Golden Gate University School of Law

#GGULawFamily, the Immigration Law Clinic is now accepting applications for the Spring 2021 term! Led by Professors Anna Benvenue and Brooke Westling, the Immigration Clinic was created to empower students to gain valuable real-world experience helping some of the most vulnerable immigrant communities, at a time when the United States #immigration policies have created a #humanitarian crisis. As clinic Professor Anna Benvenue shares, The Immigration Law Clinic is an excitin...g addition to #GGULaw School's robust clinical learning program. Clinic students, mentored closely by clinic faculty, provide direct representation to the most vulnerable immigrant populations in the #BayArea, including those fleeing persecution in their home countries and those who have been the victims of violent crimes in the United States. Through their clinic experience students have the opportunity to transform lives while they set the standard for high-quality legal representation in immigration proceedings. Click to apply for the Immigration Clinic: http://ow.ly/E4JJ50BoriJ #GGULawValues #GGUImmigrationLaw #RealWorldExperience

Introducing the #GGULaw Cannabis Law Clinic! The clinic is an exciting opportunity to learn the fundamentals of cannabis law practice. Students will engage in a clinical experience with attorney supervision as they advise clients on how to obtain cannabis operator licenses through the Equity Program. Students also will advise clients on other aspects of the cannabis industry, including regulatory, tax, contract, and intellectual property issues. #GGULawAlum Alejandro Rodrig...uez, an aspiring regulatory attorney, currently assists cannabis businesses and industrial cannabis producers/distributors across the state. With a focus on regulatory compliance and social equity, he has distinguished himself as a thought leader in cannabis social equity. Jon Heredia, attorney and business owner, brings expertise spanning all levels of the cannabis industry’s supply chain - dispensary, delivery, manufacturing, and cultivation. Jon serves as Director of Business Development and Compliance for Mirage Medicinal and Norcal Genetics. Jon’s multi-faceted work touches upon corporate, contract, IP, regulatory and employment law for these businesses. For Zoom Meeting information, please contact Externship Program Director Allison Wang: [email protected] #GGUCannabisLaw

#GGULawFamily please join us tomorrow for the Post-Election Day #Community Forum. This gathering will provide an opportunity for the #GGULaw community to connect and reflect on the election results (both known and unknown). Wednesday, November 4th ... 5:00 PM Pacific Time *Zoom link and password available in Monday's (November 2nd) edition of Law School News. #GGUTogether #GGULawValues

#GGULawFamily Please take a few moments to read the thoughtful letter written by Dean Christiansen as we approach Election Day... Dear students and the whole GGU Law community. This is an exceptional time for our country. Tomorrow -- amid a global pandemic, the continuing stay-at-home orders in much of the country, on-going tensions and grief related to racist violence, and daily evidence of the immediate impact of the climate crisis on California and elsewhere -- Americans... will be voting. The stakes feel, and genuinely are, momentous. While our community includes and welcomes students, faculty, and staff with a broad spectrum of viewpoints on politics, we all share the GGU Law commitment to affirming the worth and dignity of all persons and striving for a country that will increase its commitment to justice and equality for all. For those of us who have chosen a career in the law, we affirm our commitment to a legal system that serves all people and communities fairly; we recognize that change requires our active, non-violent engagement; and we commit to the justice that peace requires. A critical historical moment like this requires much of each of us. As we enter the final day of this election cycle in its hyper-partisan atmosphere, we are likely to encounter outrageous actions and stark untruths by some bad actors. There is even the potential for violence. Each of us must choose our own responses measured against our own higher standards. I encourage each of you to be reflective and safe, to demonstrate the political engagement you want from others, and to model the civic behavior of the better nation we can grow to be. I am immensely proud of each of you and this community. And finally... mail in those ballots, vote, or take whatever other steps necessary to participate in this election. Thank you. Eric C. Christiansen Dean of the Law School #GGULaw #GGUTogether #GGULawValues

A must-read piece by #GGULaw student Markie Flores, has been published by The Recorder, as the inaugural article in the Reimagining Criminal Justice series. Markie has written a compelling narrative blending powerful personal perspective with a comprehensive overview of California's Three Strikes Law and the subsequent passage of Propositions 36 & 57, with special focus on the implications of current ballot measure Proposition 20. This is Markie's second publication as a ...law student. Additionally Markie has served as a student clinician in the GGU Law Women's Employment Rights Clinic and is currently a student intern with the Juvenile Dependency Law Panel. Incredible job, Markie. Your passion, talent and dedication to legal advocacy are exceptional! Download the full article on GGU Law Digital Commons: http://ow.ly/SlQi50C7NxL #ReimaginingCriminalJustice #ThreeStrikes #GGULawFamily #ThisIsWhoWeAre

#GGULaw Professor Sam Ernst’s chapter, #Radical patent law reform in a common law enabling system; a metahistory, was published in Forgotten Intellectual Property Lore: Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Intellectual Property (Shubha Ghosh, Ed. Elgar Press). Complete Table of Contents: http://ow.ly/MO7O50C7wp7 In Chapter 8, Professor Ernst discusses how the #SupremeCourt reconstructs history to affect radical patent law reform.... Chapter 8 Synopsis: http://ow.ly/QHKc50C7wrO #PatentLaw #IntellectualProperty #GGULawFacultyExpertise #ThisIsWhoWeAre

#GGULaw's Dr. Delaram Farzaneh will present her work in progress at the 2020 ASIL - American Society of International Law Midyear Meeting Research Forum on Friday, October 30th. Her panel, Gender Issues in International Law, will begin at 11:45am PDT. Dr. Farzaneh will discuss the impact and effectiveness of the Human Rights Council system of Special Procedure in the context of women’s rights in Iran. Iran is one of the 11 countries with a country specific mandate of Special Rapporteur (SR) to investigate claims of systematic human rights violations in Iran. A key question is whether the SR has the capacity to improve the status of women in a country that refuses to cooperate with the mandate-holders and human rights mechanisms. #GGULawFacultyExpertise #ThisIsWhoWeAre #ASILMYM

#GGULaw is thrilled to expand its long-standing mission of #inclusion and #access to the legal profession with its new JD Flex program. Starting in fall 2021, JD Flex will offer an innovative alternative to GGU Law’s continuing full-time residential program in San Francisco. Blending online coursework and eight on-campus weekend sessions per semester, with summers completely online, this flexible program provides a path to an ABA-approved JD degree in less than four years. O...ur students are caregivers, veterans, working professionals, first-generation college students, and others who have a passion for the law, but their path may have been anything but straightforward, says law school Dean Eric Christiansen. Our world, more than ever, needs their perspectives and leadership. And we are doing our part to make it possible. Read the full press release: http://ow.ly/XlH750C5fl9 Learn more and apply now: https://onlinelaw.ggu.edu/ Contact: [email protected] #GGUJDFlex #Fall2021 #ApplyToday

Three #GGULaw faculty members have recently written or been featured in articles focused on high profile current events. Professor Helen Kang, Director of the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, was recently quoted in The Guardian regarding recently confirmed #SupremeCourt Justice Amy Coney Barrett's possible recusal in climate crisis related cases based upon her father's employment history in the oil and gas industry. Read here: http://ow.ly/wXXo50C4q5o... Professor Paul Kibel, LLM Environmental Law Program Co-Director, provided legal context in a powerful USA Today series discussing the disproportionate impact of #COVID-19 exposure on Latino farmworkers in California's Imperial Valley. Read here: http://ow.ly/kcnR50C4q5q Professor Rachel Van Cleve had a second article published in The Recorder this month, where she calls #rigamorale on #originalist Justices. It is a fantastic piece! Read here: http://ow.ly/8LvU50C4qwr #GGULawFacultyExpertise #ThisIsWhoWeAre

#GGULawFamily please mark your calendars and RSVP for this inspiring virtual event co-hosted by BLSA and The Litigation Center! Advocating for Change: A Conversation with Black Criminal Lawyers and Judges Monday, November 2nd 5:00pm-6:30pm PT... RSVP: [email protected] #AdvocatingForChange #GGUBLSA #GGULitigationCenter

GGU's Race and Justice Task Force is thrilled to welcome Adam Foss, the founder and executive director of Prosecutor Impact, for an engaging online talk and Q&A.... PI develops innovative curriculum & training for prosecutors across the country to reduce the use of incarceration. It trains criminal prosecutors to employ data-informed, sustainable & safety-focused interventions to foster more equitable outcomes for the communities they serve. Adam Foss is a former Assistant D.A. in the Juvenile Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, and a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and the importance of the role of the prosecutor in ending mass incarceration. Adam believes that the profession of prosecution is ripe for a reinvention that requires better incentives and more measurable metrics for success beyond, simply, cases won. This led him to create Prosecutor Impact, a non-profit that develops training and curriculum for prosecutors to reframe their role in the criminal justice system. Most recently, Mr. Foss appeared in the critically-acclaimed CNN feature-length documentary American Jail. Welcoming Remarks: GGU Law Dean Eric Christiansen Speaker Introduction: Law Professor Jyoti Nanda Following Q&A led by: Amye Osakue, President, BLSA, Co-Chair of RJTF Subcommittee Alexis Pickins, BLSA Member, Co-Chair of RJTF Subcommittee THURSDAY, October 29, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free tickets here: http://ow.ly/kckp50C1jSZ

While we may not be physically present on our San Francisco campus this term, the critical work of #GGULaw’s Veterans Legal Advocacy Center (VLAC), marches onward. This semester, the VLAC is continuing to represent veterans in appeals court for injuries they incurred during military service. And representing veterans for a change of discharge upgrade for veterans who were less than honorably discharged due to mental health injuries or discrimination. In addition, the Veter...ans Legal Advocacy Center is working on a semester long project focusing on upgrading the discharges of California veterans, posthumously, that were given a "Blue Discharge" in the era between 1900-1940. VLAC makes special effort to assist the most vulnerable veteran populations, those least connected to existing service networks -- recently returned, women, non-citizen, LGBTQIA+, and elderly veterans. Clients are low-income, indigent military veterans residing in the Bay Area. VLAC, along with its student clinicians, have helped clients upgrade their discharges to honorable conditions and obtain thousands of dollars in benefits. Learn more about VLAC: http://ow.ly/p9XG50C08g5 #GGUVetsLaw #Veteran #ThankYouForYourService

Congratulations to #GGULaw graduate Jessica Juarez who has been awarded a Bar Stipend by the Latina Lawyers Bar Association! While attending GGU, Jessica competed on the National Mock Trial team and served as a co-captain during her third year of law school. Jessica also served as co-chair of GGU’s La Raza Law Students Association, as a 3L. During her time as a student, Jessica appreciated the support offered by staff and faculty in GGU's Litigation Center. Prior to graduati...ng, Jessica’s positive impact as a GGU student was recognized when she was awarded a 2020 Dean’s Award for Scholarship and Leadership. Jessica has completed internships with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, the Contra Costa County District Attorney, the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, and The Bar Association of San Francisco. She is currently completing a Post-Bar Fellowship with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office. Jessica shares, "I am passionate about advocating for client's rights and assuring he/she/they are granted a fair trial through litigation, specifically in criminal defense." Well done, Jessica. We look forward to all the great work you will continue to do! #ThisIsWhoWeAre #GGULawAlumni #RaiseThe2Percent #Lawtinas