Can law and spirituality coexist? In Professor of Law Jonathan Zasloff’s course, “‘Foundations of Jewish Ethics,” they can, and do. Every week.

Zasloff, an expert in environmental and property law, is an ordained rabbi who teaches both undergraduate-level and law school courses on Jewish religion and thought systems. The law course is unique in its focus on Pirkei Avot, a five-chapter section of the Talmud that offers guidelines on ethics, from humility and kindness to judgment and punishment.

If Shasta Fields ’23 were to have a superhero name, it would be Earth Protector. The graduating 3L came to UCLA School of Law specifically to make waves in environmental law.

She succeeded. Fields’ experience includes clerking with a major environmental nonprofit, working on a case with the California Attorney General’s Office, researching zoning laws as part of her participation in the Environmental Law Clinic, serving as president of the Environmental Law Society (ELS) and serving as chief comment editor for the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (JELP).

“Welcome to Sacramento, California” reads the sign that greets Adrianne Davies, Owen McAleer and Gabi Rosenfeld as they step off the airplane.

This report by Leadership Counsel and UCLA’s Environmental Law Clinic reveals the major role that land use policy continues to play in perpetuating the poor environmental conditions and health disparities that face low-income communities and communities of color.