UC Law San Francisco (Formerly UC Hastings)

ADR Speaker Series - Spring 2025
2025-03-19 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
Join the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) at UC Law San Francisco for a public talk series on a variety of dispute resolution topics.
The Spring 2025 ADR Speaker Series will include six influential thought leaders presenting new ideas and cutting edge research to members of the UC Law SF community and the general public. The ADR Speaker Series is held in conjunction with an Advanced ADR Colloquium course for students, taught in 2025 by CNDR Director, Professor Hiro Aragaki.
Talks will be held from 12:30pm to 1:30pm (PST) on selected Wednesdays. Lunch will be provided for the in-person events.
Moderator
Hiro Aragaki, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR), UC Law San Francisco

REGISTER HERE

Schedule of Speakers

Wednesday, January 22, 2025 from 12:30-1:30pm (PT)
The Dynamics of Infrastructure Dispute Mitigation
Shahla Ali, Professor of Law, Associate Dean (International) and Director of the LLM Program in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution at the University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law
In-person and via Zoom

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 from 12:30-1:30pm (PT)
Dealing with International Dispute Resolution; Multiple Parties and Wicked Problems
Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California, Irvine and A.B. Chettle Jr. Professor of Law, Dispute Resolution and Civil Procedure, Emerita, Georgetown University
Zoom only

Wednesday, February 12, 2025 from 12:30-1:30pm (PT)
Settlementality
Jesse Bregant, Assistant Professor, University of Houston Law Center
Zoom only

Wednesday, February 19 2025, from 12:30-1:30pm (PT)
The Psychology of Lawyers in Litigation and Negotiation
Jean Sternlight, Professor of Law and Director of the Criminal Law, Justice & Policy Program at Texas A&M University School of Law
Zoom only

Wednesday, March 12, 2025 from 12:30 – 1:30pm (PT)
How Can Real Practice System Theory Help Attorneys and Mediators Improve Their Performance?
John M. Lande, Isidor Loeb Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law
In-person and via Zoom

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 from 12:30 – 1:30pm (PT)
Joint Session or Caucus? Factors Related to How the Initial Mediation Session Begins
Art Hinshaw, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning, Faculty Director, Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center, Clinical Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University
Zoom Only

MORE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE

Meet UCLawSF’s Young Criminal Law Faculty!
2025-03-19 16:20 - 18:00 | 198-213

Corporate Disasters Conference
2025-03-21 09:00 - 17:00 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Sponsored by the Office of the Research Dean

To RSVP, please email facultyevents@uclawsf.edu

Teaching and Research in the Era of AI
2025-03-21 11:00 - 12:00 | 333-101 and Zoom

CEALS Presents: US-Japan Cooperation in Trade, Energy, and Environmental Protection and US-Indo Pacific Strategy
2025-03-24 12:30 - 13:30 | 200-640, 200 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA, 94102
This project explores the strengthening of US-Japan cooperation in Eurasia, focusing on three key areas: trade and investment, energy security, and environmental protection. The project takes into account the growing geopolitical tensions in the post-COVID-19 world, especially China’s increasing assertiveness through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the US-Indo Pacific Strategy. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains, exacerbated protectionist tendencies, and shifted priorities in international trade. The election of Joe Biden in the US brought renewed focus on multilateralism, environmental protection, and free trade, offering a window of opportunity for the US and Japan to assert their influence in shaping global governance frameworks, particularly in Eurasia. President Trump supported the conceptualization of the US-Indo Pacific strategy during his first term. However, his approach during his second term remains unclear. The Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy, led by Japan, serves as a key vehicle for promoting a rules-based international order in the region. FOIP emphasizes the rule of law, free navigation, and open markets, countering China’s BRI, which has been criticized for creating economic dependencies in the region. US-Japan collaboration is critical in reinforcing the liberal international economic order, which is facing challenges due to rising nationalism, authoritarianism, and the declining efficacy of multilateral institutions. This project assesses how the US and Japan can leverage their strategic positions to improve trade, foster sustainable energy cooperation, and lead global environmental initiatives. Japan, a leader in renewable energy technologies, along with the US, which has shifted focus under the Biden administration toward clean energy and environmental restoration, offers a counterbalance to China’s state-driven projects that often neglect sustainability.

Paolo Davide Farah is a Full Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy (with tenure) at West Virginia University, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics, having joined the faculty in 2014.
He is Coordinator of the Eberly College Interdisciplinary Research Collaborative on Global Challenges and Local Responses Initiatives and Director of the Energy Justice and Just Transition Lab at Center for Resilient Communities (CRC). He is also Founder, President and Director of gLAWcal – Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development.
Professor Farah’s teaching and research focus on law, public policy and public administration, democratic context of public administration, legal and political foundations, international law, climate change, international trade, business and human rights, social justice, sustainable development, energy and environmental law and policy. He is an expert in the interaction among trade, economic globalization and non-trade concerns, such as sustainable development, energy, environment and human rights. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed and US law review articles or book chapters, 9 books and 6 journal special issues published or forthcoming and 20 additional peer-reviewed publications in Italian, French, Spanish and Chinese including a book published by the Law Press China.
Professor Farah graduated with a Maitrise in International and European Law from Paris Ouest La Defense Nanterre University (France), LLM in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and a Dual PhD in international law from Aix-Marseille University (France) and University of Milan (Italy).

Light lunch and refreshments to be served.
RSVP Here!

Birthright Citizenship: Surviving Through Solidarity
2025-03-25 17:30 - 19:00 | CAA Conference Room, 17 Walter U. Lum Place, San Francisco, 94108, United States
Click here to RSVP!

Venture Fund Representation: Insights from Leading Counsel
2025-03-26 12:30 - 13:30 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Save the date for this Spring’s Speaker Series!
The first date will take place February 27, 2025.
The Second date will take place March 26, 2025.
Lunch will be provided in both.

More information regarding speakers will be shared to all registrants as we near each date!

FEBRUARY RSVP
MARCH RSVP

Venture Fund Representation: Insights from Leading Counsel
2025-03-26 12:30 - 13:30 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Save the date!
The first date will take place February 27, 2025.
The Second date will take place March 26, 2025.
Lunch will be provided in both.

More information regarding speakers will be shared to all registrants as we near each date!

MARCH RSVP

Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens ('89) Memorial Symposium
2025-04-01 16:00 - 18:00 | Deb Colloquium Room, 333 Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA, United States
RSVP Here (In-Person)
Attend Virtually via Zoom

We will gather to hear from some of Ambassador Stevens’ friends and peers, to reflect on Ambassador Stevens’ remarkable career and his dedication to diplomacy, international relations, and the rule of law, and to discuss current events and a path forward in these challenging times. The symposium will feature distinguished speakers and panelists who will discuss relevant topics related to his work and its enduring impact.

This event offers a valuable opportunity to engage with leading experts, scholars, and practitioners in the fields of law and international affairs in the Middle East and North Africa region The program will be moderated by UCLSF professor Moria Paz, and feature brief presentations and dialogue between Prof. Daniel Zoughbie, Associate Project Scientist at the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley, and Peter Bartu from the UCB Department of Global Studies, an expert and advisor in Political Transitions and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

We anticipate a thoughtful and informative program, and we hope you will join us in commemorating Ambassador Stevens’ contributions, and channeling his energy and diplomatic skill in focusing on a “people first” mode of advocacy.

Speakers

Moria Paz
Moria Paz is an Associate Professor at UC Law SF. Her research critically investigates the place of minorities, migrants, and refugees within a legal order, international and national, that remains fundamentally rooted in state sovereignty. Her most recent book is The Law of Strangers: Jewish Lawyers and International Law in the Twentieth Century (edited with James Loeffler, Cambridge University Press, 2019). Paz’s articles have won multiple prizes and awards, including the Sakip Sabanci International Research Essay Award, the Law & Humanities Interdisciplinary Writing Competition, and the Laylin Prize for Best Paper in International Law. She was also chosen as a New Voices selection by both the European Journal of International Law and the American Society of International Law. Paz has been a visitor / fellow at Stanford Law School, the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley Law School, the Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organizations at Harvard University, the Center on National Security and the Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

Peter Bartu
Peter Bartu teaches courses at the University of California, Berkeley on the Arab Spring, Israel-Palestine, the Gulf States and the UN and global governance. In 2011 he was a member of the UN’s stand-by mediation team and worked in Benghazi and Tripoli during the Libyan revolution. He had other assignments in Djibouti, Iraq, and Malawi. In 2008-2009 he led a United Nations team that produced a seminal report on the disputed internal boundaries between the Arabs and the Kurds in Iraq. From 2001-2003 he was a political advisor to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, based in Jerusalem. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor in the Australian Prime Minister’s Department and had other appointments with the UN in East Timor in 1999 and Cambodia from 1991-1993. He has a Ph.D. in history from Monash University.

Daniel E. Zoughbie
Daniel E. Zoughbie is a complex systems scientist, a historian, and an expert on presidential decision-making. He is associate project scientist at the Institute for International Studies (IIS) at UC Berkeley, a faculty affiliate of the UCSF/UCB Center for Global Health Diplomacy, Delivery, and Economics and a faculty affiliate at the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge. He is also principal investigator of the Middle East and North African Diplomacy, Development, and Defense Initiative (MENA-3D). The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Zoughbie has been appointed to positions at Georgetown University, Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Bologna, University College Dublin, University of Athens, and Campus Bio Medico University of Rome. Dr. Zoughbie graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with highest honors from UC Berkeley. He studied at Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship and completed his doctorate in international relations, also at Oxford, as a Weidenfeld Scholar.

Spring 2025 UC Law SF Tax Policy Colloquium
2025-04-02 10:30 - 11:00 | CA
We are delighted to announce our spring 2025 speakers for the UC Law SF Tax Policy Colloquium. All talks are on Wednesdays between 10:50a-11a PST. If you are interested in attending, please email tax@uclawsf.edu.

January 22, 2025: Jeesoo Nam, USC Gould School of Law, presents Desert-Based Taxation

February 12, 2025: John Brooks, Fordham School of Law, presents Did the Supreme Court Cause the 1929 Stock Market Crash? The Dark History of Stock Dividends

March 12, 2025: Hayes Holderness, University of Richmond School of Law, presents Multistate Tax Customs

April 2, 2025: Natasha Sarin, Yale Law School, presents Broken Budgeting

Japan’s 1919 Racial Equality Proposal for the League of Nations Covenant
2025-04-02 12:30 - 13:30 | 333-202
Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Legal Studies and the Center for Racial and Economic Justice. Hiroshi Fukurai, Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, and former President of the Asian Law and Society Association, will offer historical insights into Japan’s effort to outlaw racial inequality in international law at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and examine the impact of this proposal on African American legal scholars and activists such as WEB Dubois, William L. Patterson, and Paul Robeson, who submitted the petition We Charge Genocide to the United Nations in 1951, and related historical links among Japanese, American, and Caribbean political activists.

Hiroshi Fukurai is Professor of Sociology & Legal Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz & President of the Asian Law & Society Association (2018-2019). Professor Fukurai specializes in lay adjudication, Asian law and politics, Original Nation Approaches to Inter-National Law (ONAIL), private international law, and race and law. He is a co-founder of the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) “East Asian Law and Society” and the International Research Collaborative (IRC) “The State and the Corporation as Legal Fictions: Original Nation and Dissent” at the Law and Society Association (LSA). His receht books include: People’s Prosecution Review Commissions & Japan’s Prosecution (2022); Original Nation Approaches to Inter-National Law: The Quest for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Nature in the Age of Anthropocene (2021); Civil Jury Trials will Democratize Japan (2020); East Asia’s Renewed Respect for the Rule of Law in the 21st Century (2015).
Light lunch and refreshments to be served.
RSVP here!

Survival, Healing, and Performance: Formerly Incarcerated Voices on Health Justice Inside & Out
2025-04-03 18:00 - 20:30 | 198 Auditorium
This event features performances by three solo theater performers, Tony Cyprien, Pamela Ann Keane, and Tylon Sizemore, all of whom have all lived through incarceration, to share their personal encounters with the justice and healthcare systems. Through their stories, they will explore life both behind bars and upon reentering society.
In their poignant and necessary narratives, the performers will shed light on the injustices entrenched within the carceral system, including systemic obstacles to adequate healthcare and the poor treatment endured by incarcerated individuals, especially those from marginalized racial backgrounds.
Following these powerful performances, we will delve deeper into the intersections of the justice system, healthcare, and structural racism through a panel discussion and audience Q+A featuring the performers themselves, alongside UCSF academics and community-engaged researchers Dr. Elizabeth Dzeng, whose research focuses on racial health inequities and structural racism in healthcare, and Dr. Jennifer James, whose work lies at the intersections of race, gender, health, and incarceration. Complementing their insights will be the legal expertise of Mark McGoldrick, J.D., a Former Assistant Public Defender with three decades of experience in public criminal defense in California.
We invite you to enjoy these remarkable performances. The performers’ stories will illuminate the necessity for reform and advocacy regarding the health and healthcare of incarcerated individuals, as well as to address overarching systemic injustices within the justice system, including at its intersections with race and racism. We hope you will leave the event with a more profound empathy for those with lived experiences of incarceration and a greater appreciation for the resilience and courage of individuals who have persevered through injustice to survive and heal.
RSVP here.
About FIPPP:
FIPPP features formerly incarcerated performers telling stories about their life experiences and is currently the Company-in-Residence at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. FIPPP believes that sharing the stories of those who have been formerly incarcerated will foster compassion and understanding about the circumstances that may lead to incarceration. For their audiences, the stories at FIPPP are meant to bring hope and shed light on the inhumane conditions prisoners often endure during and after incarceration. Find out more about FIPPP here.
About the RISE Project:
The RISE research team is a group of interdisciplinary researchers based at the Division of Hospital Medicine at UCSF that aims to understand how structural racism shapes the experiences of older Black adults living with serious illness. Using qualitative and community-based participatory research methods, the RISE team seeks to confront structural racism in healthcare and identify ways to advance health justice for older Black adults in San Francisco and beyond. Find out more about RISE here.
About the Consortium:
Founded in 2008, the Consortium leverages law and policy to address the conditions in health care systems and society that together enable health and well-being. The Consortium envisions a world in which all individuals and communities can attain the highest level of health possible, defined on their own terms. To this end, the Consortium builds multidisciplinary and multistakeholder collaborations among faculty and students of UCSF and UC Law SF and the patients, clients, communities, and organizations we serve alongside. Through these collaborations, we engage in education and training, research, and public service that advances health and health equity. In all areas, the Consortium’s work is guided by core values of empathy, intellectual and academic integrity, and optimism.
This performance is part of the Consortium’s Health Justice Event Series. We invite you to learn more on the Consortium website here, or email consortium@uclawsf.edu for more information.

CREJ & Hand in Hand presents: Legal and Policy Perspectives on Domestic Employment
2025-05-13 18:00 - 21:00 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
A Symposium Recognizing 15 Years of Hand in Hand’s Work & Advocacy

The UC Law SF Center for Racial & Economic Justice (CREJ) invites legal scholars, students, and advocates to examine the legal and policy dimensions of domestic employment and labor justice. Taking place on May 13, 2025, this event will critically engage with the evolving legal landscape shaping the rights and responsibilities of domestic employers and workers, with particular attention to the intersection of labor law, racial justice, and economic equity. The convening will also recognize the 15th anniversary of Hand in Hand, a nonprofit organization that advocates for equitable labor standards and helps shape policy undergirding just employer practices in the domestic work sector. In accordance with CREJ’s mission, discussions will focus on the role of legal frameworks in strengthening protections for domestic workers, promoting public investment in care, and advancing collective solutions that support both workers and employers. Through scholarly dialogue and policy analysis, the event aims to deepen understanding of domestic employment as a critical site of labor rights innovation and economic justice advocacy.

Dinner will be served!
Please RSVP here, no later than May 5th.

3rd VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA)
2025-05-14 08:30 - 18:00 | Cooley’s San Francisco Office, 3 Embarcadero Ctr 20th Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94111
The VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA) is a one-day executive education program exclusively tailored for directors of venture-backed private companies. The program offers a rare opportunity for investors, founders, senior executives, and independent directors to connect, learn, and grow. Immerse yourself in a curriculum crafted by leading academics and industry experts, designed to sharpen your strategic insights and amplify your board’s impact.

The program is limited to board members of venture-backed companies, including investors, founders, senior management, and independent directors. If you’re an executive at a VC-backed company or a VC firm, and have board-level responsibilities (ie GC, CFO, CCO, Corporate Secretary, etc) you may also qualify for this program. Admission to the program is open to qualified participants as determined by the program directors.

This is an exclusive program with limited space. Qualified participants can apply below.

You can read more about this program in this UC Law SF article.

Please visit the VCBA website for more information.
Apply Here.

For more information on our center, please visit our page here.

CREJ – Logged In, Left Out: Racial Inequality in Remote Work (Zoom Webinar)
2025-08-26 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
Join us for a 1-hour webinar where experts will discuss changing remote work norms, examine racial disparities in remote work access and provide insight into courts’ views on remote work discrimination.

Please Register Here

Center on Tax Law Panel: "What Does the New Tax Law Mean for You? "
2025-08-28 16:00 - 17:00 | 333-201

FALL 2025 ADR SPEAKER SERIES What Makes People Tick: A Mediator’s Introduction to Internal Family Systems
2025-09-03 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
FALL 2025 ADR SPEAKER SERIES
What Makes People Tick: A Mediator’s Introduction to Internal Family Systems
David Hoffman
John H. Watson, Jr. Lecturer on Law
Harvard Law School

Wednesday, September 3, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 P.M. PST
Via Zoom

RSVP Here: https://forms.gle/dLJXnkQTRyxUrgaK8
The Zoom link will be emailed approximately 24 hours prior to the presentation.

David A. Hoffman is the John H. Watson, Jr. Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches three courses: Mediation; Legal Profession: Collaborative Law; and Diversity and Dispute Resolution. David includes in each of those courses a discussion of the IFS model. David is also an attorney, mediator, arbitrator, and founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC, where he handles cases involving family, business, employment, and other disputes.
Prior to founding BLC in 2003, David was a litigation partner at the Boston firm Hill & Barlow, where he practiced family law, employment law, and general litigation for 17 years. He is past-chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution and a recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the Academy of Professional Family Mediators. David has published three books (including “Bringing Peace into the Room”) and more than 100 articles on law and dispute resolution.
David is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B. 1970, summa cum laude), Cornell University (M.A. 1974, American Studies), and Harvard Law School (J.D. 1984, magna cum laude), where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. David’s TEDx talk about “Lawyers as Peacemakers” can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXv1_Sqe_4. David lives in a cohousing community in Acton, Massachusetts with his wife, Leslie Warner, who is a career coach. Together they have five adult children, an adolescent cat, and a rescued Golden Retriever from Serbia. Links to his publications can be found here: https://blc.law/team/david-hoffman.

CBL Kick off & Happy Hour
2025-09-03 16:00 - 18:00 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Fall 2025 Tax Speaker Series
2025-09-05 08:00 - 17:00 | CA
The Center on Tax Law is delighted to announce the lineup for our Fall 2025 Tax Speaker Series. Please email tax@uclawsf.edu if you would like to attend.

Date
Presenter
Paper

Friday, September 5, 2025
Amanda Parsons, Univ. of Colorado

Taxing Social Data

Friday, October 3, 2025
Alex Zhang, Emory University

The Forgotten Attribution Power

Friday, October 31, 2025
Miranda Fleischer, Univ. of San Diego

Equality of Opportunity and a Universal Child Allowance

International Mediation Development and Leadership Institute (IMDLI) Wine & Appetizer Reception
2025-09-11 18:15 - 19:45 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR)
International Mediation Development and Leadership Institute (IMDLI)
Wine & Appetizer Reception

Join us for a reception with the participants of CNDR’s annual training program, organized in collaboration with the JAMS Foundation and the Weinstein JAMS International Fellowship Program.

Thursday, Sept 11, 2025
6:15 – 7:45 PM

UC Law San Francisco
Deb Colloquium Room & Skydeck
Cotchett Law Center
333 Golden Gate Ave, 5th Floor

RSVP Here: https://forms.gle/WTJWUVp4uW7BgzTS6

FALL 2025 ADR SPEAKER SERIES The Practical Realities of Seeking Disability Accommodations: Burdens, Backlashes, and Conflict Resolution Breakthroughs
2025-09-17 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
FALL 2025 ADR SPEAKER SERIES
The Practical Realities of Seeking Disability Accommodations: Burdens, Backlashes, and Conflict Resolution Breakthroughs
Dan Berstein, MHS
MH Mediate

Wednesday, September 17, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 P.M. PST
Via Zoom

RSVP Here: https://forms.gle/29h6gbfNh7HsHUvC9
The Zoom link will be emailed approximately 24 hours prior to the presentation.

Dan Berstein is a mediator living with bipolar disorder working to empower all mental health stakeholders using conflict resolution best practices that promote mental health empowerment and prevent mental illness discrimination. Dan’s book, Mental Health and Conflicts: A Handbook for Empowerment, was originally published by the ABA in 2022 and is being republished this year by DRI Press. Through Dan’s company, MH Mediate, Dan has helped thousands of organizations become more accessible, trauma-informed, and consistent when responding to challenges. In 2023, the AAA-ICDR foundation funded BiasResistantCourts.org, a free platform Dan developed in collaboration with the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center and court systems around the country, teaching court-connected professionals twelve core skills for becoming bias-resistant and trauma-informed. In 2024, Dan led the “Demystifying Distress” event co-sponsored by Mediate.com, ACR, APFM, NAFCM, and CPR. The free resources from this event have helped dispute resolution professionals to manage their own distress while reducing distress for the parties they serve. In 2025, Dan launched free resources to help people living with mental health conditions use conflict resolution best practices when seeking support, reorienting from rejection, and pursuing disability accommodations, all as part of projects funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health’s statewide stigma reduction efforts and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Consumer Affairs. Recently, Dan has been celebrating twenty years since his first hospitalization and diagnosis of bipolar disorder as part of his 20 Years Embracing Bipolar project accessible at www.danberstein.com/20years

2025 Japanese Law Symposium: Rights and Reparations of the Ainu and Settler Colonialism
2025-09-19 12:30 - 16:30 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
This year’s Japanese Law Symposium will assess the rights of the Ainu people and examine broader issues of settler colonialism from a comparative perspective.

The Ainu are an Indigenous people who live in Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu, as well as in southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. After the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, the new Meiji government established the Kaitakushi (Hokkaido Development Commission) in 1869. The purpose the Kaitakushi was to defend against the rapidly advancing Russians and develop the resources of Hokkaido. In order to achieve this, the Kaitakushi encouraged immigration from the mainland south of Honshu and allocated these immigrants land where the Ainu people lived. In 1899, the Former Aborigines Protection Law was enacted. Although a small amount of land was allocated to the Ainu, the Law promoted forced assimilation and prohibited use of the Ainu language and religious ceremonies. From this perspective, the Meiji government’s Hokkaido colonization policy is an example of what is known today as settler colonialism.

Pursuant to such policies, the Japanese government denied the existence of Indigenous peoples. However, after the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, there was a growing movement in Japan to recognize the Ainu as an Indigenous people. In 2019, the so-called “New Ainu Law” was enacted, recognizing the Ainu as an Indigenous people and requiring national and local governments to raise awareness of Ainu culture and traditions. In addition, it has become easier to obtain permission to carry out traditional events such as salmon ﬁshing. Even so, compensation for past damages is still inadequate, and the collective right to carry out traditional events has not been recognized. Litigation over these issues continues to this day.

Symposium Schedule
12:00 Light lunch
12:30 Welcome Remarks: Senior Professor Emeritus Setsuo Miyazawa and Center Director Keith Hand
1:00 Keynote Speech: Professor Kunihiko Yoshida
1:45 Break
2:00 Commentary: Professor Jo Carrillo and Professor Natsu Taylor Saito
2:45 Break
3:00 Discussion and Q&A
4:00 Closing Remarks: Senior Professor Emeritus Setsuo Miyazawa

Symposium Participants

Keynote Speaker

Professor Kunihiko Yoshida, Ph.D. is Yunshan Professor of Law at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China.

Professor Yoshida earned a Ph.D. in Civil Law from Tokyo University, Japan, and has visited numerous law schools in the United States, including Northwestern Law School (1989-1991), Stanford Law School (1994-1995), Harvard Law School /Harvard Yenching Institute (2002-2003), the University of Miami Law School (2012-2013), and the University of Colorado Law School (2018-2019). He has written more than 100 articles and case reports and has published ten monographs on a wide range of topics, including contracts, torts, health law, critical legal studies, and critical race theory. His recent publications have focused on property theories, specifically housing, city making, environment, immigration, and reparations. The relational perspective developed by the late Professor Ian Macneil at Northwestern is the common thread across these fields.

Professor Yoshida has visited numerous East Asian countries in recent years to conduct collaborative work on reparations issues related to “comfort women” for the Japanese Army, the Nanjing massacre, the Chongqing bombings, and the Jeju tragedies. He has held visiting appointments at universities in Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Cambodia. Since retiring from Hokkaido University, he has served as the distinguished Yunshan Professor of Law at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

Professor Yoshida is an expert on reparations for the Ainu people, the indigenous people in Hokkaido, from a civil law perspective. His current research focuses on repatriation, environmental injustice, and traditional Indigenous knowledge to support the pressing agenda of Ainu reparations. In advancing this research, he draws on 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other Indigenous peoples’ practices across the globe. For example, he has recently been working on the Brazilian Minamata disease affecting on Indigenous peoples along the Amazon and taken a great interest in the social solidarity economy in the Global South.

Moderator

Setsuo Miyazawa, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus at Kobe University and Senior Director Emeritus and Senior Affiliated Scholar at the Center for East Asian Legal Studies (CEALS) at UC Law San Francisco. He is a legal sociologist who holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Law from Hokkaido University. He served as a full professor at four universities in Japan until his mandatory retirement in 2016. Since 1995, he taught as a visiting professor at ten law schools in North America, including Harvard, NYU, and UC Berkeley, before beginning his long-term association with UC Law San Francisco in 2008. He taught at UC Law San Francisco nearly every fall semester from 2008 to 2023 and served as Senior Director of CEALS from 2015 to 2023. He has organized an annual symposium on Japanese law almost every fall since 2012. Professor Miyazawa’s research interests are remarkably broad, encompassing police, criminal justice, legal education, the legal profession, and corporate legal behavior. He has been highly active in international academic organizations. He received the Distinguished Book Award from the Division of International Criminology of the American Society of Criminology, as well as the International Scholarship Prize, the Stanton Wheeler Mentorship Award, and the Legacy Award from the Law and Society Association. He was the Founding President of the Asian Law and Society Association and also served as the President of the Asian Society of Criminology.

Discussants

Jo Carrillo J.D./J.S.D. is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Indigenous Law Center (ILC) at UC Law San Francisco. For over three decades, Professor Carrillo has taught and written extensively in property and property-related subjects, including Federal Indian Law. She earned her B.A. from Stanford University, her J.D. from the University of New Mexico, and her J.S.D. from Stanford Law School. As Faculty Director of the UC Law Indigenous Law Center, Professor Carrillo facilitates a seminar series called Law &. This series brings lawyers, students, and California Tribal leaders into the law school classroom to discuss land back and land stewardship issues. To date, Law & Seminars have covered such topics as Tribal Law, International Indigenous Peoples Rights Law (a seminar that includes instructors from all common law countries), Indigenous Land Acknowledgments (with Jonathan Cordero, Metush (Chair) of the Ramaytush Tribe and Executive Director of the Association of Ramaytush Oholone) and Enhancing Access to Land and Stewardship (with Curtis Berkey of Berkey Williams and supported by a grant from the Resources Legacy Fund). Recently, again with assistance from the Resources Legacy Fund, Professor Carrillo has undertaken to study land back transfer documents.

As a faculty member, Professor Carrillo has served on the UC Law SF Legacy Committee. She now serves on the UC Law SF Restorative Justice Advisory Board, which counsels UC Law SF Chancellor and Dean David Faigman on decanal-initiated restorative justice efforts for Indigenous communities in California. As a long-term project, Professor Carrillo is co-editing a volume, with UCLA Professor of History Benjamin Madley, on redressing 19th century state sponsored harms against California Indigenous Peoples.

Natsu Taylor Saito, J.D. is a Regents’ Professor Emerita at Georgia State University’s College of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, where she taught courses on race, indigeneity, immigration, international law, and human rights for almost 30 years. A graduate of Yale Law School and an activist attorney, she remains involved in efforts to defend Indigenous rights, contest police and prosecutorial misconduct, and protect academic freedom. Professor Saito is the author of several dozen law review articles as well as three books: From Chinese Exclusion to Guantánamo Bay: Plenary Power and the Prerogative State (University of Colorado Press, 2006), Meeting the Enemy: American Exceptionalism and International Law (New York University Press, 2010), and Settler Colonialism, Race and the Law: Why Structural Racism Persists (New York University Press, 2020)

Light lunch to be served.
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Crypto, Compliance & Governance: A Conversation with Candace Kelly
2025-09-25 12:30 - 13:30 | 200 ARC, Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Join us for this CBL Lunch Speaker Series event featuring Candace Kelly ‘97, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. With extensive experience at the intersection of law, technology, and policy—including her leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Justice and Uber—Candace will discuss the rapidly evolving world of crypto and digital assets.

This program will explore the legal, regulatory, and governance challenges facing blockchain and fintech companies, offering insights into compliance strategies, policy developments, and the broader implications for corporate governance in Silicon Valley and beyond.

The discussion will be moderated by Professor Evan Epstein, Executive Director of the UC Center for Business Law SF. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from a leader shaping the future of crypto regulation and governance, and to network with peers over lunch.

Lunch will be provided.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Justice and Professor Joseph Raymond Grodin: A Memorial and Retrospective
2025-10-03 09:00 - 12:00 | 198 Auditorium
Join friends, colleagues, and family for a celebration and retrospective on the life and career of Joseph R. Grodin, a unique figure connecting the UC law SF school and the California Supreme Court, as a former California Supreme Court justice and professor of law at UC Law San Francisco. This event will overview his jurisprudence as a justice on the Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court, his legal scholarship, and the historical and legal significance of the 1986 retention election. Open entry without registration, and broadcast on Zoom after Justice Kruger’s opening remarks.

Click here to watch live on Zoom (link will appear day of event)

Agenda:
Opening Remarks: California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger

Justice Grodin’s Jurisprudence and Legal Scholarship
Professor Darien Shanske (UC Davis Law School) Justice Grodin’s annotated California constitution scholarship
Professor David A. Kaiser (UC Law SF) Justice Grodin on the right to happiness in the California constitution

Justice Grodin in California Legal and Political History
Moderator: Sunil “Neil” Gupta (Principal Attorney to the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court)
Professor Reuel Schiller (UC Law SF)
Beth Jay (former Principal Attorney to the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court)
Jake Dear (former Chief Supervising Attorney of the California Supreme Court, former chambers attorney to Justice Grodin)

Click here to RSVP

Join us for a Book Talk & Signing with UC Law SF alumnus Randy Shaw, featuring the new edition of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime, and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. Lunch will be provided
2025-10-08 12:30 - 14:00 | Deb Colloquium Room, 333 Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA, United States

AALS Sections on Education Law & Children and the Law Works-in-Progress Conference
2025-10-10 09:00 - 2025-10-11 14:00 | 200 ARC, Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
The AALS Sections on Education Law and Children and the Law invite submissions for a Works-in-Progress (WIP) conference to be held on October 10 and October 11, 2025 in San Francisco, at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (UC Law SF). The purpose of the conference is to provide a collegial and supportive environment for advancing scholarship and promoting cross-fertilization among scholars working in related areas of the law. We invite contributions from all legal scholars writing on issues of education law and/or children’s law. Topics may include any area relating to children and the law, PreK-12 education, or higher education law. Paper proposals may be at any stage in the research and writing process, from early works in progress (detailed outlines) to draft articles to completed articles, as long as changes can still be made to the articles prior to publication. We invite a diverse range of proposals in this moment of significant changes for education law and especially encourage new and pre-tenure faculty to participate.
Register Here and Submit a Work-in-Progress for Consideration

KEY DETAILS

The conference will begin on Friday, October 10 and end on Saturday, October 11 by 2PM to allow for travel.
The conference will be held in-person but accommodations may be made, by request, for virtual presentation.
There is no registration fee to attend the WIP session, but participants, including presenters, must pay their own travel expenses. After you register for the conference, you can also book your hotel reservation for the Proper Hotel San Francisco at a discounted rate using this LINK.
In late August, participants shall submit additional documents that they would like reviewers to see, such as a draft of their article.

QUESTIONS? Please contact –
Thalia González (Section on Education Law) gonzalezt@uclawsf.edu
Nicole Tuchinda (Sections on Children and the Law and Education Law) nptuchin@loyno.edu
Amy Saji (Section on Children and the Law) amy.saji@georgetown.edu
Karen Halverson Cross (Section on Education Law) khcross@uic.edu
Diana Newmark (Section on Education Law) newmark@arizona.edu with questions about the WIP session or the submission process.

We are excited to receive your proposals and see everyone in October in San Francisco!

CEALS Presents - Negotiating Legality: Chinese Companies in the U.S. Legal System
2025-10-13 12:30 - 13:30 | 200-605, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, CA, 94102, United States
Featured Speaker: Professor Ji Li, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Date/Time: Monday, October 13, 12:30-1:30 PM
Location: 200-605

In Negotiating Legality, author Ji Li examines how Chinese multinational companies, such as TikTok, are navigating the challenges of the U.S. legal system amidst intensifying U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. This book introduces a dual institutional framework to analyze these companies’ adaptation strategies, drawing on extensive interviews and multi-year survey data. It explores how Chinese firms build in-house legal capacities, collaborate with U.S. legal professionals, and manage litigation in American courts. In this talk, Li will share highlights from his new book, and offer invaluable insights into China’s global rise and its profound influence on the legal systems of developed nations like the U.S.

Ji Li is the John S. and Marilyn Long Professor of U.S.-China Business and Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Professor Li’s scholarship focuses on the intersection of U.S.-China relations and law, particularly the adaptation of Chinese multinational companies to U.S. legal and regulatory systems, the impact of the U.S.-China geopolitical rivalry on transnational legal actors, and the interactions between China and the international legal order. He is the author of two books on these topics: Clash of Capitalisms (CUP, 2018) and Negotiating Legality: Chinese Companies in the U.S. Legal System (CUP, 2024).

Light lunch to be served.
RSVP here

Police Surveillance and the Perils of Technology - Zoom Webinar
2025-10-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
RSVP Here and for Zoom Information

Criminal Justice at UC Law & Beyond with Professor Kate Weisburd
2025-10-17 12:30 - 13:30 | 333-101
RSVP Here

CEALS Presents - Controlling Shareholder Standards in Japan and U.S.
2025-10-20 12:30 - 13:30 | 200-605, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, CA, 94102, United States
Featured Speakers: Takumi Sato, attorney in the Silicon Valley office of TMI Associates, Lauren M. Cruz, Senior Counsel at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, and Adjunct Professor David Makman
Date/Time: Monday, October 20, 12:30-1:30 PM
Location: *MOVED TO 200-605

This will be a presentation on issues relating to controlling shareholders under U.S. Law and Japanese law. We will discuss the METI guidelines on mergers and acquisitions and recent developments in Delaware including SB 21.

Light lunch to be served.
RSVP here
