New academic year brings leadership, faculty and curriculum changes to UC Law SF

A photo of the San Francisco skyline near UC Law SF campus with a message over it: "Welcome to UC Law San Francisco"

  • UC Law SF is preparing for major leadership changes, including the selection of a new chancellor & dean and a transition in academic program leadership.
  • New faculty members and new courses bring fresh perspectives and opportunities for learning to the classroom this academic year.
  • More than 600 new students are joining UC Law SF this year, including 460 JD students and 150 master’s and international exchange students.

 

UC Law San Francisco begins this new academic year with big changes on the horizon: a search for its next chancellor & dean, an upcoming transition in academic program leadership, and three new faculty members. The College is also expanding its technology curriculum, making its AI-enabled lawyering lab a required course for all JD students. Other new leaders, programs, courses, and initiatives bring fresh perspectives to the academic year.

Chancellor Search

After more than a decade at the helm, Chancellor & Dean David Faigman will lead UC Law SF for the final time this academic year before transitioning to emeritus faculty in July 2027. Faigman, who joined the faculty in 1987, plans to remain active as a teacher and scholar. Read his welcome message to the community, marking the start of a new academic year.

The search for the next chancellor & dean is already underway. Representatives of the search committee will hold three hour-long listening sessions on Friday, Aug. 28, in the Faigman Auditorium at 198 McAllister St., inviting staff, faculty, and students to share what they want to see in the College’s next leader. Sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. for staff, 11 a.m. for faculty, and 12:30 p.m. for students.

Provost & Academic Dean Transition

Another leadership transition comes at the end of the year, when Morris Ratner concludes nearly a decade as provost & academic dean and returns to teaching and research as a UC Law SF faculty member. During his tenure, the College saw stronger student outcomes in bar passage and post-graduate employment. Learn more about his legacy.

Manoj Viswanathan, the Joseph W. Cotchett ’64 Professor of Law, will serve as interim provost & academic dean in 2027. Viswanathan, who joined the faculty in 2015 and has co-launched multiple tax law-focused initiatives, plans to address the challenges and opportunities presented by AI while ensuring UC Law SF remains a place where all can thrive. Read more.

New Faculty

Three new full-time faculty members join UC Law SF this year, bringing expertise spanning business law, criminal justice, and civil procedure.

Steven Bazley, a professor of practice and former corporate lawyer and entrepreneur, helps students think strategically and creatively to solve complex challenges for emerging companies as director of the Startup Legal Garage. Former public defender Aimee J. Carlisle researches racial justice issues and teaches criminal procedure and a seminar on race, rights and firearms as the C. Keith Wingate Visiting Assistant Professor with the Center for Racial and Economic Justice (CREJ). Mary Hoopes, previously an associate professor at Pepperdine University, joins UC Law SF as an associate professor teaching civil procedure, ethics and remedies. Her research has examined court policy, judicial decision-making and the effects of policy on immigrant workers.

New Courses and Curriculum Updates

AI has long been a major focus at UC Law SF, and its role in the JD curriculum will expand this year. The College is making its AI-Enabled Lawyering Lab a requirement starting with the incoming Class of 2029, which will take the course in its second year. First offered as an elective in Spring 2026, the six-session lab gives students hands-on experience using AI for core legal tasks while addressing the ethical issues surrounding its use.

The fall curriculum also introduces or revives courses in election law, the future of workplace regulation, and American legal history, along with two new skills-building-focused classes, known as Advanced Sack courses: one on legal ethics and another on legislation and administrative regulation.

Centers on the Move

Several UC Law SF centers are welcoming new leaders and initiatives this year.

Melissa Hooper becomes executive director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy, succeeding founding director Nicole Ozer, now an affiliated scholar. Hooper brings years of experience working with lawyers and advocates in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and other countries to strengthen human rights and democratic institutions. Read more.

Marc Santamaria joins UC Law SF as director and staff attorney at the Habeas Institute, which focuses on the litigation, teaching, and study of immigration habeas corpus proceedings. The institute’s in-house Immigrants’ Rights Clinic represented 15 detainees in federal court last academic year, securing the release of 14 individuals.

Professor of Practice Jessica Vapnek, director of the International Development Law Center, recently secured grants supporting an AI and Innovation Workshop at the University of Abuja and an international faculty exchange with the New University of Slovenia.

Faculty and Staff Updates

The Master of Legal Studies (MLS) Program has new leadership. Morgan Wells, a longtime MLS instructor and the program’s former associate director, became associate dean in July, succeeding Vapnek. Claudia Cantarella, an international development law expert and experienced adjunct professor, joins her as the program’s new associate director.

Jennfier Freeland takes on a new title as associate dean for teaching, reflecting her work advancing teaching excellence across the College. She continues to oversee the Office of Academic Skills Instruction and Support as she works to integrate skills training across the curriculum.

Interim Library Co-Directors Tony Pelczynski and Step Schmitt are overseeing library operations as the College searches for a new library director following the departure in June of Camilla Tubbs, who led library operations for 10 years.

Putting Legal Skills to Work

Nearly 100 UC Law SF students served in public-interest roles across California and the nation this summer through the College’s donor-supported public-interest grant program. Without the grants, the positions would have been unpaid. Four of the 99 recipients share how they put their legal skills to work in public service, including at a legal aid office, national immigration advocacy nonprofit, and the City of San Francisco. Read more.

Welcoming a New Class

UC Law SF welcomes more than 600 new students this year, including 460 JD students. More than one in six, or 17%, are first-generation college students. They join 700 returning second and third-year JD students.

This year’s MLS class, the largest in the program’s history, has 60 students with professional backgrounds spanning government, business, technology, and other fields. The class includes four Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) employees enrolled through the program’s tuition-discount partnerships with local government agencies.

The JD and MLS students are joined by nearly 100 new and continuing students in the Health Policy and Law (HPL), Master of Laws (LLM), Certificate of Legal Studies (CLS) and international exchange programs. Read more.