“Remember that, as an attorney, you have incredible potential to make meaningful change in the lives of those around you,” says Diego Cartagena ’03, a proud double Bruin and the president and CEO of Bet Tzedek Legal Services.
When more than 40 experts in the law of charitable nonprofit organizations gathered at UCLA School of Law toward the end of 2022, the early fall weather had not yet turned cool, and the warmth outdoors reflected the positive spirit of the occasion.
UCLA School of Law is pleased to welcome back K-Sue Park, who will join the law school’s faculty in January as a professor of law. The move is a homecoming for Park, who served as a critical race studies fellow and lecturer at UCLA Law from 2017 to 2019.
Park comes to UCLA Law most recently from Georgetown University Law Center, where she has been an associate professor of law since 2019.
E. Tendayi Achiume, the Alicia Miñana Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law, has been awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced today. Recipients are selected for their exceptional creativity, their ability to transcend traditional boundaries and their promise for important future advances.
Grace Meng, who directs the Judge Rand Schrader Pro Bono Program at UCLA School of Law, has been selected to receive the Pro Bono Services Award from the Legal Services Corporation.
Laura Pedraza-Fariña, a scholar whose work focuses on the cutting edge of developments in science and technology, will join UCLA School of Law as a professor of law in January 2024.
She comes to UCLA Law from Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law. She has been a member of that law school’s faculty since 2013, including as a professor of law and, since 2021, associate dean for innovation and partnerships. Previously, she was a visiting lecturer and law research fellow at Georgetown University Law Center.
On August 18, the UCLA Law community convened at its annual convocation ceremony, which was held outdoors on Dickson Court.
The law school’s incoming students include 315 who are pursuing a juris doctor degree (J.D.), 228 who are working toward a master of laws degree (LL.M.) and 54 who are earning a master of legal studies degree (M.L.S.).
The J.D. class of 2026 is among the most academically accomplished in the law school’s history with a median LSAT score of 170 and a record-high median grade point average of 3.92.
On Aug. 1, 2023, Michael Waterstone began his term as the 10th dean of UCLA School of Law.
The moment marked a change in leadership at the law school, following the departure of Dean Jennifer Mnookin, who now serves as the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the tenure of Interim Dean Russell Korobkin.
Five outstanding professors are boosting the excellence and breadth of UCLA School of Law’s faculty as they join the law school this fall and in the coming year. Alexander Arnold, Shirin Bakhshay, Ariela Gross, K-Sue Park and Laura Pedraza-Fariña bring expertise in areas including law and economic theory, criminal adjudication and punishment, international organizations, property and legal history, race and civil rights.