Chancellor & Dean David Faigman marks new academic year in welcome message

As he begins his final year as chancellor and dean, David Faigman reflects on UC Law SF’s evolution and celebrates the students, faculty and staff who make it a special place.

Dear UC Law SF Community,

Welcome, and welcome back, to UC Law San Francisco. I hope your summers were enjoyable and productive. I am excited to start a new academic year and am thrilled to see the enthusiasm that is energizing our beautiful campus.

As many of you know, this is my last academic year as Chancellor and Dean of my beloved law school. I began my career here as a professor on July 1, 1987, and will step down as dean and officially retire on June 30, 2027—a total of 40 years, literally to the minute.

I hasten to add, however, that I am not going anywhere. I look forward to the life of an emeritus professor. I plan to continue to write—I have a book on constitutional history that is about 40% completed, a plan for a screenplay on the life of a dean at a large urban law school (the names will be changed to protect the innocent (and the guilty)), and a dozen or so law review articles awaiting my pen and paper; I hope to return to the classroom too, possibly after a year’s hiatus; and I will remain active professionally, primarily continuing to testify as an expert witness in cases involving forensic science. And, finally, my golf game needs a lot of work after 11 years as a dean.

I joke that this year will be something of a farewell tour—though I’m sure The Eagles don’t have to worry about competing with me. Hence, the year will be bittersweet. Our 2026 entering students—JD, LLM, MLS, CLS, and HPL—will be the last that I will welcome to campus; and the 2027 graduates’ commencement will be the last exercises I will have the honor to officiate. Throughout the year, I plan to visit Alumni in most of the major cities in which they reside, from Honolulu to Manhattan, with plenty of stops in between.

Ultimately, however, it will be a year of gratitude and reminiscing—as well, of course, as all the day-to-day pearls of the job.

UC Law has come a long way over the last 40 years. When I started in 1987, the school had no full-time clinical faculty. Largely due to the efforts of Professors Bea Moulton and Mark Aaronson, our clinical programs began to grow, beginning around 1990. Today, there are more than 15 clinics and field placements (and counting) offered at UC Law that are recognized as among the best in the nation, and they are joined by top-tier trial advocacy and moot court programs. Relatedly, our commitment to identifying experiential opportunities had only just begun to emerge in 1987. Today, the school offers externship opportunities that place our students in judges’ chambers, city attorney’s Offices, public defender and D.A. offices, and in-house placements in San Francisco businesses. And back in 1987, the school had only one center—The Public Law Research Institute, founded in 1983 by Professor Julian Levi. Today, we have more than 20 centers and institutes (and counting), which cover virtually the full gamut of legal subjects.

I’m proud too of how far we’ve come over the last 11 years. Although the trend began long before I became dean, 12 of our centers and institutes got their start just over the last decade. We also added new concentrations in tax, business, technology, and other fields; and added or revitalized degree programs like the HPL and MLS. Not insignificantly, the campus itself has been physically transformed, with the Cotchett Law Center opening in 2020, the Academe at 198 opening in 2023, and the complete seismic upgrade and full renovation of the Tower scheduled to be completed in 2027. Importantly, we’ve also—with the incredible work of Provost & Academic Dean Morris Ratner and our group of OASIS professionals—improved bar passage by more than 30 percentage points. We’ve also, and again with the hard work of Assistant Dean Amy Kimmel and our Career Development Office—improved employment by more than 15 percentage points, employing the class of 2025 at 96%.

Without question, however, the ultimate credit for bar success and employment goes to our remarkable students. UC Law has a reputation for training excellent lawyers. Lawyers that have the knowledge, intelligence, and necessary work ethic to excel. Those students are served by an extraordinary group of staff and faculty, professionals dedicated to the success of every student that walks through our doors, and every graduate that walks out of them.

This community is a special place. As dean, I’ve had a bird’s-eye view of just how special. It’s been quite the ride these last 11 years—pandemic, name change, two new buildings built and two renovated, and the day-to-day challenges of running a modern law school. What has impressed me most over the years is the sense of kinship and commitment that our community demonstrates, however difficult the challenges. Law, it is said, is not for the faint of heart. But what appears potentially insurmountable individually is possible collectively.

There is plenty to lament about the hierarchies and continuing inequities that persist throughout our society and the laws that regulate that society. Yet, after more than 41 years in this profession, and 39+ at this law school, I remain steadfast in my optimism about this institution and the principle we call the rule of law. To be sure, the news every day brings staggering insults to a well-functioning constitutional democracy. But the response to those insults cannot be to stick one’s head in the sand or to descend into bitterness and depression. The response must be to stand up and be counted.

And there is no better training, no better tool, no better allies to empower someone to stand up and be counted than the people at, and the legal education provided by, UC Law San Francisco.

So, as I begin to serve my 40th cohort of law students, I celebrate all those who have walked these halls, all those walking these halls today, and in anticipation of those who will join our community in the future. It is truly an honor and privilege to be part of this extended community.

I wish you a successful and fruitful year ahead. Good luck, and Godspeed.

Warmest regards,

David

David L. Faigman
Chancellor & Dean
William B. Lockhart Professor of Law
John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco