School News

Panelists at the recent Gilbert Foundation Colloquium in Israeli Law, Economy and Society.

Funded by a $750,000 seed gift from The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the new Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israeli Law, Economy and Society reflects both a flourishing of Jewish legal studies in U.S. law schools and a national surge in the academic study of Israel. The institute is guided by 15 faculty members from across campus in a diversity of disciplines, including economics, business, political science, history, sociology, and Jewish studies.   

The institute will run two distinct programs--one on Jewish Law, the other on Israeli Law, Economy and Society. 

"We're working to support broader discourse on campus around Jewish and Israel-related scholarship," said institute faculty director Kenneth A. Bamberger, a constitutional and administrative law scholar who teaches courses in Jewish law and ethics. "We want to better serve UC students interested in studying these topics in-depth. Our programming will be truly interdisciplinary in scope and scholarship."

Annual tuition increases at the University of California, significant layoffs, larger classes and reduced enrollment. That's the likely future unless state lawmakers put a tax extension on the ballot and voters approve it, UC finance experts told the regents this month in San Francisco.  

"We have a real crisis now," UC President Mark Yudof told the regents during a wide-ranging discussion of financial options for the nation's premier public university, which expects its state funding to be cut by half a billion dollars even if the tax extensions are approved. "We cannot engage in wishful thinking." 

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For the fall 2011 semester, nearly all of Boalt's on-campus interviews will take place over the course of a single week (August 8-12) prior to the start of classes. The change results partly from recent developments in the legal hiring market, and also in response to student feedback. 

Adopting an early interview week schedule will better align the timing of our on-campus interviews with those of students from other schools with whom our students compete for positions. Some schools have recently announced their intention to move their on-campus interviews earlier in the fall of 2011. Moreover, during the last recruiting season, employers appeared to have scheduled callback interviews earlier than in years past. Scheduling an early interview week here at Boalt responds to these trends in a way that we believe will maximize our students' employment options.

From Kathleen Vanden Heuvel, Associate Dean, Capital Projects:   

"Long live the Ginkgoes! We had to remove our mature Ginkgoes in order to build the South Addition, but we have replaced them with six young ones, hand selected by campus landscape architect Jim Horner. Last week the new trees were lowered with a crane onto the west courtyard and workers are now in the process of getting them settled in their new planter homes. Those of you who have been around long enough to remember our former Ginkgoes may be concerned that the unpleasant smell associated with these beautiful trees will also be returning. Not to worry. Although we may be contributing to the loss of biodiversity of the species by doing it, we did not plant any female trees this time around. We planted only male trees, and as a result we will be fruitless, and therefore odorless. (For an amusing article on smelly Ginkgo trees, see the June, 2008 New Yorker) Ginkgoes are thought to be oldest tree species on earth, and individual trees can live 3,000 years. So in theory these trees could be the ultimate naming opportunity."

Death Penalty Focus has named Boalt's Death Penalty Clinic as the winner of its 2011 Abolition Award. The clinic, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall, is led by Director Elisabeth Semel and Associate Director Ty Alper. Past award recipients include Gov. Mario Cuomo, Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The clinic will receive its award at the Death Penalty Focus Annual Awards Dinner on May 12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. For more information on the event, click here.

In other news:

• Boalt Wins AAJ Mock Trial Northwest Regional Championship 
• Faculty Authors Cover Wide Mix of Topics in Their Recent Books

Campaign for Boalt Hall
Noel Nellis '66 and Art Shartsis '71 Lead Reunion Gift Campaign

Class reunion campaigns for graduates in classes ending in 1 and 6 are officially underway. More than 50 volunteers have committed to helping plan reunion celebrations and fundraise for a class gift.  Noel Nellis '66, a partner in Orrick's San Francisco office, and Art Shartsis '71, a founding partner of Shartsis Friese LLP, are chairing the overall effort. 

Class reunions will be held during Alumni Weekend, September 30 through October 1, in the Bay Area.  All gifts and pledges made from January 1 through December 31, will count toward class gifts. More information is available online here.

Alumni and students in classes 2006 through 2011 can have their gifts matched 1:1 by the UC Berkeley Foundation. Contributions can be designated to any of Boalt Hall's funds, and the matching offer ends June 30. Please act now, as only a limited amount of matching money is available to UC Berkeley grads. Learn more and make your gift here.  

The "South Addition" will debut later this spring.  Highlights of the pavilion include an expansive roof-deck garden, student commons and caf�, and sky bridges to the existing building. Opportunities are available to name these areas and some of the featured areas of the new building. For more information, contact Robert Sproul at 510.643.8170  or [email protected].You can take a virtual tour of the pavilion here. 

Professor Stephen Bundy '78 is the 2011 recipient of Boalt's Rutter Award for Teaching Distinction. The award honors outstanding commitment to teaching, and was established in 1995 by William Rutter--a philanthropist, lawyer, educator and author.  Recent recipients of the award include Eric Rakowski and the late Philip Frickey.

Professor Bundy, an expert on civil procedure, complex litigation and legal ethics, graduated from Boalt Hall in 1978. He has been on the Boalt faculty since 1984. Professor Bundy's scholarship has centered on the legal profession and dispute resolution. He also co-authored "Pleading and Procedure: State and Federal Cases and Materials," a leading law school textbook. He has taught many courses over the years, including Civil Procedure, Complex Civil Litigation, Law and Ethics of Lawyering, and the Civil Justice Workshop. 

After law school, Professor Bundy clerked for Judge John J. Gibbons of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and worked for the New York firm Cravath Swaine & Moore, where he specialized in litigation.

Online Alumni Communities   
Alumni + Students = the New Mentor Directory!

Please take a moment now to join Boalt Hall's new Mentor Directory on LinkedIn. Just click here.

This new group is being established to become a primary source for Boalt law students seeking to benefit from alumni assistance with regard to career-related advice.  

Students may use the forum to obtain informational interviews, ask advice on choosing a practice area, and seek information on legal trends in diverse geographic locations. They are advised not to contact mentors for employment or business purposes. 

Ask the Archivist 
Women at Boalt

Q. Who are the women in the class photos in the Donor Lobby? Were they students, and if so, what did they do with their careers?
- TC, Berkeley

A. Most of the women in the class photographs were indeed law students at Boalt Hall. Some were members of the staff. Though not all of them can be identified at this point, there are a few names we can attach to faces, and some interesting lives associated with those names. Read more.