Mariana Viviescas Maldonado LLM ’26 and María Paula Herrera Duque LLM ’26 first met as law school classmates at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia 11 years ago. “We started as classmates, became close friends, and then we started dating. We’ve been together ever since,” says Herrera Duque.
With nearly 20 years of experience in senior roles across the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Justice, and National Security Council, Katrina Mulligan ’07 has spent her career in rooms where consequential decisions are made.
Now, as the first head of national security policy and partnerships at OpenAI, Mulligan is helping shape how artificial intelligence will be deployed for defense and intelligence purposes.
Joshua Wooten ’27 and Ilu Tefera ’27 are the 2025-26 co-chairs of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), one of UCLA School of Law’s oldest and most active student organizations.
In recognition of an outstanding tenure that was defined by significant growth in academic impact, record fundraising, and a strong boost in national prestige, former UCLA School of Law dean Jennifer Mnookin has been honored with a newly created faculty chair in her name.
In a new and wide-ranging set of rankings that track the scholarly impact of law schools and legal academics, UCLA School of Law placed among the top 10 institutions in the country, while 36 members of the faculty were listed as the top scholars in 25 different areas of research.
Though China was once viewed as a climate villain, the country now dominates the global supply chains of solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles. Just this month, Chinese manufacturer BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s biggest maker of EVs. It’s the latest example of how China’s focus on clean technology is setting the pace for the rest of the world as the Trump administration hits the brakes.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States visited UCLA School of Law on Feb. 6, sharing insights on law, public service, and leadership. During her visit, Justice Sotomayor urged students not to be bystanders in civic engagement, encouraging them to get involved in causes like voting rights, writing to elected officials, or supporting public interest groups.
The UCDC Law Program has been sending law students from across the UC system to Washington, D.C., for more than 15 years, offering them a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the city where federal law is made.
On the morning of January 13, a group of UCLA School of Law students enjoyed a rare opportunity to visit the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles. There, they observed lawyers who were hard at work on many of the most pressing immigration matters. They also received a special briefing regarding Mexico’s responses to the current ICE arrests, including the role of habeas corpus petitions at immigrant detention centers, and about ongoing economic relations between the two countries.