The photos have arrived and the visuals affirm what 520 guests at Boalt's Alumni Weekend already know: it was a blast. From our kickoff event at San Francisco City Hall exploring the Internet's knowledge-spreading pros and liberties-threatening cons to compelling panels from our centers and clinics, a walking tour of Boalt, festive class dinners, and a Giants-Padres game--it was a memorable weekend. Check out the reunion photos here:

Alumni Weekend 2013

The Net: Utopia vs. Dystopia

Save the date for next year's Alumni Weekend: September 20-21, 2014. Reconnect with classmates, check out what's new on campus, and enjoy a series of exciting special events. Fueled by the success of this year's reunion, we want to make next year's gathering even bigger---and need your help to make it happen. We invite you to join your fellow alums in driving support for Boalt Hall amongst your classmates and become a class leader or committee member for your reunion year. Contact Kirsten Strobel, Annual Giving Associate Director of Reunions and Campaigns, at [email protected] or 510.643.9949.

First Generation Professionals is a Boalt student organization that serves the common needs of law students from working-class backgrounds who are often the first members of their family to obtain higher education. The group is looking to recruit Boalt graduates who identify as first-generation professionals, and who are working in different sectors of the legal marketplace, to participate in the third year of its mentoring program. If you are interested and would like more information, please contact Eric Stern in the Career Development Office at [email protected].

Q: We recently uncovered this print in a storage closet at Boalt. Is it something valuable?

--LF, Berkeley 

A. What you've located is a fairly rare 1803 engraving of a painting by William Hogarth which shows a Parliamentary inquiry being held in Fleet Prison. The subject is of particular interest to Boalt Hall, as it interweaves themes of prisoners' rights, poverty law and anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic prejudice in the penal system. But can we pay off our construction debt by pawning it? Don't call Sotheby's quite yet.

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Three papers authored by Boalt professors have been chosen by the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, to be among its 2013 Privacy Papers for Policy Makers. The forum-comprised of industry, academic and legal leaders-selects a handful of scholarly papers each year that are deemed the most influential for policy makers in the privacy arena. Winning articles are circulated among top policy makers, including members of Congress and leaders of the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. 

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As the new executive director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, Dimple Abichandani harbors no illusions about the challenges ahead. She faces tough decisions on what issues to prioritize and how best to confront them in the face of a shrinking middle class and heated political battles over food stamps, voting rights, and the minimum wage. 

"You only need to look at the recently completed Supreme Court term to appreciate how we are living in difficult times as they pertain to civil and human rights," Abichandani said. "In my experience, winning in today's environment takes integrated strategies and lawyers who know how to work in partnership and collaboration."

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Institute Receives $2.85 Million Gift from Area Foundations

The Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israeli Law, Economy and Society has received a combined gift of $2.85 million from four leading California foundations. This unprecedented donation will allow the institute to expand its classes and programs in Israel Studies and Jewish law and thought, as well as support broader programs in law and undergraduate studies. 

The gift, to be allocated over the next three to five years, consists of monies from Bay Area-based Koret Foundation ($450,000), the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund ($450,000), and the Jim Joseph Foundation ($1.2M), as well as Los Angeles-based The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation ($750,000). Professor Kenneth Bamberger, the institute's founder and faculty director, said the donation fuels "the leading Jewish law program in the Western United States."

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The Daily Journal has named Heather Meeker '94 one of the top 25 women transactional lawyers one of the top 25 intellectual property portfolio managers in California for 2013. In addition, The Recorder named her to their 2013 list of "Women Leaders in Technology Law." 

An open source software licensing specialist, Meeker is the chair of Greenberg Traurig's IP/IT licensing and transactions group as well as co-managing shareholder of its Silicon Valley office. "This area of practice is fascinating and dynamic," she said. "My clients bring me new challenges every day." While a student at Boalt, Meeker was editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal (then the High Technology Law Journal).

Obama Selects Indira Talwani '88

President Obama has nominated Indira Talwani '88 to the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. If confirmed, she would be the first South Asian justice in the First Circuit. A partner at Segal Roitman in Boston, Talwani focuses on civil litigation and has worked on matters ranging from whistleblower protections under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to low-wage class actions. Previously, she worked at Altshuler Berzon in San Francisco from 1989 to 1999. Best Lawyers named Talwani one of the nation's top attorneys in 2013, and last year she was named one of the Massachusetts' top 10 attorneys by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Berkeley Law student Samia Hossain '14 won a $10,000 cash prize for a paper she entered in the Richard A. Clarke National Scholarly Monograph Contest. The paper, which assesses the legality of President Obama's counterterrorism targeted killing program, took second place in the competition organized by the Center for First Amendment Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Hossain wrote the paper last year in her International Humanitarian Law class taught by Professor Kate Jastram '87.

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:

November 5 - New York Tristate Event: Professor Jesse Choper's Supreme Court Update and Alumni Reception

November 12 - What We Can Learn from the Jewish Political Tradition

November 19 - Going In-House: Still a Great Career Move?

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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