UCLA School of Law set a new annual fundraising record in 2020-21, with donations from alumni and friends that amounted to more than $39.9 million. The total exceeded the previous high mark of $32.7 million, which the law school set in 2018-19.

Gifts contributed to the excellence of nearly every area of law school. Generous support went to scholarships for students, new faculty chairs, centers and institutes, and the creation or expansion of curricular offerings and other educational opportunities.

Dignitaries from the worlds of law and entertainment convened at UCLA School of Law on Oct. 20 to honor the incredible legacy of Judge Harry Pregerson. The event featured the in-person law school premiere of a documentary movie about Pregerson’s life and jurisprudence, 9th Circuit Cowboy: The Long, Good Fight of Judge Harry Pregerson, and a panel discussion with several of his former clerks.

Thanks to the work of students and faculty of the UCLA School of Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic, two Southern California men serving life sentences in federal prison for non-violent drug convictions were granted compassionate release this year, allowing them to return home to their families.

In courthouses at opposite ends of Los Angeles County this fall, eight students in UCLA School of Law’s innovative Bail Practicum (now Pretrial Justice Clinic) stood up and advocated for four incarcerated clients who had been awaiting trial while in custody for seven weeks to 14 months. In all four cases, they earned favorable outcomes.

A year and a half after graduating from UCLA School of Law and starting her “dream job” as a public defender in Los Angeles, Delaram Kamalpour ’19 has already taken three trials through to a verdict. Shortly after one ended in a hung jury and dismissal, her client learned that it had, in fact, been her first trial. But, she recalls, that fact surprised him: “He thought it was my hundredth.”

UCLA School of Law Professor Sharon Dolovich co-wrote an article on rates of COVID-19 infection and death in U.S. prisons that has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the country’s leading medical journal.

When UCLA School of Law hosts a new tournament called the Verdict, starting on Oct. 16, it will be presenting a first-of-its kind law school jury-trial competition.

While most trial advocacy competitions ask lawyers or judges to score students on their courtroom performances as a proxy for what lay jurors would find persuasive, the Verdict includes lay jurors who submit verdicts on the merits. Like in real trials, the winning team will be the one that best persuades the juries.

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit convened over Zoom on May 4, a panel of judges heard oral arguments that were delivered by several highly skilled advocates — four of whom were UCLA School of Law students.

When recent UCLA School of Law graduate Dana Ontiveros ’21 sits down to work each day in the Los Angeles office of Snell & Wilmer, she is able to tap into the vast array of skills that she gained during her time in law school. While she spends the bulk of her hours working in the firm’s commercial litigation group, with additional projects in corporate and securities law and real estate, she consistently finds her mind returning to many of the lessons she enjoyed most at UCLA Law — the ones centering on tax law.

The annual ranking of the top law school trial advocacy teams in the country has been released, and the A. Barry Cappello Trial Team at UCLA School of Law is No. 1 for the second year in a row. The success comes after a record-breaking season for the law school’s trial team, including landmark wins in the most esteemed competitions in the country.