Thinkers & Doers: December 2016

THE FACULTY BUZZ:
Professor Robin Feldman (@RobinCFeldman) was in Los Angeles for the World Technology Awards and joined the list of prominent past award winners, including Elon Musk, Eric Schmidt, and Walter Isaacson, by receiving the World Technology Award for the law category. (Our hearts will go on for Leonardo DiCaprio who did not win for his category this year). http://bit.ly/2iFY80U
— “There is so much money at stake and so much bad blood between the parties,” said Professor Robin Feldman when referring to oral arguments in the CRISPR patent case expected to be a proverbial ‘fight to the death’. http://bit.ly/2j2vt2t
— Kevin Lee interviewed Professor Robin Feldman for the Daily Journal on the latest Supreme Court decision in the continuing Apple v. Samsung saga.
— Professor Robin Feldman weighs in on Big Pharma using ‘Citizen’ Petitions to slow the FDA’s approval of generic medications. http://bit.ly/2j2fPnF
— “Yes, many, many software patents have been invalidated under Alice. … But after taking some time, the Federal Circuit has found ways to ease the two-step tango. It is hard to imagine that this wave of Federal Circuit decisions will be greeted any more warmly by the Supreme Court than in the past,” stated Professor Robin Feldman at a “Patent Expert Sound Off” at Stanford. http://bit.ly/2iFYrJ6
— Professor Robin Feldman also spoke before the USPTO on the topic of Patentable Subject Matter (just another busy month at the office for the Professor, we see).

“White working-class women saw Hillary Clinton as another privileged white woman wanting to break the glass ceiling,” said Professor Joan C. Williams (@joancwilliams) in the New York Times article entitled “Feminism Lost. Now What?” http://nyti.ms/2j2tECJ

California hasn’t carried out an execution in a decade because of issues with its legal injection method, but a new protocol is pending approval by the end of the year to start things back up again. Hear Professor Hadar Aviram (@aviramh) speak with KQED radio host Scott Shafer about California’s path to resuming the death penalty. http://bit.ly/2i8iuw3
— And on the completely other end of the spectrum, Professor Hadar Aviram spoke on “Radical Love in Trumpland: Pursuing Legal Recognition of Polyamorous Relationships,” at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Italy.

Professor Dave Owen was interviewed by KPIX 5 News on the future of environmental law under the Trump Administration.

Professor David Levine goes head-to-head with another legal scholar regarding #CalExit in California State Treasurer John Chiang’s newsletter. http://bit.ly/levine-on-calexit

Can Trump Reverse Obama’s Arctic-Drilling Ban? Probably not without the help of Congress, “but who knows,” says Professor John Leshy, the former solicitor general to the Department of the Interior during the Clinton administration. http://theatln.tc/2iFZsko
— Have you noticed that President Obama has created a ton of new national monuments? Professor John Leshy weighs in on how the President has the executive power to do this in a Washington Post article. http://wapo.st/2hNU0ap

Professor George Bisharat discusses the UNSC resolution on Israeli settlements with Michael Krasny on KQED radio’s Forum. http://bit.ly/2i81oi5

Listen in as Professor Matthew Coles explains the Electoral College to KCBS’ Jane McMillan. http://cbsloc.al/2i8aMlF

Professor Ahmed Ghappour (@ghappour) was lead counsel in the case of Barrett Brown on an assortment of charges, which gained international attention because of the potential chilling effects to journalism and cyber security research. Now Professor Ghappour speaks with Alex Winter (he is famous) for a short film about his former client who was just released from prison. http://bit.ly/2iG5LEg
— Professor Ahmed Ghappour’s paper, “Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement Jurisdiction on the Dark Web”, was recently listed on SSRN’s Top Ten download list for: LSN: Other Public International Law: Foreign Relations Law (Topic) and Public International Law: Courts & Adjudication eJournal. http://bit.ly/2hPcX1v
— Catch Professor Ahmed Ghappour’s appearance on AirTalk 89.3 KPCC to discuss the current status of the encryption debate between government agencies and tech giants. http://bit.ly/2j2sDuw

Professor Reuel E. Schiller’s chapter entitled “The Historical Origins of American Regulatory Exceptionalism,” can be read in the recently released Bignami and Zaring, eds., Comparative Law and Regulation: Understanding the Global Regulatory Process (Edward Elgar 2016). http://bit.ly/2ixguAA

“Instacart—like Uber—seems to be clearly misclassifying their workers,” says Professor Veena Dubal. http://bit.ly/2hPnU31
— Professor Veena Dubal also commented in USA Today on the nomination of Elaine Chao to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation. “Chao will likely encourage state and city governments to explore private partnerships with Uber and Lyft. This could undermine democratic accountability in public transit.” http://usat.ly/2iG4SvO

Professor Joel Paul gave a keynote address at the Rubin Symposium at NYU Law School at an international conference on trade policy and the paper from which the talk was drawn titled, “The False Promise of Free Trade,” will be published in the NYU Journal of International Law and Policy. http://bit.ly/2iNhMFi

Professor Frank H. Wu (@frankhwu) was on television discussing the Elaine Chao nomination to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Transportation. http://bit.ly/2iBfM3b
— “Why I am Not the “Model Minority,” writes Professor Frank H. Wu in the Huffington Post. http://huff.to/2i8afQO
— Professor Frank H. Wu spoke at the Illinois State Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting. http://bit.ly/2iBmsOI
— “In return for the exclusive right to appear in court on behalf of causes we support, we have a responsibility from time to time also to advocate for a client for whom we find no favor,” says Professor Frank H. Wu in the LinkedIn article “Good Lawyers Represent Bad Clients.” http://bit.ly/2iNi3bp

“To make a deeply equitable world, we should abandon the dualisms of zero-sum environmentalism and expand both the currencies with which we calculate ‘winners and losers’ and our notions of who the short- and long-term beneficiaries really are,” says Professor David Takacs in the Environmental Law Prof Blog. http://bit.ly/2gkQHKE

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IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
— UC Law SF students chowed down some Thai food with the Tenderloin Economic Development Project (TEDP) for their Restaurant of the Week campaign. http://bit.ly/2gwbJWR

— Randy Shaw ’82, author of “The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime, and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco” and Tenderloin Museum Board Member, is presenting a slide show of images from the neighborhood from 1907 to 1971 at the Tenderloin Museum as part of the Unseen Tenderloin: Presentation and Collection. http://bit.ly/2j6VGBe

STUDENT MIXTAPE:
— 1L Ryan Khojasteh 1L was just appointed as a San Francisco City Immigration Commissioner. http://bit.ly/2hQgECm

— 2L Andres Ramos casts his Electoral College ballot as one of California’s 55 Electors. http://bit.ly/ramos-ec-fb

ALUMNI-LAND:
— Khaldoun Baghdadi ’97 was part of the trial team that successfully swayed the jury to order Johnson & Johnson to pay a record $1 billion (yes, that’s with a “B”) to patients for faulty hip implants. http://bloom.bg/2hQgYRP

— James P. O’Sullivan ’83 received the 2016 Champions Award from the M&A Source, one of the nation’s leading mergers and acquisitions trade association.

— George M. Rush ’00 was added to the San Francisco Film Society’s Essential SF List, which honors local cinema luminaries. http://bit.ly/2iG7KbL

— Lindsey T. Pace ’16 is now the Joseph Grodin Public Interest Fellow at the Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center.

— Thomas M. Hanson ’96 recently joined McGlinchey Stafford’s Dallas office as a Member and will practice within the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice group. “His impressive trial and appellate record, understanding of consumer financial services challenges, and dedication to client service constitute a significant boost both to our national platform and our Texas litigation practice.” http://bit.ly/2iG5vp4

— Kelly Matayoshi ’12 was elected to the Barristers Club Board of Directors for the San Francisco Bar Association. http://bit.ly/2hPhoJG

— Ann M. Ravel ’74 received the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) Award for her work as Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

— Viviana Waisman ’95 has been made an Ashoka social entrepreneur, recognizing her inspiring work promoting women’s rights. http://bit.ly/2j2uP57

— William O’Neill ’07 was officially sworn-in as Councilman to the Newport Beach City Council, District 7 by his father and fellow UCH alum Hon. Lawrence O’Neill ’79.

William O’Neill Sworn-In

— Aria Ghafari ’14 has been hired as a Legislative Aide in the Capitol office of San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener.

— Jason Yee ’15 is one of four inaugural participants in the Community Law Practice Incubator (CLPI) program. http://bit.ly/2hNIOL0

— Mijin Cha ’01 was hired to a tenure-track position as an assistant professor of urban and environmental policy at Occidental College. http://bit.ly/2iG5xxi

— David Silbert ’94 was on the Keker & Van Nest trial team that “licked” Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan (their words, not ours) in the Arista-Cisco IP Showdown trial. http://bit.ly/2i89O94

THE EXTENDED FAMILY:
— Introducing the Rev. Christian Anton Lehrer, recently ordained as an Episcopal priest. The good reverend has been a steady anchor of the Admissions Office of UC Law SF, where his skills as a counselor and listener regularly were exercised for more than a decade.

— Startup Legal Garage is still pioneering the practice of entrepreneurial education according to the Huffington Post. http://huff.to/2i8aKKF

— For those who are fluent in Twitter… @UCHastingsLaw Join Ms. JD & @lathamwatkins on 1/11 for a conversation on confronting #GenderBias in communications! http://buff.ly/2hAMYqV

— We dare you not to click and learn more about the Business Tax Practicum for Social Enterprises at UC Law SF. http://bit.ly/2hQglaD

CONDOLENCES:
“Never Give Up, Always Give Back.” The UC Law SF community extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of James Barber ’73. http://bit.ly/2hNNvEE