Donor-Supported Lectures Upgrade King Hall Experience

  • by Joseph Martin
Central Valley Foundation Lecture

When Pamela S. Karlan visits King Hall September 29 to lecture on "The Court, the Closet, and the First Amendment," the event will be more than an opportunity for UC Davis School of Law students and faculty to hear one of the nation's leading experts on voting and the political process.  It will also be the debut of the Central Valley Foundation/James B. McClatchy Lecture on the First Amendment, the latest addition to the set of donor-supported lectures and symposia that help keep UC Davis School of Law at the leading edge of legal education.

King Hall now boasts four endowed lecture series, which serve to bring prominent legal scholars  to the Law School and enable students--as well as faculty, alumni, and community members--to broaden their understanding of key legal issues.  Donor-supported lectures include:

  • Central Valley Foundation/James B. McClatchy Lecture on the First Amendment: Created to promote discussion and understanding of First Amendment issues, the new series is supported by the Central Valley Foundation, which was established by the late McClatchy Company newspaper publisher James B. McClatchy to support programs and organizations dedicated to the enhancement and protection of First Amendment rights. Pamela S. Karlan, the founding director of the Stanford Law School's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, will speak on recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance, television in the courtroom, and the rights of citizens who sign initiative petitions, on September 29, beginning at 4:00 p.m. in King Hall's Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom. The event will inaugurate a series of five annual Central Valley Foundation/James B. McClatchy lectures. For more details, and to RSVP, click here.
  • Fenwick & West Lecture Series in Technology, Entrepreneurship, Science, and Law (TESLaw): Fenwick & West, a national law firm specializing in providing comprehensive legal services to technology and life sciences clients of national and international prominence, sponsors this annual event to provide practitioners, academics, and students with the knowledge base required to successfully address the challenges inherent to the growing, ever-changing markets of the 21st century. The series has featured keynote speakers Stratton Sclavos, former CEO of VeriSign, speaking on patent law reform in 2008, and legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist Jonn Doerr lecturing on "Cleantech" in 2009, as well as panel discussions on these topics with King Hall faculty and leading legal experts. The 2010 event, entitled "Personalized Medicine: Getting the Prescription Right," will be held November 5 in King Hall. Click here for more details on this lectures series, and watch for next month's King Hall Briefs newsletter for more details on this year's event.
  • Edward L. Barrett, Jr. Lecture on Constitutional Law: Established in 1986 to mark the retirement of King Hall's founding dean, Edward L. Barrett, Jr., and the Law School's 20th anniversary, this series has been supported by gifts from more than four dozen King Hall faculty and alumni. The 2010 event featured Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a presentation entitled "Life to Death: Our Constitution and How It Grows." The next Barrett Lecture, to be held February 24, 2011, will feature Justice Scott Bales of the Arizona Supreme Court.
  • Brigitte M. Bodenheimer Lecture on Family Law: Established in 1981 in memory of King Hall Professor Brigitte M. Bodenheimer, an internationally renowned teacher, scholar, and reformer of the law, this endowed lecture brings scholars and practitioners to UC Davis School of Law to discuss recent developments in family law. The 2010 event featured California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, who discussed several recent California Supreme Court decisions with regard to family law, including its 2009 decision to uphold California's Proposition 8, in which he was the sole dissenter. The next Bodenheimer Lecture, scheduled for February 14, 2011, will feature Michael A. Olivas, the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Houston Law Center.

UC Davis School of Law depends upon private support in order to provide these and other special events that enhance the educational experience of King Hall students and promote superior understanding of complex current issues among students, faculty, and alumni alike.  To find out more about how you can support lectures, symposia, and other special events at King Hall, please contact Jean Korinke, Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations, at 530-752-1067 or jfkorinke@ucdavis.edu.