Kirsten Strobel has joined Boalt's Alumni Center as its new Associate Director of Reunions and Campaigns. For the past eight years, Strobel worked in development for Legal Services for Children in San Francisco and eventually became its donor relations and pro bono coordinator. She has extensive fundraising and event planning experience and oversaw the organization's 300-member volunteer panel of attorneys and interns. Strobel is looking for alumni volunteers to serve on committees for reunion years ending in a 3 or 8 to help plan for the upcoming Alumni Weekend September 27-29. She can be reached at 510.643.9949 or [email protected].

A Boalt student organization, two individual students, and a faculty member will all receive UC Berkeley Chancellor's Awards for Public Service May 9. The awards are given annually to students, faculty, staff, and campus groups for exceptional dedication and contributions to the community and society. 

Boalt's Student-Initiated Legal Services Projects (SLPS), which help disadvantaged clients in areas ranging from immigration and refugee law to workers' and tenants' rights, won the Campus-Community Partnership Award. Created and run by students--more than 400 of whom participate in 20 initiatives--SLPS fosters connections between Boalt and prominent Bay Area public interest legal organizations, law firms, and government agencies to assist clients in need. 

Students Alexandrea Scott '13 and Sonya Passi '13 will receive the Chancellor's Graduate Student Award for Civic Engagement. Scott and Passi co-founded the Family Violence Appellate Project, a nonprofit legal advocacy group that mobilizes pro bono appellate representation for the California's survivors of domestic violence. Eric Stover, faculty director of the Human Rights Center, will receive the Faculty Award for Civic Engagement.

Alexandrea Scott, Dean Edley, and Sonya Passi

  Outgoing Boalt Professor Andrea Peterson won the 2013 UC Berkeley Faculty Mentor Award for her outstanding commitment to helping graduate students creatively pursue new ideas--and succeed academically and professionally. Nominated by colleagues, and current and former students, Peterson bested a pool of exceptional UC Berkeley faculty members. She was honored at a ceremony April 18, one week before her retirement party at Boalt.

Boalt Law scholars who published new books in 2012-2013 were honored at the law school's annual Authors' Prandium. For the second straight year, Professor Kenneth Bamberger played a humorous and musical role as master of ceremonies. The publications included legal casebooks and scholarly analyses, a sobering account of the human cost of climate change, and even a murder mystery about a Honolulu cop who receives anonymous haikus as clues. 

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Pamela Samuelson Named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected Professor Pamela Samuelson as a new member. The academy is one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for policy research. Since 1780, the academy has elected leading "thinkers and doers" from each generation. Its current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. Samuelson will be inducted at a ceremony Oct. 12 in Cambridge, MA.

On April 15, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy hosted a timely presentation by O'Melveny & Myers partner Nathan Bush on China's first full competition statute, the Antimonopoly Law, which took effect in August 2008. Bush described how China has since emerged as a key antitrust jurisdiction as competing authorities have blocked or imposed conditions on worldwide mergers, fined foreign cartels, and challenged the commercial practices of some state-owned enterprises. Bush, who works in his firm's Beijing and Singapore offices, assessed the first five years of Chinese antitrust enforcement under the new law and discussed the direction of its competition policy. Click here to view his presentation.

New Report: California Lags in Fracking Regulations

A new report on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") in California warns of the risks of irreversible contamination of surface and groundwater near oil drilling sites, unless the technique is carefully monitored and controlled. The report, "Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective," is an independent analysis produced by Boalt's Center for Law, Energy & the Environment and its new initiative, the Wheeler Institute for Water Law & Policy.

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Micah West '13 received Boalt's annual Sax Prize for excellence in clinical advocacy during an emotional ceremony April 15 at the Bancroft Hotel. West--whose father pled guilty to health care fraud and selling prescription drugs, lost his medical license, and received a one-year sentence to a halfway house--was a standout student at the Death Penalty Clinic and played a key role in launching the East Bay Community Law Center's new Youth Defender Clinic.

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Ask the Archivist 
A Whole 'Nother Ball Game

Q: My brother and I are both huge sports history buffs, so we were surprised on a recent visit to the law school to see that there is a Walter Perry Johnson faculty chair (currently held by Bob Berring). How did that happen?

--GR, Berkeley 

A. Walter "The Big Train" Johnson was certainly one of the most important stars of early Major League Baseball, playing his entire career (1907-1927) with the Washington Senators. He has the distinction of being one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. So, how did this great pitcher's name become linked to an endowed chair at Boalt Hall?

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Mary-Lee Kimber Smith '05 and Shawna Parks '99, attorneys at the nonprofit Disability Rights Advocates, were honored as 2013 Attorneys of the Year Award by California Lawyer. Thanks largely to their remarkable legal work, the City and County of Los Angeles must now include the unique needs of people with all types of disabilities in their emergency planning--ensuring that nearly 1.3 million people with disabilities will not suffer needlessly in the event of a disaster.

Online Alumni Networks

All law school graduates are invited to join AlumNetwork. Just email [email protected] for your security ID, then visit AlumNetwork here to activate your profile. The online community includes: a directory of alumni, Class Notes, your own personal profile, alumni/ae profiles, events and registration, and more.... 
And be sure to join our other groups: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. LinkedIn is a great resource for referrals, job listings and career development advice from Robert White, Boalt's director of alumni career services.

From Boalt's calendar:

Admitted Students Receptions

Boalt alumni are invited to join Admitted Students of the Class of '16 for a welcome reception hosted in their area. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Attire is business casual. A photo ID may be required by security personnel. If you are interested in attending one of these events, please RSVP to [email protected].

* May 1: San Diego, hosted by Ryan Waterman '03 in the Carmey Valley office of Stoel Rives LLP. 6-8pm.

* May 8: Orange County, hosted by Susan Hori '79 in the Costa Mesa office of Manatt. 6-8pm.

* May 9: Los Angeles, hosted by Matt Kline '99 and his firm, O'Melveny & Myers LLP. Catch up with Edward Tom, Dean of Admissions. 6:30-8:30pm.

* May 15: San Francisco, hosted by Morrison & Foerster LLP, 425 Market Street. 6:30-8:30pm. 

Support for your career development doesn't end with graduation. The Career Development Office provides resources for alums, including access to the b-Line jobs database and individualized confidential career counseling: resume review, job search strategies, career exploration (including careers outside of law practice), and more. See the Alumni Resources page on the CDO website.

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