Against the backdrop of ongoing national conversations about police brutality and its roots in systemic racism, President Trump in September 2020 issued a ban on Critical Race Theory. The directive barred training within the federal government related to CRT, calling it “divisive, anti-American propaganda,” and aimed to prohibit the honest discussions about racism, sexism, and systemic violence that are necessary for working toward a more equitable nation.

After the Trump administration eviscerated federal climate rules and rolled back more than 100 regulations that protected the environment, President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has significant work ahead to rebuild the nation’s climate policies, says UCLA School of Law Professor Ann Carlson.

UCLA School of Law’s Human Rights Litigation Clinic is part of a litigation team representing child victims of forced labor in the chocolate industry in Nestle USA, Inc. v. Doe I and Cargill, Inc. v. Doe I, two consolidated petitions concerning an Alien Tort Statute lawsuit that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on Dec. 1.

Kate Mackintosh, the executive director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law, has joined a panel of leading international lawyers and judges who will work to draft a definition of “ecocide” as a potential international crime alongside terms including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UCLA School of Law’s trailblazing Law Fellows Program has received a generous gift of $25,000 from the litigation firm Larson LLP to provide robust support to the program’s approximately 100 new law fellows and other initiatives in 2021.

UCLA School of Law’s top-ranked A. Barry Cappello Trial Team has completed the best weekend in its history, including strong finishes in multiple national competitions and the team’s first-ever victory in the Tournament of Champions, the nation’s premier invitational trial competition.

Hundreds of members of the UCLA School of Law community participated in the law school’s inaugural Public Service Challenge, which took place over five days, from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, and served a great number of voters, charitable groups and others in Southern California.

Joshua Thomas ’20 came to UCLA School of Law with no plans to be a tax attorney. “If I had not attended UCLA Law and had access to its brilliant and engaging faculty, I highly doubt I would have developed a passion for tax, nor felt prepared to practice tax law without further education – and that speaks volumes,” says the recent graduate.

Leading media executives Harry Sloan and Jeffrey Sagansky participated in a spirited discussion on Oct. 26 about the recent explosion of interest in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). The webinar was the latest in the Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law’s series of high-level IN-Sports conversations.

UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team won the Battle of the Experts competition over the weekend of Oct. 24-25.