 9 months old.

And while Pishi is a constant, present reminder of the “why” of his work, Liebman

never forgets the animal who started him down this path all those years ago; it’s this particular memory that keeps his vision for USF’s Animal Law program an expansive one. If you were to peek inside his wallet, you’d find an increasingly furrowed photograph of Chaplin the conure. n

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A TALE FROM

TWO CITIES

DAVID JOSEPH SUTTON ’08 DIDN’T THINK HE’D GO TO COLLEGE. HE’S NOW THE LOS ANGELES TRIAL CHIEF IN THE LARGEST FEDERAL DISTRICT IN THE COUNTRY.

BY ANNIE BREEN

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To a middle schooler growing up with a single mom in San Francisco’s Western Addition in the ’90s, success often meant staying out of trouble — and not much more. But even that sometimes seemed like a tall order to David Sutton ’08. “Back then, the neighborhood wasn’t known as ‘NOPA,’ there weren’t any nice restaurants, and no one had heard of pour-over coffee,” he said. “The Western Addition was a rougher area of the city.” The former latchkey kid often found himself caught up in some of the tumult that plagued his neighborhood — enough so that he would never have predicted his future success as one of the foremost federal public defenders in the country.

AGAINST THE ODDS When he was growing up, Sutton’s single mother worked long hours downtown at Bank of America while he attended the local public schools. He had until 7 p.m. to roam the streets as he pleased, and roam he did.

“I knew Muni like the back of my hand and would travel all across the city on my own.

San Francisco was my playground,” Sutton said. But the same freedom that provided an intimate knowledge of his beloved city also left plenty of room for mischief.

By the time he was a few weeks into his freshman year of high school, Sutton had fallen into some bad behaviors that his mother feared could curtail his freedom — permanently. Not wanting her only son to become just another justice system statistic, she sent him down to Riverside, California, 50 miles east of Los Angeles. There, he would live with her police officer brother.

“I went down to Riverside thinking I was visiting my uncle for a weekend,” Sutton said.

“I had no idea I’d be moving in with him for four years.” But those four years proved to be exactly what Sutton needed to turn his life around. “My uncle was a single cop, and he was strict. He wouldn’t put up with any of the antics that had necessitated my visit.” The no-nonsense approach worked, and Sutton finally performed at the level his family had known all along that he could. He went

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through high school without further incident, and, upon graduation, accepted a place at San Francisco State University as a political science major.

EARNING HIS WAY In college, Sutton doubled down on the selfdiscipline he’d cultivated living with his uncle.

He graduated in four years, paying his way through school partly by student-teaching in high schools. What he saw there planted a seed that would affect his entire career. “I would see from term to term that many students just wouldn’t return. When I asked why, it turned out that they were in juvenile hall.”

Helping those students wasn’t the immediate reason Sutton decided to go to law school, however, and working as a public defender wasn’t initially the goal. Sutton is candid about his reasons for becoming an attorney. “Initially, [it was about] upward mobility. I grew up in a single-parent home and at times, finances were tight. Becoming a lawyer was a clear path to financial stability,” he said. When applying to law school, he looked at several before becoming convinced that USF Law was where he belonged. “I heard great things about the school from my close friend Che Hashim ’05, and it meant that I would get to stay in San Francisco.” Being able to stay in the city he had always loved sealed the deal, and the school he would come to love had its newest member of the class of 2008.

DETERMINED TO SUCCEED Being accepted into law school when he previously couldn’t have imagined graduating from college proved to be the ultimate driver for Sutton. He immersed himself in studying, developed a strong and supportive community composed of both his fellow students and his professors, and participated in as many extracurricular programs as his schedule could handle. Sutton was a 1L class representative, participated in the moot court program during his second year, served as both the Student Bar Association treasurer and president,

I knew Muni like the back of my hand and would travel all across the city on my own.

San Francisco was my playground.

If we are truly advocates for the underserved, we have to take a holistic approach to our representation.

and became an engaged participant in the Academic Support Program, or ASP. He credits ASP with easing his transition into law school, acknowledging that without it he would likely have been overwhelmed by the immediate demands of being a law student. “Law school, especially the first year, is hard, no matter what school you attend.

ASP allowed me to catch up to where other students already were, in terms of learning the basics of law,” Sutton said.

At the time, ASP required participating first years to attend a three-week orientation program, designed to foster a sense of community and introduce them to USF. The program directors work with students to devise personalized strategies for academic success,

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and meet with students regularly to assess their academic progress, develop their writing skills, and prepare students for exams. Sutton, true to form, took the opportunities presented by the program and used the momentum as he’d always done — he leaned in.

ASP Co-director Carol Wilson is effusive in her praise of Sutton’s commitment.

“David approached law school with a level of dedication I know he now brings to his law practice. He was a team player and worked very well in the ASP community, which by its very nature involves working in groups. He welcomed leadership roles, exemplified when he served as the law school’s SBA president in his third year. Since law school, he has always been supportive of ASP and USF. He has

returned to speak at alumni lunches during the ASP summer program and has always been willing and happy to speak to students interested in criminal defense work. He’s someone I know I can call on at any time.”

HONORING HIS HISTORY While progressing through ASP, he found himself experiencing an inner shift. He’d entered law school with a specific goal: to excel in school and land a lucrative position at a top firm. The first item on the agenda was going according to plan; Sutton was keeping pace with and engaged in all his classes.

One class, however, was making the second agenda item a little more difficult to check off.

His criminal law course impacted him deeply,

and he began to realize that his particular legal fight was not going to be held in the corporate arena.

“I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute. If I’m going to spend my life fighting for something, it can’t be about money,’” Sutton said. “I know how important corporate law is, and I know it needs to be litigated. It just no longer seemed like my fight.”

His fight was more personal.

Sutton’s first year externship was in the Marin County Public Defender’s Office, which remained his workplace through his third year of law school. Between the hands-on experience there and the criminal law courses, criminal law clinic, and moot court experiences he had at USF Law, he found his passion. His take on it is simple: “I very likely could have been one of my clients. But for mentors, opportunities, and others taking an interest in my life’s trajectory, I never would have gone to college, let alone law school. This work is my way of honoring who I am and where I came from.” He credits USF not only with helping him discover his path, but also with supplying the knowledge, experience, and support to follow it.

Following that path led him to the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office upon graduation as a post-bar law clerk.

Thereafter, Sutton joined the Marin County Public Defender’s Office where he was thrown into the deep end. “The thing about this area of law, there isn’t anyone holding your hand. As soon as you’re hired, you’re assigned cases. And those cases are yours alone, from start to finish. We’re not holding anyone’s briefcase,” Sutton said. He was at the Marin office for all of 18 months when the federal public defender’s office came calling in 2010. The only hesitation on Sutton’s part?

The job was in Los Angeles.

CALLED UP He uses sports terminology to explain his decision to leave his beloved San Francisco for its rival city. “I’m a baseball guy. This was like being called up to the big leagues.”

Big leagues, indeed. The Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles, is the country’s largest federal district — seven counties representing over 19 million people.

Federal cases are brought by federal law enforcement agencies like the DEA and FBI, and the cases run the gamut from low-level street crimes, to multimillion-dollar fraud and RICO Act cases, to bank robberies. In federal crime cases, 80% of all defendants are represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and those defendants include street drug dealers, white-collar doctors and attorneys, and sophisticated computer hackers.

Sutton thrived on the variety and complexity of cases crossing his desk. He rose in the ranks to serve as a supervising deputy public defender, where he was responsible for managing several trial attorneys, trial investigators, and paralegals as well as litigating his own cases. His success (including in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) didn’t go unnoticed by the legal community at large.

In 2018 he accepted an offer to serve of counsel at Cohen Williams LLP, where he represented individuals and corporations charged with complex federal crimes, including cryptocurrency offenses, financial fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, insider trading, health care fraud, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations. He lasted a year before the call to return to the public sector proved too strong to ignore. He explains his time at Cohen Williams as professionally satisfying but ultimately not destined to remain a part of his journey. He returned to the Federal Public Defender’s Office. This time, though, he’d be working as the boss.

ACHIEVEMENT AND ADVOCACY Sutton is now the Los Angeles trial chief within the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Central District of California. He manages a team of approximately 40 attorneys and the daily operations of the Los Angeles office.

Sutton still tries cases on his own, and is constantly moving the goalpost for how he defines success. “I have to maintain and

build upon the excellence established by my predecessors, which is achieved through aggressive litigation and exploiting the way our attorneys, investigators, and staff are utilizing new technologies.” His goals aren’t limited to the traditional confines of the office, however.

Sutton said, “I’m also dedicated to expanding the services that the office provides outside of traditional legal representation. Specifically, providing re-entry planning and partnering with community stakeholders to ensure our clients receive social and mental health services and housing support. If we are truly advocates for the underserved, we have to take a holistic approach to our representation, expanding our services beyond what’s needed to litigate criminal charges.” He says that his USF Law education directly engendered this outlook.

It’s why he serves on the USF Law Board of Governors today, making a trip each quarter to attend board meetings.

LIVING HIS DREAM When he’s not attending those board meetings, supervising a team of eager federal attorneys, trying his own cases, actively carrying on his office’s legacy, or imagining new ways to better serve his clients, Sutton (surprise, surprise) still keeps busy. He’s an avid surfer who manages to get out for a few hours every weekend, saying “It’s the one place you can’t be reached, and my mind gets to turn off.” Once he’s out of the water, he spends time with wife, Katie, founder of Gallery 1988, an art gallery in Los Angeles, and their daughter, Ellie, 4.

Asked to think about what comes next for his career, Sutton reflects on the course that brought him from a struggling youth to a celebrated public servant. “I am living my dream. I am managing the largest federal public defender office in the largest federal district in the country. I am still trying cases, and I also get to mentor young attorneys as they grow into their role as champions of the poor and underserved.” n

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ALUMNI NEWS CLASS NOTES ’59

James Ward is featured in the recently published book Justice in Plain Sight — How a Small-Town Newspaper & Its Unlikely Lawyer Opened America’s Courtrooms, the story of the two cases Ward successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s.

’60

John L. Burton has been appointed to the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code by Governor Gavin Newsom.

’85

William Ellison Grayson was nominated by President Trump to the post of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Estonia.

’86

’74

The Honorable Daniel R. Foley became a mediator and arbitrator with Dispute Prevention & Resolution in Honolulu, having retired as a Hawaii Appellate Judge. Judge Foley continues to serve as a part-time Palau Supreme Court Justice.

’80

Lawrence Strick joined the board of directors of the nonprofit Schurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery in Larkspur, California.

Hillary Lamar, a Weintraub Tobin shareholder with the firm’s trusts and estates group, has been selected to the 2020 Northern California Super Lawyers list.

Brendan Dolan joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in the firm’s San Francisco office as a partner in the labor and employment practice group.

’92

Bill Bilderback was appointed senior assistant attorney general and statewide capital case coordinator for the California Department of Justice by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

Michael G. Reedy a partner with McManis Faulkner, was selected for inclusion in the Northern California

Four Alumni Join Board of Counselors USF School of Law is proud to welcome four new members to the Board of Counselors, a distinguished group of alumni and friends of the law school who provide the law school’s administration with advice and counsel about the direction and future of the school. The Board of Counselors work to expand the role of the School of Law in the community and to facilitate connection between the school and its alumni. •

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Gary Scholick ’74 Principal, Independent Employment Counsel LLP

Richard Saveri ’94 Managing Partner, Saveri & Saveri Inc.

Eugene Ferrer ’92 Partner, Paul Hastings LLP

Frank Cassidy LLM ’16 Managing Director, Andersen

USF SCHOOL OF LAW

Super Lawyers 2020 list. Reedy practices family law.

’93

Chinh H. Pham, chair of Greenberg Traurig LLP’s emerging technology group and co-chair of the firm’s intellectual property group in Boston, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Science, Boston. Pham will serve a three-year term.

’95

Jessica Grant has joined Morrison & Foerster in the firm’s San Francisco office as a partner in the class actions and mass torts practice group.

Tamara Lawson was elected to the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) Board of Governors. Lawson will serve for three years, commencing Jan. 1, 2020.

’96

Carole Bellis joined DLA Piper as a partner in the firm’s Northern California corporate practice group.

’97

Jason Altieri was named general counsel and chief compliance officer at Happy Money, a financial technology company in Tustin, California.

’98

Doris Cheng, a shareholder with Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger in San Francisco, was awarded the Robert E. Cartwright Sr. Award, given in recognition of excellence in trial advocacy and dedication to teaching trial advocacy to fellow lawyers and to the public.

’99

Guillermo Escobedo was presented with the Attorney of the Year Award by the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association.

’00

Sean Gaffney was promoted to partner at Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson LLP, a commercial real estate law firm in San Diego.

David D. Little of the trusts and estates firm Hartog, Baer & Hand, has been elevated to principal.

Ryan Venci joined the Naqvi Injury Law firm, specializing in insurance defense for personal injury clients.

’01

Erika Barbara Pickles joined Jackson Lewis P.C. as of counsel in its Sacramento office, representing employers in workplace law matters.

’02

Katie Burke has published a book, Urban Playground: What Kids Say About Living in San Francisco, a compilation of Burke’s interviews with 50 San Francisco kids about growing up in the city.

Jay DeGooyer joined Narvar Inc. as its first general counsel.

’03

Ely Juarez, senior counsel with Spotify, was named to MCCA’s Top 20 of 2020 Rising Stars list.

’06

Michelle Nesbett joined Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot in the firm’s Anchorage, Alaska, headquarters.

’07

Ifeoma Ajunwa is the recipient of the 2019 NSF CAREER

Award. The award will fund research on hiring platforms.

Jordan Jaffe of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has been honored as a Law360 Rising Star among technology law practitioners under age 40. Jaffee was recognized for his efforts in leading the technology legal team for Google’s Waymo in a high-profile case against Uber over self-driving car technology.

and employment practice group in the firm’s San Francisco office.

’09

Cameron Cloar-Zavaleta was promoted to managing director, associate general counsel of litigation and regulatory law with Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air.

’10

James Leonard has been elevated to partner with the San Diego-based firm of Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP.

Eric Almon was elevated to partner with Holland & Knight in the firm’s Tampa, Florida, office.

Almon is a member of the firm’s business section.

James Ralph has been appointed senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom for federal energy and climate change policy.

’11

’08

Karen Abesamis, a partner with Morgan Lewis, has been recognized as a 2019 Emerging Leader by The M&A Advisor.

Christina Gagnier was elected to and serves as the vice president of the Chino Valley Unified School District Governing Board. She has also recently joined the firm Carlton Fields as a shareholder in their privacy and cybersecurity practice group.

Maria Lampasona, a partner with Lombardi, Loper & Conant LLP, recently merged the firm with another Oakland-based civil litigation firm, Rankin, Sproat, Mires, Reynolds, Shuey & Mintz, forming the new firm Rankin, Shuey, Ranucci, Mintz, Lampasona & Reynolds.

Brooke S. Purcell has been elevated to partner with Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in the labor

STAY CONNECTED We would love to know where your degree has taken you, and share with you the latest news and alumni activities at USF. usfca.edu/law/alumni/ classnotes

Sophia Wood Henderson, of the Hanson Crawford Crum Family Law Group, has earned board certification in family law by the California Board of Legal Specialization.

’12

Corey Cabral has been elevated to partner in the Sacramento office of employment, labor, and business immigration law firm Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP. Nazita Lajevardi published the book Outsiders at Home: The Politics of American Islamophobia that explores the status of Muslim Americans in American democracy.

Adrian Tirtanadi and Virginia Taylor, founders of Open Door Legal, a nonprofit, pro bono legal aid office serving low-income clients in San Francisco, expanded to two new locations in the Excelsior and Western Addition neighborhoods.

’13

Katherine Jeffrey of Spaulding McCullough & Tansil LLP was recognized as a North Bay 2020 ‘Forty Under 40’ winner.

Yaniv Newman of Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel has been selected as a 2020 Rising Star by Super Lawyers in the area of construction litigation.

From the Classroom to the Boardroom Frank Cassidy LLM ’16, managing director of the San Francisco office of Andersen, a global firm that provides a variety of tax, financial advisory and related consulting services, recently joined USF Law’s Board of Counselors. We caught up with Cassidy to chat about Andersen’s unique partnership with USF Law, and Cassidy’s decision to pursue a master’s degree at USF two decades out of law school.

You already had 20 years of experience in the field. Why did you go back to school?

If you work for 20 years, you think you know everything [chuckles].

But everyone at Andersen has the opportunity to enter USF’s LLM or MLST program. I was part of the first class from Andersen to join the LLM program in 2014.

My specialty is income tax and estate planning for high net worth individuals. I don’t practice in corporate tax, and I don’t do a lot of partnership work, so it was great to take classes in other fields and to refresh my knowledge. Just the other day I had a client call me about a corporate tax issue. Having the knowledge I gained through the program, I was quickly able to answer his question.

Tell me more about Andersen’s relationship with USF Law. We have access to some of the top professors in the country— particularly Dan Lathrope and Josh Rosenberg. From a firm perspective, it’s the best training we’re going to be able to give our people. And it helps from a recruiting standpoint too. So far, Andersen has 59 graduates from the program and currently there are 130 enrolled, with about 60 of those outside the U.S. Why did you join the Board of Counselors?

Over the last 15 years, USF School of Law has been one of our top recruiting schools in Northern California. We’ve developed a great relationship, and I think the LLM program has furthered it. Dean Susan Freiwald approached me back in December about joining the Board of Counselors, and I thought, “What a great way to further the relationship we have and to give back to USF Law, and specifically the graduate tax program.” Many of the other board members are working lawyers, so I thought maybe there are experiences that I could bring to the table from my years not practicing law. •

Continued on page 30

USFCA.EDU/LAW 27

Quiz Master Eli Wagner ’11 keeps Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on the straight and narrow How would you answer this Jeopardy clue?

“A song by Coolio from ‘Dangerous Minds’ goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic.”

The correct answer is, “What is Gangsta’s Paradise Lost.”

But if, like the real-life contestant who received the clue, you answer “What is Gangster’s Paradise Lost,” you’re out of luck — and money.

“Gangster” vs. “gangsta,” is it a deal breaker? It’s Eli Wagner’s job to help make rulings on Jeopardy conundrums like this one, as well as to ensure fairness throughout the game.

Just roll with it Wagner is the director of standards and practices at Sullivan Compliance, working on the sets of quiz shows such as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

Her work ranges from creating release agreements to prepping contestants for taping to making tough decisions on game show ethics. Her USF Law education, she says, helped prepare her for all the aspects of her job.

“I remember during the moot court in our first semester of law school, where we all had to pitch our arguments to judges and lawyers,”

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she says. “That training comes in handy when part of your job involves public speaking.”

Working for a quiz show can sometimes be a puzzle in itself — and that’s part of why she loves her work so much.

“Every day a new situation takes place that you just have to roll with,” Wagner says.

For example, in the midst of the pandemic, one question is how to ensure fairness in online tryouts. In a game like Jeopardy, which relies on speed to the buzzer, a lagging internet connection could spell doom. So Wagner and the staff have to create innovative ways to still allow potential contestants to have a fair opportunity when auditioning against thousands of other potential contestants.

“Eli is an essential presence on our sets and ensures the games are played fairly,” says Harry Friedman, who served as executive producer of both Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune for more than 20 years before his recent retirement.

Make your own luck At USF, Wagner specialized in intellectual property law, and was managing editor of the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal.

Her most memorable class was Entertainment and Media Law, in which the very first assignment was to watch the Oscar-nominated film Quiz Show. The film details a series of scandals in the 1950s in which game show outcomes were fixed.

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“ Every day a new situation takes place that you just have to roll with.”

“Had those scandals not taken place, I most likely wouldn’t have the job I have today,” says Wagner.

After graduation, Wagner returned home to Los Angeles where she spent a few years working as a contractor for several law firms, including a civil litigation firm. She also volunteered at the nonprofit Bet Tzedek, working on wage and hour claims for undocumented immigrants.

Soon, she started reaching out to friends and family to see if she could find a connection to the entertainment world. A friend of a friend put her in touch with the man who would eventually become her manager. Things didn’t work out right away, though.

“He kept telling me, ‘I don’t have anything for you,’” Wagner says.

“But I was just persistent.”

Nearly a year later, her connection offered her a two-week contract job that was an hour-and-a-half from where Wagner lived. She took it.

That job led to another, which led to another, which eventually led to her current role.

“The biggest takeaway that I really want to hammer home is that you are in charge of your own destiny,” Wagner says. “You’ve got to make the most of the opportunities you have. If you don’t have any opportunities, go make yourself some.” •

USFCA.EDU/LAW 29

ALUMNI NEWS

Old Friends

By Judge Lynn Duryee ’79 Little did I know when I started law school on Aug. 30, 1976, that I would attend my 40th reunion with two men I met that day.

Professor C. Delos Putz taught Civil Procedure to his first class of nervous 1L’s. Pennoyer v. Neff, in personam jurisdiction, ex parte nonresidents, proceeding in rem … what did any of it mean? Professor Putz — as brilliant and scary as any federal judge — led us through the tangled history of personal jurisdiction, into the murky waters of the Erie Doctrine, until finally arriving in late spring at motions for new trials. At the 40th reunion, students flocked to him with vivid memories of his class, all starting with, “I’ll always remember when you said …” Phrases such as: “There are only two ways to go to court: early and nervous!” “There is no such thing as a federal general common law!”

“Button your jacket before you stand up to argue in court!” Professor Putz taught at USF for over 30 years, and not only did he teach civil procedure to generations of lawyers, he modeled professionalism and a deep respect for the law and its procedures.

Larry Townsend is an intellectual property lawyer in San Francisco.

We were in the same section and hit it off right away. I was awestruck by his dazzling writing and his sense of humor. In class, we wrote notes (so quaint, yes?). Once while Professor Bassett was lecturing on leaseholds, Larry scribbled this poem: “The landlord paid his attorney’s retainer/waited for lapse of the lease’s remainder/and when his patience was spent/called him unlawful detainer.” Larry and I studied for finals together, took the bar together, then practiced law together for 10 years.

What we didn’t earn in income, we reaped in friendship, laughter, and adventure. We learned how to get referrals, try cases, meet payroll; how to operate dictaphones, fax machines, and computers. When our legal paths diverged, we enrolled in writing classes together, and each of us wrote novels dedicated to the other. Larry lives seven houses down the street from me, and he still makes me laugh uproariously.

My 40th law school reunion calls to mind one other old friend, one I’ve known and cherished during this time: the University of San Francisco.

My law school not only taught me to be a person for others, it gave me a lifetime of profound friendships and connections. I was welcomed back to the school for moot court competitions, career days, and orientations.

Five years ago, I was asked to teach at the law school. What topic do I know best after 21 years as a trial judge? Civil procedure, obviously. Now I’m doing my best to fill the shoes of the rock stars who came before me.

Thank you, Old Friends, for the lifelong gifts you bestowed on me. •

Judge Lynn Duryee teaches Evidence and Civil Procedure. She served as a Superior Court judge in Marin County for 21 years (1993–2014), where she specialized in managing civil cases and conducting settlement conferences.

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’14

and Trademark Office Society, which was selected for inclusion in the 2020 edition of the Intellectual Property Law Review, an annual anthology published by Thomson Reuters.

Danté R. Taylor has joined Andrews Lagasse Branch + Bell LLP as an associate attorney in the firm’s general and professional liability practice group.

Kristen Vierhaus joined Thompson Law Offices P.C. in Burlingame, California, as a personal injury attorney.

Ian O’Banion has been promoted to counsel at Nixon Peabody in San Francisco in the affordable housing and real estate practice group.

’15

Patrick Tuck joined Wendel Rosen as an associate in the firm’s land use and litigation practices.

’17

Jonathan Kathrein joined the land use team at Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP, a San Francisco real estate law firm.

Tim Love was honored with the “10 under 10” award by Bowling Green University.

’18

Michael Choi authored “The Likelihood of Exclusion: Economic Disparity in the United States Trademark System”, originally published in the Journal of the Patent

’19

Alyssa V. Daatio, of the firm Aaron, Riechert, Carpol & Riffle APC, was awarded the Nancy de Ita Scholarship by the San Mateo County Bar Association.

Justine Joya joined Frudden & Padilla Family Law as an associate attorney.

Frudden & Padilla Family Law has a growing legal team that includes owners Jenifer Frudden ’13 and Katie Padilla ’14 as well as Kierra Pedescleaux ’18.

Sonia M. Muscatine published an article “Homeschooling and the Right to Education: Are States Fulfilling Their Constitutional Obligations to Homeschooled Students?” in the Journal of Law & Education.

Hire USF Law

USF School of Law students and graduates are professional, prepared, and passionate — a diverse group immersed in real-world learning and committed to social justice. They are critical thinkers and exceptional doers, with traits encouraged by our award-winning faculty and Jesuit tradition. Why not hire someone who already has a head start?

Contact the Office of Career Services at lawcareer@usfca.edu

Join us

In the virtual realm, we continue to host a wide variety of events for alumni, students, members of the community, and guests. We invite you to learn more about what’s coming up at USF School of Law. Visit usfca.edu/law/events or email lawevents@usfca.edu.

In Memoriam Thomas Underhill ’52, December 2019

E. Eugene Denko ’68, February 2020

Evelyn Deane ’78, January 2020

James Mitchell ’56, October 2019

Patrick Curran ’69, February 2020

Dennis King ’81, March 2020

James Brooke ’57, October 2019

James P. Fox ’69, January 2020

Laura Sciarrino ’90, February 2020

Robert Glynn ’58, October 2019

Clarence Kellogg Jr. ’71, March 2020

Alice Molasky-Arman ’91, August 2019

Robert Witser ’62, February 2020

John Carbone Jr. ’72, March 2020

Sharon Timoner ’92, April 2020

Sal Balistreri ’64, February 2020

Judge Luis Mario Villarreal ’75, July 2020

Claude Piller ’95, January 2020

The Right to Your Data P ETER MICEK ’1 1 AND EV ERETT MONROE ’1 4 DISCUSS P RIVACY IN THE PA N D EM IC AG E One of the essential ways to battle COVID-19 is through contact tracing — identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to the virus. Since the start of the outbreak, governments and companies have been scrambling to develop apps to help with this process.

But with great technology comes grave privacy concerns. In May, professor and privacy expert Everett Monroe ’14 interviewed fellow expert Peter Micek ’11 in a Zoom event about the privacy-related implications of the pandemic. Their talk was part of the law school’s “Lawyering in the time of COVID” online series, featuring experts on topics such as environmental policy, music law, real estate, and racism and injustice. The series ran from March through July and recordings are available online: bit.ly/USFLawWebinars.

Privacy power So what’s the difference between data privacy and data security?

Privacy, says Micek, is a human right. It’s the power to determine the conditions and situations in which you disclose information about yourself, your family, your business, and other personal matters.

“It’s not about secrets and shame,” says Micek, who is general counsel at Access Now, a global digital rights organization, as well as a professor at Columbia University. “It’s about power and control.”

Security, on the other hand, concerns who is authorized to access the data and the integrity of the systems that store it. Privacy and security go hand in hand. In regards to contact tracing, the question is, will these apps sufficiently protect the personal data and information they collect?

“We want transparency into how these apps work [and] what they have access to,” Micek says. “Permissions should be fairly clear on

their face, and they should be developed with privacy by design.”

One factor is where data is stored: It can either live on the phone itself or in the cloud.

“We absolutely promote that the data be stored on the individual’s device,” Micek says.

“This is the most sensitive data that there is — it’s health data, and unfortunately we have too many examples of authorities misusing access to this data.”

A growing field Attorneys working in other areas of law would do well to educate themselves on data privacy and security.

“This is a new and growing area of law,” says Micek. “It has a deep history in constitutional law [and] international frameworks, but it’s absolutely of the moment and we need more eyes on this, especially people who get that rounded social justice-based education that USF Law provides.”

Monroe, who teaches information privacy law at USF, agrees.

“Privacy is becoming part of corporate compliance; privacy is becoming part of public defenders’ work and criminal defense law; privacy is becoming part of international commerce and business law,” he says. “The number of times I have had to look at a contract not for the service, but to transfer data from one place to another place … that has made up 80 to 90 percent of my work on certain days.” •

USFCA.EDU/LAW 31

CLOSING ARGUMENT When Life Gives You Lemonade

By Jordanna Thigpen ’04 Let’s be honest. In most movies and TV shows, David wins. But in real life, Goliath wins. Right? In The Hubert Hansen Intellectual Property Trust v.

The Coca-Cola Company, et al., Goliath lost. David won. USF Law won. Here’s the story.

In 1935, Hubert Hansen had next to nothing. He was one of the first builders to develop subdivisions in his home state of Minnesota. But like so many, he was wiped out in the Great Depression. Taking a leap of faith and courage, he moved his family to Los Angeles. Soon he had founded Hansen’s Fresh Juice Company, pioneering home delivery in glass bottles and contracting with the major Hollywood studios for juice for their actors and crew.

Within a few years, Hubert had established his own manufacturing plant. He passed away in 1951, but his sons continued in the family tradition as Hansen’s Juices. Hubert’s grandson, Tim Hansen, went on to create Hansen’s Soda.

Enter Monster Energy Monster Energy Company later purchased some of Tim’s company’s assets. Then, in 2010, Monster began selling “Hubert’s Lemonade.”

The lemonade featured Hubert’s name and life story on the labels.

In 2015, Monster sold the brand to Coca-Cola. However, Monster never obtained the rights to use Hubert’s name. Hubert’s descendants filed a claim under California’s Celebrities Rights Act, Civil Code § 3344.1, which protects the rights of publicity of deceased personalities.

Hubert was well known in his industry. He had received a national public health award during World War II, when medical supplies were needed at the front, when influenza still killed millions each year, and when one’s patriotic duty included staying healthy. When his suppliers, Japanese American farmers, were interned in camps, he paid their debts.

The defendants exploited Hubert’s life for their own gain, to portray their product as natural and wholesome. But under the statute, Hubert’s right of publicity is protected.

The right of publicity protects one’s name, image, likeness, and identity — the ways we individuate the spirits of human beings.

Before the statutory and common law rights existed, anyone’s image or name could be — and was — used on products, whether or not

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they consented. The right evolved over decades in the fashion of many personal rights: slowly, but in response to the pursuit of corporate profit by any means necessary.

Heartbreak and Failure As a student at USF, I participated in several trial advocacy programs, including the Intensive Advocacy Program (IAP). My grandmother, who raised me, passed away suddenly just days before the IAP began, but I went on to complete the program and win its highest honor. I also participated in the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Moot Court Competition, which ended disastrously when my colleague and I suffered a nonsuit for failing to prove the plaintiff’s age during our case-in-chief. I drew from both of these experiences recently — resilience to withstand heartbreak, and the humility that comes from failure.

I was privileged to represent the Hansen family (Hubert’s grandchildren) in the recent eight-week, two-phase trial in San Diego County to determine the scope of the parties’ rights and the damages owed by Coca-Cola and Monster for their violations of the statute. I led my trial team as first chair, and we won $9.6 million, securing victory for our clients and vindicating the right of human beings to be free of commercial misappropriation. As plaintiffs are the prevailing party under the statute, we also secured a $7.3 million attorneys’ fees and costs award for plaintiffs and my former law firm.

David Prevails The defendants — two multibillion-dollar public companies, represented by highly skilled national law firms — made full use of the resources at their disposal. My colleagues and I endured months of grueling discovery and motion practice, and in a highly condensed timeline, took and defended 66 depositions in 10 states. We also obtained over $150,000 in sanctions against defendants and their counsel.

The two-phase trial, a bench trial followed by the six-week jury trial, featured 51 witnesses including 10 experts, 33 motions in limine, and hundreds of trial exhibits. We needed physical and mental stamina, creativity, and expertise in multiple areas of law. But we never had a single thought of quitting. On behalf of our clients, we persevered.

USF Law taught my classmates and me to use our skills in service of others. To achieve equality and justice for our society, perseverance is what we need. n Jordanna Thigpen ’04 is a principal at Thigpen Legal P.C. in Los Angeles and serves of counsel to the Law Office of Mayor Joseph L. Alioto and Angela Alioto in San Francisco.

YOUR GENEROSITY CAN

CHANGE THE

WORLD EVERY GIFT COUNTS. MAKE YOURS TODAY. Your support of USF School of Law strengthens our mission and provides a transformative legal education to more students.

“ My USF Law education set me on the path to a career that I have loved— first as a lawyer and later as a judge. I could not have done it without USF’s scholarship program for students from underrepresented communities.

I recently included USF School of Law in my estate plan because I feel that it’s past time for me to give back.”

— Maria Rivera ‘74

TO LEARN MORE about including USF School of Law in your will, trust, or retirement plan, visit

usfca.edu/law/giving/planned or call the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 415.422.4163.

The Koret Law Center 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

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In Gratitude This past spring, with coronavirus cases rising in the Bay Area, USF’s Hayes-Healy Residence Hall was lit up in appreciation for the frontline and essential workers keeping the heartbeat of our city alive.

University of San Francisco School of Law Attn: Development and Alumni Relations 2130 Fulton St San Francisco CA 94117-1050 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117-1050

YOU CAN HELP PROVIDE A LIFE-CHANGING EDUCATION AND CHANGE THE WORLD, ONE STUDENT AT A TIME. Thank you for your donation to the USF School of Law. For more information or to give online using our secure server, please visit www.usfca.edu/law/makeagift or call the USF School of Law Office of Development and Alumni Relations at (415) 422-5457.

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