Long before he gave back to UCLA School of Law in a historic act of generosity that led to the naming of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy in his honor, Epstein stood out among the law school’s stellar alumni base for his excellence in service, practice, philanthropy, and engagement.

When the latest Skadden Fellowship recipients were announced on Nov. 23, two UCLA School of Law students and one recent graduate learned that their careers as public interest lawyers had received a tremendous boost.

More than 200 members of the UCLA School of Law community gathered on Nov. 3 for the law school’s fourth U. Serve L.A. celebration, an event that this year also marked the conclusion of UCLA Law’s second Public Service Challenge. Students, staff, and faculty members joined in recognizing the community’s remarkable pro bono, public interest, and public service contributions.

With wins in five national trial advocacy competitions, UCLA School of Law’s A. Barry Cappello Trial Team recently completed its most successful fall season ever.

The squad, which has been ranked No. 1 in the country for the past two years, was the only one in the nation to prevail in more than one tournament, leading some to consider the team to have accomplished the most dominant fall season in the history of law school trial advocacy competitions.

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.