The Black Law Students Association at UCLA School of Law was named 2019’s Student Organization of the Year at the school’s fifth annual Student Leadership Breakfast on April 28.
In presenting the award to BLSA co-chair Ajwang Rading ’20, Student Bar Association president Luis Vasquez ’19 cited the organization’s impactful efforts to promote diversity and excellence in legal education.
More than 2,000 people convened as UCLA School of Law hosted its 68th commencement ceremony on May 17, celebrating the Class of 2019 with glitz, grandeur and inspiring speeches.
Family, friends, faculty, colleagues and classmates gathered on UCLA’s Dickson Court to toast 313 juris doctor (J.D.) graduates, 198 master of law (LL.M.) recipients and one person who earned a doctor of juridical science (S.J.D.) degree.
Rising rents have caused unprecedented housing insecurity in Los Angeles County, according to an in-depth report that UCLA School of Law students and faculty prepared with attorneys at Public Counsel.
From Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley to the heart of Hollywood, UCLA School of Law alums from across the entertainment, sports and technology sectors returned to the campus in 2018-19, offering insights and career guidance in small group settings to students of the Ziffren Center for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law.
Enhancing the resources available to help graduates clerk for judges in California and around the country, UCLA School of Law has hired Kerry O’Neill to serve as its first director of judicial clerkships.
Supporting what is rapidly becoming one of the top law school trial programs in the country, UCLA Law alumnus A. Barry Cappello ’65 has pledged to donate an additional $500,000 to UCLA School of Law’s Cappello Program in Trial Advocacy. The gift raises Cappello’s total donations to UCLA Law to $2.75 million.
UCLA School of Law hosted its annual convocation ceremony on August 23, where distinguished alumni and members of the faculty welcomed the law school’s newest class of students. The incoming roster includes a diverse and highly accomplished array of 524 people, including 310 members of the J.D. Class of 2022; 212 students who are pursuing a master of laws degree; and two candidates for a legal doctorate.
View the Fall 2019 Incoming Class Profile.
Dynamic movie studio leader Stacey Snider ’85 returned to UCLA School of Law on Sept. 12 to deliver a Distinguished Alumni Lecture, sharing with more than 50 students the wisdom and war stories from her three-decade career at the pinnacle of the entertainment business. Snider offered a glimpse into what motivated her to become an executive at the head of the 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and Universal movie studios and how current students might similarly pursue their passions after law school.
Entertainment and media law have long been strengths at UCLA School of Law, and the school's leadership in the field was enhanced with the establishment four years ago of the Ziffren Center for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law. Now, the program is taking another giant step forward.
Gift funds will:
- Create the John H. and Patricia W. Mitchell Achievement Fellowship — an endowed full-tuition award for academically qualified students who are interested in pursuing a career in entertainment law and who have overcome significant obstacles on their path to law school. This is part of UCLA Law's broader Achievement Fellowships program.
- Create the separate John H. Mitchell and Patricia W. Mitchell Endowed Law School Scholarship for additional Ziffren Institute students, who will be known as UCLA Law Mitchell Scholars.
- Launch the John H. Mitchell Visiting Scholars initiative to deepen the interaction between current students and accomplished alumni. The initiative builds on the success of the existing "Lunch with the Corner Office" program, which brings corporate executives and attorneys from entertainment companies to the school to talk with current students.
- Support new curriculum in the areas of ethics and the future of the entertainment business. Starting in 2020, the school will offer the John H. Mitchell Signature Course on Ethics and Entertainment and the John H. Mitchell Future of Entertainment Initiative.
- Support professional training for attorneys already working in the field. The UCLA Entertainment Symposium — the annual two-day gathering of leading lawyers and executives in the field that has taken place at UCLA for 43 years — will add the John H. Mitchell Panel on Ethics and Entertainment, a new Minimum Continuing Legal Education training program for practitioners.
A pioneering television studio executive, John Mitchell joined Screen Gems productions in 1952 as one of its original employees, went on to become its president and founded Screen Gems' successor, Columbia Pictures Television. During his tenure as president of Columbia, from 1968 to 1977, the studio produced more than 100 television series and 50 TV movies, including "Brian's Song," which won five Emmy Awards, "Bewitched," "Route 66" and "Police Story." Mitchell later served three terms as president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Patricia Mitchell, formerly known as Pat Windsor, was a singer and performer who appeared at venues across the country before shifting her focus to family, community service and philanthropy.
Bill Allen, who serves as the trustee of the Mitchell Trusts and whose parents, Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows, were friends with John and Patricia Mitchell, said the new programs and student support align precisely with the Mitchells' goals.
"The entertainment industry is experiencing unprecedented change, from the fast pace of technological innovation and consumer habits to the growth of global competition," said Allen, who is also CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. "UCLA's commitment to public service and the law school's well-earned reputation as offering the top entertainment law program in the country make it the perfect place to invest in a strong and diverse talent pool, training in ethics and a robust educational program that prepares the workforce of the future."
The Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law brought together leaders from film, television and government for a Ziffren In-DC conference titled "The Future of Content Protection" in October 2019. Top executives, producers and attorneys addressed the challenges and opportunities arising as piracy continues to erode bottom lines and new content platforms change the economics of the industry.