2024-25 Edition

School of Law

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Austen Parrish, Dean
General Information
http://www.law.uci.edu/
law@uci.edu

The University of California, Irvine, School of Law offers the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree through an innovative curriculum that includes in-depth study of legal doctrine, emphasizes experiential learning and clinical experience, and provides the professional training in lawyering skills necessary for the practice of law at the highest level of the profession. A hallmark of the School is that every student is required to have a clinical experience or equivalent in order to graduate.

The University of California, Irvine, School of Law offers the Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree program. The LL.M. program offers a first-rate legal education to lawyers, judges, government officials and others wishing to become educated about the legal system and practice of law in the United States. We offer a general LL.M. program that can be tailored to each individual's interests, thus uniquely equipping students with the knowledge and skills to excel in today's global legal community, whatever their personal and professional goals may be.

Notably, the School of Law also participates in the UC Irvine Program in Law and Graduate Studies, a concurrent degree program that enables qualified students to pursue a doctoral or master’s degree in a cognate field at the same time they are pursuing their law degree. Several current students, for example, are pursuing concurrent J.D./Ph.D. degrees, J.D./M.A. degrees, or J.D./M.B.A. degrees.

The School of Law builds on UC Irvine’s existing strengths in emerging technology, social policy, international business, environmental science and policy, health care, and other fields to produce leaders in law, government, and business for the 21st century. UC Irvine Law graduates are encouraged to pursue careers in public service, including non-governmental organizations and philanthropic agencies. The School works aggressively to place students on their chosen career path whether that be with a private law firm, public interest or legal services office, government agency, and/or in a judicial clerkship. A wide array of employers from both the public and private sectors come to interview students on campus for summer positions and externships.

UC Irvine School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association. It seeks to enroll outstanding students who reflect a wide diversity of life experiences. Further information about admission requirements, application deadlines, tuition and fees, and curriculum is updated regularly on the School of Law website.

In addition, concurrent degree study (J.D./Ph.D. and J.D./Master’s) is available under the auspices of UC Irvine’s Program in Law and Graduate Studies, which is described later in the School of Law section.

Faculty

Aziza Ahmed, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Law
Cindy Thomas Archer, J.D. Georgetown University, Professor of Teaching of Law
Sameer Ashar, J.D. Harvard Law School, Associate Dean for Equity Initiatives and Professor of Teaching of Law
Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Ph.D. Stanford University, Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development and Professor of Law; Asian American Studies; Criminology, Law and Society; Sociology
Mehrsa Baradaran, J.D. New York University, Professor of Law
Mario Barnes, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Law
Josh D. Blank, J.D. Harvard Law School, LL.M. New York University School of Law, Professor of School of Law
Dan L. Burk, J.D. Arizona State University, UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law
Alejandro E. Camacho, J.D., LL.M. Harvard University, Georgetown University, Professor of School of Law; Political Science
Elizabeth E. Cauffman, Ph.D. Temple University, Professor of Psychological Science; Criminology, Law and Society; Education; School of Law (adolescent development, mental health, juvenile justice, legal and social policy)
Simon A. Cole, Ph.D. Cornell University, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society; History; School of Law (science, technology, law, criminal justice)
Rachel E. Croskery-Roberts, J.D. University of Michigan, Clinical Professor of Law of School of Law
Patricia Cyr, J.D. Georgetown University, Adjunct Professor of School of Law
Eve Darian-Smith, Ph.D. University of Chicago, Department Chair and Distinguished Professor of Global and International Studies; Anthropology; Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law
Joseph DiMento, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Distinguished Professor of Law; Criminology, Law and Society; Paul Merage School of Business; Urban Planning and Public Policy
Victor Fleischer, J.D. Columbia Law School, Professor of School of Law
Bryant G. Garth, J.D. Stanford University, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Vice Dean and UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law
Howard A. Gillman, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Chancellor and Professor of Political Science; Criminology, Law and Society; History; School of Law
Michele B. Goodwin, J.D. Boston College, Director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy and UCI's Chancellor's Professor of School of Law; Population Health and Disease Prevention (bioethics, constitutional law, family law, health law, reproductive rights, torts)
Michael R. Gottfredson, Ph.D. University at Albany, State University of New York, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (criminology, juvenile delinquency, crime theory, public policy)
Jon B. Gould, ; School of Law
Kaaryn Gustafson, J.D., Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Co-Director, Center on Law, Equality and Race (CLEar) and Professor of School of Law
Sora Han, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society; African American Studies; Comparative Literature; Culture and Theory; School of Law (law and popular culture, critical race theory, philosophies of punishment, feminism and psychoanalysis)
Jeffrey S. Helmreich, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of Philosophy; School of Law
Carrie Hempel, J.D. Yale University, Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Service Learning and Clinical Professor of School of Law
Paul L. Hoffman, J.D. New York University, Adjunct Professor of School of Law
Linda Cohen Jennings, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology, Professor Emeritus of School of Law; Economics
Dalie Jimenez, J.D. Harvard Law School, Professor of School of Law
David A. Kaye, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Clinical Professor of School of Law
Sung Eun (Summer) Kim, J.D. Harvard University, Assistant Professor of School of Law
Christopher M. Klein, J.D. University of Chicago, Lecturer of School of Law
Anne Lai, J.D. New York University, Assistant Clinical Professor of School of Law
Dana Lee, J.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Mohannad and Rana Malas Scholar in Islamic Studies and Assistant Professor of Law; History
Stephen Lee, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of School of Law; Asian American Studies
Jack I. Lerner, J.D. Harvard University, Clinical Professor of School of Law; Film and Media Studies
Christopher R. Leslie, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law
Ji Li, Ph.D. Northwestern University, John & Marilyn Long Professor of Law
Elizabeth F. Loftus, Ph.D. Stanford University, UCI Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science; Cognitive Sciences; Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (cognitive psychology, human memory, psychology and law)
Mona Lynch, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz, Chancellor's Professor of Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (law and society, psychology and law, punishment and society, race and criminal justice)
Nicholas J. Marantz, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, J.D. Harvard Law School, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy; School of Law
Omri Marian, J.D., LL.M. University of Michigan Law School, Assistant Professor of School of Law
William M. Maurer, Ph.D. Stanford University, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professor of Anthropology; Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (anthropology of law, globalization, Caribbean, anthropology of money and finance, gender and kinship)
Carrie Menkel-Meadow, J.D. University of Pennsylvania, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science; School of Law
Alison Mikkor, J.D. New York University School of Law, Assistant Professor of Lawyering Skills of School of Law
David K. Min, J.D. Harvard University, Assistant Professor of School of Law
Rachel Moran, J.D. Yale Law School, Distinguished Professor of Law
Jamelia Morgan, J.D. Yale Law School, Assistant Professor of Law
Alexandra Natapoff, J.D. Stanford Law School, Professor of School of Law
Austen Parrish, J.D. Columbia University, Dean and Professor of Law
Katherine M. Porter, J.D. Harvard University, Professor of School of Law
R. Anthony Reese, J.D. Stanford University, UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law
Keramet Reiter, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (prisons and extreme punishments, legal history, criminal justice policy, criminal and civil rights law, law and society)
Justin Richland, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Department Chair and Professor of Anthropology; School of Law (legal discourse analysis and semiotics, anthropology of law; contemporary native American law, politics, art, and ethnographic museology)
Michael J. Robinson-Dorn, J.D. Cornell University, Clinical Professor of School of Law
Trilby Robinson-Dorn, J.D. Tulane University, Associate Dean and Professor of School of Law
Mark Rosenbaum, J.D. Harvard University, Adjunct Professor of School of Law
Ezra A. Ross, J.D. Harvard University, Professor of School of Law
Nicholas I. Scurich, Ph.D. University of Southern California, Department Chair and Professor of Psychological Science; Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law (judgment and decision making, juridical proof, violence risk assessment)
Susan Seager, J.D. Yale Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law
Christopher Seeds, Ph.D. New York University, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law; Sociology (punishment and social control, law and society, criminal justice, social theory, life sentencing and capital punishment)
Carroll S. Seron, Ph.D. New York University, Professor Emerita of Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law; Sociology (sociology of law, sociology of professions, law and society, sociology of legal profession, methods and police misconduct)
Gregory Shaffer, J.D. Stanford University, Director, Center of Globalization, Law and Society and UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law; Political Science
Kenneth W. Simons, J.D. University of Michigan Law School, UCI Chancellor's Professor of School of Law
Charles Smith, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, Professor of Political Science; Criminology, Law and Society; School of Law; Sociology (law and legal institutions, comparative and international law)
Robert A. Solomon, J.D. George Washington University, Clinical Professor of School of Law
Ji Seon Song, J.D. Columbia University School of Law, Assistant Professor of Law; Criminology, Law and Society
Ann Southworth, J.D. Stanford University, Professor of School of Law; Criminology, Law and Society
Jane K. Stoever, J.D. Harvard University, Clinical Professor of School of Law; Psychological Science
Shauhin A. Talesh, J.D., Ph.D. University of Connecticut, University of California, Berkeley, Director, Law and Graduate Studies Program and Professor of School of Law; Criminology, Law and Society; Sociology
Emily Taylor Poppe, J.D. Northwestern University School of Law, Assistant Professor of School of Law; Sociology
William C. Thompson, Ph.D. Stanford University, Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Law and Society; Psychological Science; School of Law (psychology and law, criminal justice, forensic science, expert evidence, human judgment and decision making, use of social science in appellate litigation)
Beatrice Tice, J.D. Stanford University, Associate Dean for LL.M. and International Student Programs and Professor of School of Law
Katharine Tinto, J.D. New York University, Assistant Clinical Professor of School of Law; Criminology, Law and Society
Grace Tonner, J.D. Loyola Marymount University, Clinical Professor of Law of School of Law
Kerry Vandell, Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Emeritus of Paul Merage School of Business; School of Law
Geoff Ward, Ph.D. University of Michigan, Associate Professor of School of Law; School of Law
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, UCI Chancellor's Professor of History; East Asian Studies; School of Law (modern China, protest, world history)
Henry Weinstein, J.D. University of California, Berkeley, Professor of School of Law
Christopher A. Whytock, J.D. Georgetown University, Professor of School of Law; Political Science
Jessica L. Whytock, J.D. Indiana University, Associate Dean for the Law Library and Research Professor of School of Law

On This Page:

First-Year Curriculum

UCI School of Law has an innovative curriculum designed to prepare students for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Traditional areas of legal doctrine are covered in the first year, but in a novel way that focuses on training students in five methods of legal analysis: statutory, common law, procedural, constitutional, and international. The course on Statutory Analysis, for example, uses criminal law as the vehicle for teaching students to read and interpret statutes.

One of UCI’s signature first-year courses, Legal Profession, exposes students to the economics, sociology, and psychology of a legal career. The course also emphasizes professional ethics. Panels of attorneys from a wide range of practice areas speak to students throughout the year about ethical dilemmas they confront as well as their work and careers.

Throughout both the first-year and upper-level curriculum there is great emphasis on incorporating skills training into traditional classes. The first-year Legal Skills class teaches fact investigation, interviewing, legal writing and analysis, extensive legal research, negotiation and oral advocacy. In addition, all first-year students are assigned a lawyer mentor and are required to spend a specified number of hours observing that lawyer at work.

UCI has an active pro bono program in which students engage in volunteer legal work on behalf of underserved populations as early as their first year.

All first-year students enroll in the courses below. Additional information is available at the School of Law Curriculum website.

Common Law Analysis: Contracts (4). This course will focus primarily on the common law of contracts to teach this method of analysis, in which the law is derived from judicial decisions rather than statutes or the Constitution.

Statutory Analysis (3). This course will use criminal law as a basis for teaching students the methods employed in all areas of law for analyzing statutes.

Procedural Analysis (4). This course will use civil procedure as the foundation for teaching students about areas of law in which there are procedural rules, and how analysis and arguments are made in such contexts.

Lawyering Skills I (3). This course, which will be part of both semesters, will focus on teaching skills that all lawyers use, such as fact investigation, interviewing, legal writing and analysis, legal research, negotiation and oral advocacy.

Legal Profession I (2). This course, which will be part of both semesters, is designed to prepare students to chart rewarding and responsible careers in law. Drawing from various disciplines, including economics, history, sociology, and psychology, we will teach students about the variety of practice settings in which lawyers work and the professional opportunities and challenges of each.

Common Law Analysis: Torts (4). This course will use torts as a way of further examining the common law, and how lawyers reason and develop arguments in this area.

Constitutional Analysis (4). This course will teach students basic areas of constitutional law such as separation of powers, federalism, and individual liberties. It will focus on how constitutional arguments are made, and how courts and lawyers analyze constitutional issues.

International Legal Analysis (3). This course will introduce students to international law and the ways that analyses in this area are similar to and different from analysis in other areas of law.

Lawyering Skills II (3). In the spring semester of this two-semester course, all students will gain experience in a legal clinic setting, where they will conduct intake interviews of actual clients at one or more legal services organization such as: The Learning Rights Center of Los Angeles, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, the Public Law Center, the United States Marines Corp Base at Camp Pendleton, and the UCI Consumer Protection Clinic.

Legal Profession II (2). Continuation of fall semester course.

Legal Research (1). This course prepares students to take on varied and challenging research assignments typically encountered at school and in the workplace.

Upper-Level Courses

Below is an overview of the upper-level courses taught at UC Irvine School of Law. Not every course will be offered each year, and additional courses not listed may be offered. Additional information is available at School of Law Curriculum website. Course descriptions, content, and requirements are subject to change.

General Courses

Administrative Law
Business Associations
Constitutional Law: First Amendment
Criminal Procedure
Evidence
Federal Courts
Federal Criminal Law
Federal Income Taxation
Property
Remedies
The Federal Judge

Business Law

Accounting and Finance for Lawyers
Advanced Legal Writing: Business Drafting
Antitrust
Antitrust Law & IP Rights
Bankruptcy Law
Business and Economics of Law Firm Practice
Business and Regulation of Fund Investors
Business Torts
Commercial Transactions
Corporate Finance
Insurance Law and Policy
Investment Management Regulation
Law and Theory Relating to the 2008 Financial Crisis
Mergers and Acquisitions
Organizations, Operations, and Tax Aspects of Public Charities and Private Foundations
Public Companies
Representing Business Clients
SEC Enforcement Process
Secured Credit
Securities Regulation
Statistics for Lawyers

Colloquium

Writing for Publication in the Law Review
Advanced Writing for Publication in the Law Review

Criminal Law

Advanced Criminal Law, Practice, & Procedure
Memory & The Law
Documents and Artifacts in Socio-Legal Research
Topics in White Collar Crime

Employment Law

Employment Discrimination Law
Employment Law
Labor Law

Entertainment Law

Entertainment Law
Sports Law

Family Law

Children and the Law
Community Property
Family Law
Gifts, Wills, and Trusts
Advocating for Vulnerable Children: From Foster Care to Juvenile Justice

Intellectual Property

Copyright Law
Digital Copyright Law
Cross-Border Trade in IP
Intellectual Property Law
Patent Law
Technical Protection of Author's Rights
Trademark and Unfair Competition Law

International and Comparative Law

China Law
Comparative Law
International Business Transactions
International Contracts
International Environmental Law
International Human Rights Law
International Trade Law
Islamic Law
Japanese Law
Jewish Law
Korean Law

Law and Medicine

Biomedical Ethics
Drug Discovery, Development & Commercialization
Health Care Law
Reproductive Technologies

Perspective Courses

American Legal History
Cause Lawyering
Spanish for Lawyers
Conflict of Laws
Critical Race Theory
Feminist Jurisprudence and the Law
Human Rights & Protest in 20th and 21st Century China
Jurisprudence
Law and Economics
Law and Literature
Law and Social Movements
Race and the Law
Sexual Orientation and the Law

Procedural Courses

Arbitration
Civil Rights Litigation
Complex Litigation
Conflicts of Law
Dispute Resolution
Negotiations and Mediation

Public Law

Animal Law
Civil Rights Law
Education Law
Election Law
Federal Public Land and Natural Resources Law
Race and the Law
Environmental Law
Immigration Law
Land Use and Development Control Law
Legislation
Local Government Law
Organizations, Operations and Tax Aspects of Public Charities and Private Foundations
Media Law
National Security Law
Natural Resources Law
Poverty Law
Regulatory Design and Innovation
White Collar Crime

Real Estate Law

Land Use Law
Real Estate Transactions

Skills Courses

Advanced Legal Research
Advanced Legal Writing
Global Justice Summit
Appellate Litigation
Appellate Advocacy
Negotiations
Spanish for Lawyers
Trial Advocacy

Tax Law

Basic Tax
Corporate Tax
Estate and Gift Taxation
Partnership & LLC Taxation
Taxation of Business Enterprises

Clinical/Externships

Appellate Litigation Clinic
Advanced Community & Economic Development Clinic
Advanced Environmental Law Clinic
Advanced International Human Rights Clinic
Advanced Immigrant Rights Clinic
Advanced Consumer Protection Clinic
Advanced Domestic Violence Clinic 
Advanced International Justice Clinic
Civil Rights Litigation Clinic
Community & Economic Development Clinic
Consumer Protection Clinic
Domestic Violence Clinic
Environmental Law Clinic
Fair Employment & Housing Clinic
Immigrant Rights Clinic
Intellectual Property, Arts & Technology Clinic
International Human Rights Clinic
International Justice Clinic
Reproductive Justice Clinic
Veterans Clinic
Externships                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Program in Law and Graduate Studies
(J.D./Ph.D.; J.D./Master’s)

Shauhin Talesh, Director
949-824-9214
http://www.law.uci.edu/academics/interdisciplinary-studies/concurrent-degrees.html
stalesh@law.uci.edu

Highly-qualified students interested in combining the study of law with graduate research and/or professional qualifications in cognate disciplines are invited to undertake concurrent degree study under the auspices of UC Irvine’s Program in Law and Graduate Studies (PLGS). Students in this program pursue a coordinated curriculum leading to a J.D. degree from the School of Law in conjunction with a Master’s or Ph.D. degree from any of the graduate professional or research degree programs at UCI that have been approved for this concurrent degree program. The objective of the program is to promote interdisciplinary study of law while also enabling students to obtain both a J.D. and a graduate degree in less time than would be required to acquire both degrees separately. The normative time for completion of the program is four years for J.D./Master’s combinations and seven years for J.D./Ph.D. combinations. Additional information is available from the PLGS Program Director’s Office, 949-824-4158, or by email to plgs@law.uci.edu. A full description of the program, with links to all relevant application information, can be found at the School of Law Concurrent Degree Program website.

UC Irvine’s PLGS program is well suited to students interested in professional or academic careers focused on the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of law and legal institutions, policy analysis, and/or applied research in law-related fields (for example, criminal justice and criminology, urban planning and environmental issues, discrimination, human rights, urban planning, environmental protection, and intellectual property). UC Irvine is nationally known for its graduate programs in such fields as Criminology, Law and Society; Psychology and Social Behavior; Anthropology; Management and Business; Literature; History; Performing Arts; and others.

Applicants must submit separate applications for admission to the School of Law and to the graduate program of their choice. Once admitted for study into both components of their program, concurrent degree students will work with the PLGS director and the director of their graduate program to develop a program of study that will permit efficient pursuit of both degrees. Ordinarily, students will commence their studies in their chosen graduate program and begin their first year of law instruction after one or more years of graduate program study. Upon completion of the first year of law instruction, students will pursue a coordinated curriculum of upper-level law study and graduate program study and research. Concurrent degree students’ law enrollments will include a required “Graduate Legal Studies” colloquium and a 3-unit “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Law” course or its equivalent. Concurrent degree students will be eligible for financial support through their chosen graduate program while pursuing graduate degree studies, and through the law school while pursuing law studies.

Required Colloquium

University Studies 296 Graduate Legal Studies (.3). Monthly faculty/student colloquium to present and discuss socio-legal related research/issues. Course convened by Law School faculty with other faculty participation. Open to graduate students and Law students; required for PLGS students enrolled in Law portion of degree. Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory only. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

Law 5655 Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Law. This course is a reading and discussion seminar. Students will read a book each week. For the first class, students will read the book and come to class prepared to discuss it. For the second class each student will write a 750-word critique (analytic precis) of the book; discussion of the book will continue in that class. The seminar will be organized into four roughly equal segments. The first will present four quite distinct accounts of law—law as education, as ideology, as politics, and as organized activism. The second will consider several distinct scholarly perspectives on law—cultural, rhetorical, sociological. The third will examine applications of interdisciplinarity to legal studies—of property, recording media, citizenship, and emergency politics. The fourth will continue "applications" and conclude the course by comparing two rather different studies of law and death.