News

For the second time in a month, students from the Civil Rights Clinic argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. Alice Chang ’25 and Dominique Kato ’25 appeared before a panel of judges on April 1. The panel comprised Andrew Hurwitz, Lucy Koh and Anthony Johnstone.

On March 19, Professor of Environmental Practice Rick Frank filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of UC Davis’ Institute of Transportation Studies in the case of Diamond Alternative Energy v. U.S.

On March 20, Professor Karrigan Börk spoke on the panel “The Dust Bowl?: Air Pollution, Great Salt Lake, and Utah’s Critical Challenge” at the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment’s 30th symposium, “Breathing Easier: Air Pollution Challenges and Solutions.”

The Stegner Center is part of the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law.

On March 4, Professor Karrigan Börk gave the plenary address “The Law of the Delta” at the 2025 Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) annual workshop.

The IEP is a consortium of three state departments and six federal agencies that coordinates research in California's Delta.

Professor Kevin R. Johnson spoke to the Sacramento Bee for an April 7 story on Wilfredo Rivero of Siskiyou County, who was arrested after traveling to Sacramento’s immigration office to notify officials of his new address before his pending asylum case was to be heard.

UC Davis Law environmental law student experienced remarkable success during the spring 2025 semester.

In February, the 3L trio of Kaylinn Charnley, Abigail Talboy and Alina Werth finished among the three finalist teams in the prestigious Pace University Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition.  Thanks to King Hall alum and longtime coach David Green ’12 for guiding the team.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court cited Professor Courtney Joslin’s scholarship in deciding Glover v. Junior, a case that raised the question of the parental status of a lesbian spouse regarding a child born through assisted reproduction during the parties’ marriage.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cited an article by Professor David Horton in affirming a lower court’s ruling that an antitrust case against the food delivery platform Grubhub belongs in federal court and not arbitration, as Grubhub had argued.

Professor Holly Cooper spoke to the Los Angeles Times for a March 31 story that went inside a West Los Angeles immigration courtroom to explore the struggles of unaccompanied children who lack the right to court-appointed attorneys for deportation proceedings.

UC Davis Law is pleased to announce that California Supreme Court Associate Justice and King Hall alumna Kelli M. Evans will deliver the keynote address at its  Class of 2025 commencement on Friday, May 16.

The Minnesota Reformer quoted Professor Darien Shanske, who spoke before the Minnesota Senate Taxes Committee on April 8 about a Democratic proposal to implement a first-in-the-nation tax on social media companies that collect data on Minnesotans.

Business law scholars have selected a publication by Professor Afra Afsharipour as a Top 10 Corporate and Securities Article of 2024. 

Over spring break, Professor Raquel Aldana traveled with two students, Erik Nilsen ’25 and Abigail Kamba Kamba ’26, to the University of Dayton (Ohio) for the inaugural US-COPAJU (U.S. chapter of the Committee of Pan American Judges on Social Justice) conference.

On March 27, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Donna Shestowsky delivered the endowed Beecroft Lecture at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin spoke to the Washington Post on April 10 about President Donald Trump’s comments that he would approve of sending American-born people convicted of crimes to prisons in foreign countries.

The Post reported on Trump telling reporters on Air Force One that he is “all for” sending U.S. citizens who are “horrible criminals” to prisons in El Salvador.

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin spoke to the Los Angeles Times for an April 9 story about how both the Trump administration and immigrant rights advocates praised the Supreme Court’s ruling that the U.S. could continue to deport immigrants under the 18th century Alien Enemies Act as long as detainees are given the right to challenge the government’s claim.

Professor Afra Afsharipour appeared on the public radio program Marketplace on April 2 to discuss the scant numbers of mergers and acquisitions in the first quarter of 2025.

Professor Afra Afsharipour spoke to CNN for a March 31 report on companies retreating from sponsorships and other support for LGBTQ+ pride events amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts via executive orders.

UC Davis has honored Professor Kelly Behre with its 2025 Academic Federation Distinguished Service Award.

Behre has directed the Domestic & Sexual Violence Law Clinic for more than a decade. The clinic provides free civil legal assistance to low-income victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault in Yolo County.

Professor Lisa Pruitt presented “Consuming Newton County: A Short History” at the annual meeting of the Ozarks Studies Association on April 4 in historic Cane Hill, Arkansas.

The University of Arkansas published a story about the meeting, noting that Pruitt holds a J.D. and a B.A. in journalism from U of A.

Professor Lisa Pruitt spoke to InvestigateWest for an April 8 report on a public defender shortage in Washington state that has left indigent defendants waiting weeks and sometimes months for an attorney.

The story noted that rural Asotin County relies almost entirely on contracted, non-employee attorneys.

On March 28, Professor Lisa Pruitt presented at West Virginia University College of Law as part of the law review symposium “Rural Appalachia: Perspectives & Solutions for Issues Facing Rural Americans.”

Pruitt’s talk was titled “How Seeing Rural America as a Commons Can (Re)Build Mutual Respect Across the Rural-Urban Divide.” 

Professor Shayak Sarkar spoke to the public radio program Marketplace on April 3 about the Trump administration’s reported plans to share IRS data on undocumented immigrants with immigration enforcement officials for potential deportation purposes. The plans challenge a long-standing firewall around the data of all taxpayers, including undocumented immigrants.

Professor Courtney G. Joslin is one of the most highly cited family law scholars in the United States. An expert in family and relationship recognition, with a particular focus on same-sex and non-marital couples, Professor Joslin has won the prestigious Dukeminier Award for the best legal scholarship on sexual orientation and gender identity issues twice.

On April 4, Professor Kevin R.