UC Law SF Honors Alums Myell Mergaert ’20 and James Wagstaffe ’80 for Contributions to Law and Education

This photo displays the headshots of alums Myell Mergaert ’20 (left) and James Wagstaffe ’80 (right).

UC Law SF alumni Myell Mergaert ’20 and James Wagstaffe ’80 exemplify how graduates can make a lasting mark on both the legal profession and the College community.

 

  • UC Law SF will honor Myell Mergaert ’20 and James Wagstaffe ’80 at its Spring Week all-alumni reception on March 27.
  • The Alum of the Year Award recognizes Mergaert’s leadership, mentorship, and efforts to expand opportunity and inclusion for students.
  • The Chancellor’s Alumni of Distinction Award celebrates Wagstaffe’s decades of impact as a litigator, scholar, and educator.

 

UC Law San Francisco will celebrate two standout members of its 23,000-strong alumni community during its annual Spring Week later this month, recognizing their powerful impact on the law school and the legal profession.

Myell Mergaert ’20, an accomplished attorney and legal strategist for fast-growing tech companies and a valued mentor to law students, will receive the Alum of the Year Award.

James “Jim” Wagstaffe ’80, a leading trial attorney who has successfully represented clients in a wide range of high-stakes legal cases, will be honored with the Chancellor’s Alumni of Distinction Award.

The awards will be presented at an all-alumni reception at San Francisco City Hall on March 27. It’s one of the premiere events of the College’s annual Spring Week, a multiday celebration of the alumni community.

Alum of the Year Myell Mergaert ’20

The Alum of the Year Award recognizes individuals whose engagement and volunteerism have significantly enriched the UC Law SF community, embodying the spirit of giving back.

Mergaert will join high-growth technology company Gem as senior commercial counsel this month. Most recently, he served as commercial counsel at Nirvana Insurance, where he was the company’s first legal hire. In that role, he built the legal function from the ground up, developing foundational contracting and compliance infrastructure to support an AI-driven insurance platform through rapid growth.

Previously, he was the second legal hire at Liftoff Mobile, where he began as a legal intern and rose to corporate counsel as the company scaled. He advised business leaders across commercial transactions, product development, employment, and data privacy while helping design and scale the company’s global commercial and legal infrastructure. He partnered closely with product and revenue leadership and played a key role in integration efforts following its merger with Vungle and acquisition by Blackstone.

Last year, he was named one of the 40 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.

Mergaert has also made a sustained impact on the College through his commitment to students in the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP). He is a frequent speaker at LEOP orientation, where he offers practical guidance to incoming students navigating the transition to law school. He has also served as a mentor, supporting students as they prepare for careers in the legal profession. During his time at Liftoff, he expanded access to the technology sector by creating internship opportunities for LEOP students, providing hands-on experience in a high-growth industry.

In addition to his work with LEOP, Mergaert serves as co-chair of the College’s LGBTQ+ Alumni Affinity Group, helping strengthen alumni engagement and deepen connections between graduates and current students. Through mentorship, professional development initiatives, and community-building efforts, he has demonstrated a sustained commitment to advancing opportunity and inclusion at UC Law SF.

Chancellor’s Alumni of Distinction Award Honoree James Wagstaffe ’80 

The Chancellor’s Alumni of Distinction Award honors alums who have significantly advanced the field of law through their professional achievements, leadership, and innovation.

Wagstaffe, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer and longtime adjunct professor, has spent decades handling complex civil litigation and First Amendment matters in state and federal courts. A partner at Adamski Moroski Madden Cumberland & Green LLP, he is frequently retained for high-stakes disputes involving defamation, digital privacy, professional liability, and constitutional claims.

Over the course of his career, Wagstaffe has argued numerous significant cases before the California Supreme Court, including Baral v. Schnitt (2016), which altered the scope and application of California’s anti-SLAPP law, and In re Garcia (2014), in which he successfully represented the State Bar of California in a landmark decision allowing an undocumented individual to obtain a law license. A longtime trial lawyer as well, he recently secured a $66 million jury verdict in June 2025 for a client in a trade secret misappropriation case.

Wagstaffe is also known for his work in civil procedure. He is founding partner of the Wagstaffe Group, which publishes comprehensive practice guides on pretrial civil procedure in federal and California courts. For nearly three decades, he has taught at the Federal Judicial Center’s New Judges Workshop and previously served two terms as chair of the Federal Judicial Center Foundation Board after being appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States.

Wagstaffe has earned wide recognition for his teaching and litigation work. He received the Judge John R. Brown Award for Judicial Scholarship and Education for instructing new federal judges. His professional honors include the Peabody Award, the James Madison Freedom of Information Award, repeated Northern California Super Lawyer distinctions, California Lawyer’s Top Twenty Lawyers of the Year, and California Lawyer Attorney of the Year for his representation of the State Bar of California in a high-profile privacy trial.

At UC Law SF, Wagstaffe has taught civil procedure and related courses for more than 30 years, earning multiple teaching honors, including Teacher of the Year awards and the Mary Kay Kane Award for Teaching Excellence. Students have repeatedly selected him as a faculty commencement speaker, reflecting his reputation as a well-regarded and effective instructor.

“Jim has demonstrated extraordinary skills as a litigator, professor, scholar, and speaker,” said Chancellor & Dean David Faigman. “His contributions to the legal profession generally, and to the judiciary specifically, are phenomenal, and he is exceptionally deserving of this award.”