News

On Feb. 6, Professor and former Dean Kevin R. Johnson had the extraordinary honor of moderating a discussion with Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States at UCLA School of Law. 

By Carla Meyer

UC Davis Law prides itself on its graduates working in a wide variety of settings. The Super Bowl halftime show was a new one, though.

Desiree Velasco Zavala ’06 played violin in the orchestra during Bad Bunny’s spectacular performance during Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8 – even sharing the screen with the music superstar at a few points.

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin spoke to the HuffPost for a Jan. 30 story in which reporter Brittany Wong posed the question of whether unmasking federal immigration agents would make them less aggressive.

Wong posed the question after a second Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, had been fatally shot by federal agents.

On Feb. 4, Third District Court of Appeal Justice and King Hall Adjunct Professor Shama Hakim Mesiwala ’98 and her Appellate Advocacy class attended California Supreme Court oral arguments at a special setting of the court in Sacramento’s historic Library and Courts Building.

The New York Times interviewed and quoted Professor Vikram Amar for a story on Feb. 2, 2026 about the work he and his brother, Akhil Amar, have done concerning state-law remedies for federal constitutional violations.

New York Times chief legal affairs correspondent and Sidebar columnist Adam Liptak joined Professor Elizabeth Joh and co-host Roman Mars for the Jan. 30 episode of their podcast The 99% Invisible Breakdown of the Constitution.

Charles McClain ’71 has pledged $100,000 toward the existing Solis-McClain Veterans Scholarship Fund.

The fund supports United States military veterans enrolled at UC Davis School of Law. It provides tuition assistance via awards and scholarships.

Professors Kevin R. Johnson and Darien Shanske spoke to media about Democratic California lawmakers’ legislative responses to the federal immigration crackdown, including measures lent new urgency by outrage over the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Professor Darien Shanske spoke to the Financial Times for a Jan. 9 story headlined “California’s divisive plan to tax billionaires.”

By Sue Walther Jones

Business law is critical to creating a more just society. That concept underlies UC Davis School of Law’s new Center for Business Law and Society (CBLS). The law school will launch the center at a symposium, “California and the Future of Business Law,” on Thursday, Jan. 29 at King Hall.

Professor Brian Soucek wrote a Jan. 2 essay for the Wall Street Journal headlined “Why Universities Can’t Be Neutral.”

Soucek writes that over the past few years, many universities – an estimated 150, by one count – have agreed to embrace a standard of institutional “neutrality.” 

Fortune magazine quoted Professor  Darien Shanske in a Dec. 24 story headlined “Millionaire tax plans spread as Washington state eyes new levy."

Faculty, staff, family and friends gathered in May for a newly expanded “Celebrating King Hall” event honoring individual accomplishments and UC Davis Law’s famous community spirit. 

UC Davis School of Law’s annual commencement, held May 16 at the Mondavi Center, celebrated the Class of 2025’s achievements. 

It also marked a full-circle moment for California Supreme Court Associate Justice Kelli Evans ’94, who gave the keynote address 31 years after serving as student speaker at her own UC Davis Law graduation. 

Addressing a new generation of students, Evans emphasized the enduring power of a law degree, even in challenging times. 

By Carla Meyer 

In Professor Lisa R. Pruitt’s The First Gen Experience in Scholarly and Popular Literature seminar, the personal takes precedence.

By Carla Meyer 

Jessica Berg became dean of UC Davis School of Law in fall 2024 after spending much of her career at Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University, including more than a decade as dean. 

By Sue Walther Jones

The photo from 1930 captures a thriving community. Half of the Japanese Americans who lived in and around Winters, California—about 150 men, women, and children—are dressed in their finest for a funeral. They pose in a neighborhood with homes, a general store, other prosperous businesses and a Buddhist temple.   

On V-J Day in 1945, it all burned. 

Phil Satre ’75 and his wife, Jennifer Satre, have made a $50,000 leadership gift to establish the Harrison “Hap” Dunning Endowment Fund to honor Dunning, a beloved UC Davis Law professor emeritus who passed away earlier this year.

From UC Davis Law's 2025 Counselor alumni magazine:

Professor Emeritus Harrison C. “Hap” Dunning, an environmental law forerunner who played an integral role in California water law and policy, died in March at age 86.

Born in Philadelphia, Dunning graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, where he was active in the civil rights movement.

The New Yorker quoted Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin in its Nov. 14 story, “The Liberal Scholars Who Influenced Trump’s Attack on Birthright Citizenship.”

UC Davis School of Law faculty are preparing to attend the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Jan. 6-9. The theme of the conference is “Impact. Excellence. Resilience. The Enduring Contributions of Legal Education.”

Tuesday, Jan. 6:

Professor Kevin R. Johnson tops the list for immigration law in HeinOnline’s Scholarly Impact Rankings of Most-Cited Authors by Subject. Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin ranks No. 5 for immigration law in the HeinOnline rankings, which recognize authors from ABA-approved law schools.

Professor Carlton F.W. Larson spoke to PolitiFact on Nov. 20 about President Donald Trump’s assertion on Truth Social that Democratic lawmakers committed sedition with a video urging U.S. service members to ignore illegal orders.

Professor Raquel Aldana spoke to the Washington Post for a Dec. 3 story headlined “Trump pauses immigration applications for 19 nations on travel ban list.”

A Nov. 20 New York Times article, headlined “The Housing Strategy That Has California NIMBYs in a Corner,” notes that a 2019 Twitter thread and subsequent paper by Professor Christopher Elmendorf on the “builder’s remedy” have been instrumental in the push to build more housing in the state.