Fundamentals of Mediation
2026-03-02 08:30 - 2026-03-06 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 198-213
A 40-hour basic mediation training program, including certificate of completion and optional MCLE credit.
The UC Law SF Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) presents its’ annual 40-hour comprehensive mediation practitioner training. This program provides a unique blend of mediation theory, hands-on mediation skills training, and an exploration of the sensibilities and personal qualities required to be an effective mediator.
This in-person program is useful for a range of professionals who deal with people in conflict, and any attorney who represents clients in mediation, to understand the process and to be more effective in representing clients in mediation. We also encourage participation of international attorneys, notaries and Hastings LL.M. students. No prior training or experience required.

In this highly interactive and dynamic training, participants from around the world learn the theory and practice of mediation. The methodology consists of a mixture of discussion, skill building exercises and role play. All participants will have the opportunity to practice multiple times in the client, advocate and mediator roles and will receive personalized feedback and coaching from professional mediators.
We start with the psychology and behavior of people in conflict and the different process choices parties can make when seeking to resolve conflict. We examine the different styles or models of mediation and the implications of those models for the client experience. We then explore and practice every phase of a mediation, from opening and setting the stage, to exploration of interests and issues, negotiating agreements, preparation of settlement documents and closure.

Combined with the practice of these phases, participants build critical communication and process management skills including how to:

Maintain neutrality
Balance power
Select appropriate influencing strategies
Decide whether, when and how to use private sessions (“caucus”)
Facilitate the “money dance”
Conduct a methodical alternatives analysis
Employ techniques for overcoming impasse
Convey “difficult” messages
Use active listening
Ask questions to move the clients in helpful directions
Handle difficult behavior and “reframe” problematic statements

Finally, we cover mediator ethics, process confidentiality, working with representatives and co-mediation.

What participants have to say:
“Fantastic! So happy I chose this program, it blew away my expectations. The role playing was especially valuable to measure progress and enforce the teaching.” – BT 2022

“I quit my job as a teacher to work in the Office of Civil Rights doing in-house dispute resolution and mediation. I could not have gotten this position without taking CNDR’s Fundamentals of Mediation Training, and I am so grateful for all of the skills I gained. I re-read Prof. Ford’s Peace at Work and feel even more prepared to take on this next challenge.” – BL, 2024

Format
All 40 hours will take place in-person during a live class, including small group role plays with individualized coaching. Each day includes 1.5 hours of total breaks.
Dates
Monday, March 2 – Friday, March 6, 2026 from 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. each day (PST)
Location
UC Law SF, 198 McAllister, San Francisco, CA 94102 (in-person training only)
MCLE
40 hours of California MCLE credits available, including 1.5 hrs Elimination of Bias and 2 hrs Legal Ethics. Be sure to select the “add on” for MCLE credit at checkout. MCLE Provider #9545.
Registration

Standard Registration Fee – $2,295
Alumni, Government, and Nonprofit Rate – $2,095

REGISTER HERE

Registration closes one week prior to the training, or when enrollments have reached maximum capacity, whichever comes first.
Another training will be offered August 31 – September 4, 2026. See more information here.
Questions to CNDR@uclawsf.edu.

Instructor

Adjunct Professor John Ford, BA LLB (UCT) is an experienced workplace mediator and soft-skills trainer. John studied law at the University of Cape Town before moving to Namibia, where he practiced from 1988 to 1995. Initially, he focused on representing survivors of human-rights abuses. After Namibian independence in 1990, his focus shifted to labor and employment law. John moved to California in 1996 and trained as a mediator. He has since successfully mediated hundreds of workplace disputes, and has worked with numerous teams to help them deal successfully with conflict.
John has provided training to thousands of employees at all levels in the workplace, across a wide range of industries. His workshops focus on the development of soft skills, such as communication, negotiation, facilitation, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, customer service and mediation. He is a past president of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California (ADRNC), and was the managing editor of www.mediate.com from 2000 to 2011.

Cancellation Policy
For all CNDR events, cancellations on or before 30 days prior to the event will receive a full refund, minus an administrative fee of 7% of ticket price. Cancellations after 30 days prior to the event will receive a 50% refund. Cancellations on or after 5 days prior to the event will not receive a refund.
ADA Accommodations Statement
The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco is committed to making its facilities and events accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need reasonable accommodations, please contact CNDR at 415-581-8941 or CNDR@uclawsf.edu, or the Disability Access Hotline at 415-581-4848 or DAH@uclawsf.edu at least two weeks before the event.
Use of Materials Notice
The UC Law SF Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) hereby irrevocably grants registrants/participants a limited, nonexclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free right and license to use materials provided and distributed by CNDR and/or UC Law SF in the course of the training herein for purposes of participation and personal/internal, non-commercial reference purposes.
Code of Conduct
The UC Law SF Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) is dedicated to ensuring that its events and gatherings are an inclusive, respectful, productive, and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, alienage or citizenship status, physical or mental ability, color, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, national origin, marital status or partnership status, pregnancy or lactation status, religion or creed, status as a veteran or active military service member or any other basis protected by U.S. federal, state, or local laws.
When participating in or attending a CNDR event, the following behaviors are expected:

Be present, timely, open-minded, and participate actively.
Act with respect and dignity towards everyone you encounter, including participants, staff, instructors, and coaches.
Be considerate and collegial in your speech and actions, valuing a diversity of views and opinions.
To support a participatory learning environment for everyone, be mindful of how much time you use (e.g. in discussions or Q&A sessions).
Behave in accordance with professional standards (such as your employer’s policies, or applicable law).
Alert on-premises security personnel and staff if you notice a dangerous situation or someone clearly in distress, or call 911 in case of an emergency.

Harassment, bullying, non-consensual physical contact, threats, microaggressions, intimidation, and/or insinuations that are hurtful or interfere with any other attendee’s experience or participation are examples of behaviors which are unacceptable and could be cause for removal from a CNDR event.

LAIC: Law & Artificial Intelligence Certificate
2026-03-02 12:00 - 2026-03-06 17:00 | 198 McAllister St., 198 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
2026 Spring Program (March 2-6, 2026)

Join LexLab at the Epicenter of AI Innovation – UC Law SF Spring Program

With more than half of all global venture funding for AI startups flowing to companies headquartered in the Bay Area, San Francisco has become the global capital of AI innovation. UC Law San Francisco and LexLab invite you to the heart of “Cerebral Valley” for an intensive, in-person, weeklong course: Law & Artificial Intelligence.

The UC Law SF Law & Artificial Intelligence Certificate (LAIC) is offering a comprehensive, internationally focused training in this groundbreaking field, providing legal and compliance professionals with essential, globally relevant domain knowledge and practical skills.

Executive Director Nicole Ozer will be presenting on the AI privacy laws section on March 5.

If you are interested, learn more here: https://lexlab.uclawsf.edu/law-and-ai-certificate and visit here to learn more about the full schedule, faculty, application: https://www.uclawsf.edu/event/law-ai-certificate-program/

March 3 Lecture–A History of Immigration Law: How We Got Here
2026-03-03 18:00 - 19:30 | Edith Stone Room, 1249 Marin Ave, Albany, 94706, United States
Click Here to RSVP
This is an off-campus event.

VITA Tax Clinic
2026-03-09 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-03-16 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-03-23 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-03-30 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-04-06 17:00 - 19:00 | UC Law SF, 200 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA 94102, 200 McAllister, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
During the 2025 tax filing season, the UC Law SF Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) clinic will be in-person, located at 200 McAllister Street at Hyde in San Francisco. The clinic will run on Mondays from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, beginning February 9, 2026, through April 13, 2026, excluding February 16 and March 2. The VITA clinic is drop-in only and does not take appointments.
Please bring with you:

Photo ID & Social Security Card or ITIN for each person on your tax return
W-2 for all jobs
All 1099s, 1098s, and any other tax forms
Your household’s health coverage information, including Forms 1095-A, B, or C, if applicable
If you received the Advanced Child Tax Credit in 2023, Letter 6419
Last year’s tax return
Savings/ checking account and routing numbers for direct deposit
Clients are encouraged to wear a well-fitting mask (N95, KN95, or equivalent) on site

For more information about the VITA clinic, including what to bring with you to have your taxes prepared, please see this flyer. If you have questions, you can email us at vita@uclawsf.edu or call us at 628-207-1956.

Certificate in Legal Research Program: Using Generative AI for Legal Research (Zoom)
2026-03-10 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom, San Francisco, CA, United States
Earn your Certificate in Legal Research – and a notation on your transcript – or just attend to learn about using generative AI for legal research. This session will take place on Zoom: https://uclawsf.zoom.us/j/91075557644 (passcode on Canvas).
You are free to attend as few or as many classes as you like; however, to complete the program, you must attend a minimum of 5 live classes and earn 100% on 12 online quizzes by the time you graduate. To find out more about the program, go to: https://www.uclawsf.edu/academics/library/legal-research-cert-program.

2026 Rutter Award Ceremony for Teaching Excellence
2026-03-11 12:30 | 200 ARC, Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
RSVP to Attend this Event
** This is open only to current UC Law SF students, faculty, staff and alumni. This event is closed to the public audience or folks not affiliated with UC Law SF. **

Arbitration in Asia: Growth, Dynamism, and Innovation
2026-03-11 12:30 - 13:30 | Deb Colloquium Room, 333 Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA, United States
Arbitration in Asia: Growth, Dynamism, and Innovation

A distinguished panel of representatives from arbitration institutions in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore will share insights on the growth and operations of four leading Asian arbitration institutions.

The Center for East Asian Legal Studies and the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution are pleased to welcome a distinguished panel of practitioners and representatives to share current insights on the operations and growth of four leading Asian arbitration institutions. Panelists will introduce key distinguishing features of their respective institutions, highlight arbitral innovations that are driving growth, and provide insights on career opportunities. Panelists include Miriam Pereira, Counsel and Co-Head of the International Dispute Resolution Practice Group (Tokyo), Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners, and Public Relations Officer and Advisory Board Member, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA); Adriana Uson, Director & Head (Americas), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC); Meg Utterback, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons and Former Council Member, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) (Proceedings Committee, Appointments Committee); and Patrick Zheng, Partner, Kingland Partners (Beijing & Irvine), Arbitrator of Shanghai Arbitration Commission and formerly, Deputy Dept Director/Case Manager for CIETAC in Beijing.

Moderator: Sally Harpole, International Arbitrator, CEALS Affiliated Scholar, JCAA Advisory Board Member, and former HKIAC Council Member.

Date: Wednesday, March 11, 12:30-1:30
Place: University of California Law, San Francisco, Deb Colloquium Room, 333 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA

RSVP

Light lunch served

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly Annual Symposium
2026-03-12 09:00 - 13:00 | 200 ARC, Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Half-day symposium focused on Voting and Election Law. Three panels which will have guest attorneys and moderators. Lunch to be served after.

VC and PE: From Law School to the Deal Table
2026-03-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister St, San Francisco, 94102, United States
Click here to RSVP!

Constitutional Democracy and Cookies
2026-03-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Dining Commons
Professor David Levine will be tabling this session. Please stop by!

Expanding Economic Justice: State and Local Innovations in Worker Protection
2026-03-13 09:30 - 14:30 | 333 Deb Colloquium and Sky Deck, 5th Floor Cotchett Law Center, 333 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
As the Federal government continues to dismantle critical economic protections—gutting collective bargaining rights for public workers, weakening anti-discrimination safeguards, and rolling back hard-fought worker protections—state and local governments are emerging as critical arenas for defending and reimagining economic justice. This symposium convenes lawyers, policymakers, and movement organizers to examine how state and local actors can advance transformative labor policy from below—countering federal retrenchment, developing new frameworks for worker power and inclusion, and identifying the legal, institutional, and organizing tools needed to promote long-term economic justice and democratic stability.

Program Schedule

Time
Program

9:30 am – 9:45 am

Welcoming Remarks

9:45 am – 11:00 am

Panel #1 – State and Local Interventions: Legal Strategies for Worker Protections
This panel will explore how state and local governments are responding to federal rollbacks of labor protections and advancing new models for economic justice.
Panelists:

Branden Butler, Director, San Diego County Office of Ethics, Compliance, & Labor Standards
Matthew Goldberg, Chief Attorney, Worker Protection Team, S.F. City Attorney’s Office
Ellen Love, Policy & Project Analyst, Low-Wage Work Program, UC Berkeley Labor Center
Satoshi Yanai, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section at California Department of Justice

Moderator:

Seema N. Patel, Associate Professor of Law, UC Law SF

11:00 am – 11:15 am

Break

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Panel #2 – Movement Lawyering in Action: Building Worker
Power Through Community-State Collaboration
This panel brings together movement lawyers, worker advocates and organizers, and state and local advocates to examine how communities and state agencies can work innovatively and collaboratively to advance worker protections. Panelists will explore how lawyers inside and outside government, alongside movement leaders, are co-creating strategies that make public institutions more responsive, accountable, and aligned with worker-led demands.
Panelists:

Rachel Deutsch, Local Progress
Winnie Kao, Senior Counsel, Impact Litigation, Asian Law Caucus
Minsu Longiaru, Senior Staff Attorney, Worker Power, PowerSwitch Action
Nayantara Mehta, [Former] Director, Worker Power Program, National Employment Law Project (NELP)

Moderator:

Brenda Muñoz, Executive Director, UC Berkeley Labor Center

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Lunch and Keynote Address
Speaker:

Betty Hung, Assistant Deputy Chief of the California Labor Commissioner’s Office

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Networking Session

RSVP
RSVP to Attend In-Person
RSVP to Attend Virtually

Speaker Biographies

Branden Butler

Branden Butler is the Director of the County’s Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Labor Standards. He oversees two Offices, Office of Ethics and Compliance (OEC) and Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement (OLSE). During his leadership at OLSE, Branden has developed the innovative Workplace Justice Fund to help workers collect unpaid wage theft judgments, created the Good Faith Restaurant Owners Program requiring the suspension of food permits for unpaid wage theft judgments, and led the development of the San Diego wage theft dashboard that identifies employers with wage theft judgments. Additionally, Branden led the creation of a new policy to protect county contracted janitors from wage theft.

Prior to joining the County, Branden was the first Assistant Deputy Director of Outreach and Education for the California Civil Rights Department (CRD). During his state service at the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), Branden was involved in developing education, outreach, and enforcement programs regarding discrimination in the workplace. Branden co-created the Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for CRD which has been taken by millions of employees and supervisors in California.

Branden also led the state campaign to educate employers, community organizations, and law enforcement about the rights of the formerly incarcerated under the Fair Chance Act, a pioneering state law that seeks to reduce barriers to employment for justice involved individuals. Branden worked with community-based reentry organizations and employers to develop the Fair Chance Act Toolkit to assist both employees and employers follow the law. Additionally, Branden worked with the California Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to develop an informational video on the Fair Chance Act that airs in all state prisons on Inmate TV. Branden’s Fair Chance Act work included leading an enforcement initiative using pioneering technology to conduct mass searches of online job advertisements for violations of the Act.

Prior to joining CRD, Branden was the Senior Attorney of the Fair Housing Center of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc. (LASSD), where for nine years he was instrumental in creating the first fair housing services program at LASSD that provides education, outreach, testing, and enforcement/ litigation. Branden graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and received the Charles T. Bumer Civil Libertarian Award. Branden earned his B.A. graduating magna cum laude from California State University, Chico. Branden recently received the 2023 County of San Diego Excellence in Leadership Award. Branden also published an article in the California Bar Real Property Journal entitled, “40 Acres and a Mule. Broken Promises, Black Wealth Inequality, Persistence of Housing Segregation and Exclusion, and How to Right (Some of) These Wrongs.”

Rachel Deutsch

Rachel Deutsch is Legal Director at Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab. Before joining Local Progress, Rachel led successful campaigns with the California Coalition for Worker Power to strengthen California’s labor standards and align worker organizations across the state. Previously, at Popular Democracy, Rachel anchored passage and implementation of Fair Workweek policies; advanced innovative policy for collective enforcement of workplace rights; and in 2020 launched Unemployed Action, a digital organizing initiative, leading a national coalition to win extension of federal pandemic unemployment benefits for 14 million workers. Rachel also spent five years litigating cases involving labor and employment, environmental standards, and consumer protection. Before law school, Rachel organized hospital workers with the Service Employees International Union. Rachel graduated from Columbia Law School and Yale College, and lives in Los Angeles.

Matthew Goldberg

Matthew Goldberg is currently the Chief Attorney of the Worker Protection Team at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Prior to their current role, Matthew served as a Special Assistant Attorney General at the California Department of Justice. With a background in employment law and public policy, Matthew has held roles such as Deputy City Attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office and Director of the Unemployment & Wage Claims Project at the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center. Matthew holds a Juris Doctor from the University of California, College of the Law, a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of San Francisco.

Betty Hung

Betty Hung is the Assistant Deputy Chief of the California Labor Commissioner’s O;ice (LCO) where she oversees the LCO’s legislative and policy portfolio and promotes crossprogram collaborative enforcement initiatives. Before joining the LCO, Betty was Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she focused on good jobs, equity, and worker safety net issues. A longtime advocate for workers’ rights and responsible business practices, Betty’s previous leadership roles included serving as Policy Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles; Sta; Director at the UCLA Labor Center; and Directing Attorney of the Employment Law Unit at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Betty has worked on a spectrum of social and economic justice campaigns and initiatives in the areas of workers’ rights, racial justice, immigrant rights, education equity, workforce development, and gender justice. Betty began her career representing workers in low-wage industries with wage claims in Labor Commissioner proceedings and has extensive experience in law and organizing. She served on the legal team that litigated the El Monte Thai and Latina garment worker case, as well as the legal team supporting the leadership of Dream Team LA in the successful campaign to win Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). On the policy and legislative front, Betty played an integral role in several successful campaigns, including securing $10 million in the California state budget for the state labor agency’s SEED Initiative supporting immigrant entrepreneurship and worker cooperatives; enacting landmark state legislation allocating $240 million to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the K-to-University of California graduation pipeline; establishing protections for immigrant students in K-12 schools throughout California; defeating proposed legislation that would have required the equivalent English-only business signs in a predominantly immigrant municipality; winning $22 million in additional annual income for Los Angeles taxi workers; obtaining reauthorization of the Car Wash Worker Law; and passing state legislation to address racial and identity profiling by law enforcement.

Betty has extensive experience in coalition building and fostering government-communitylabor partnerships, including helping to co-found the Coalition of Low Wage and Immigrant Worker Advocates (CLIWA). She has a long history of community engagement and previously served on the boards of the LA Black Worker Center, CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, Worksafe, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and ACLU of Southern California. Betty is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Winnie Kao

Winnie Kao is Senior Counsel for impact litigation at the Asian Law Caucus (ALC). Winnie served as ALC’s Litigation Director from 2012 – 2020. She also directed ALC’s Workers’ Rights Program from 2011 – 2024. Prior to joining ALC, Winnie worked at a union-side labor and employment law firm where she primarily represented hotel, restaurant, and food and commercial workers and unions in a wide variety of labor, employment, constitutional, and class-action cases. Winnie was previously a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division where she litigated housing and public accommodation discrimination cases, and has worked as a community organizer for labor and civil rights groups. She has won commendations and awards for her work from numerous organizations including the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the University of Michigan Law School.

Minsu Longiaru

Minsu provides legal support and strategic thought partnership to organizing and policy campaigns in the PowerSwitch Action Network that build worker power through the interaction of organizing, comprehensive campaigning, direct representation, impact litigation, and policy and administrative strategies.

Minsu has dedicated her career to learning to be—what lawyer, legal scholar, and advocate Amanda Alexander calls— an “organizer with legal skills,” who can provide wide-ranging support to movements, social justice groups, and organizers. After graduating from law school, Minsu spent ten years directly supporting workers centers and worker-led movements. During this time she served as a Skadden fellow and staff attorney in legal aid and clinical law programs, a Fulbright Garcſa-Robles fellow researching transnational advocacy networks, and held local and national leadership positions at Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, in which she was responsible for weaving together workplace justice, research, and policy campaigns.

Minsu devoted the next ten years of her career to honing her skills as a seasoned workers’ rights attorney with experience in investigations, litigation, and policy. This included four years representing workers and labor organizations at a union-side law firm, and nearly six years working in government enforcing workers’ rights laws. Most recently she served as a Deputy Attorney General with the State of California’s Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section, addressing systemic business practices that undermine the working conditions of app-based workers, warehouse workers, and others. For their work, Minsu and her colleagues were awarded the Attorney General Team Award in 2021 and 2022 for demonstrating the highest professional work standards.

But whatever Minsu has done pales in comparison to what she has seen workers and communities do time and time again: put everything on the line to stand up for transformative justice. Whenever a challenge seems daunting, she thinks of their call to all of us to dwell in and act from a place of hope and radical possibility.

Minsu holds a BA and JD from Harvard University. Outside of work, Minsu enjoys spending time with her family, and playing the cello, which she does mostly in her basement but occasionally elsewhere.

Ellen Love

Ellen Love focuses on strengthening local and state labor law enforcement, working directly with labor enforcement agencies as well as their community-based partners. Ellen has 10 years of hands-on experience implementing local labor laws with the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. Ellen facilitated outreach on new labor laws, led data collection and analysis, managed contracts with community groups, and conducted investigations. She has also assisted state and local governments with socially responsible public procurement at the Responsible Purchasing Network and supported the start-up of worker-owned businesses with Prospera in Oakland, California. Ellen holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Goldman School at the University of California, Berkeley and a BA from Brown University.

Nayantara Mehta

Nayantara Mehta was most recently the Director of the Worker Power Program at the National Employment Law Project (NELP). She worked on a range of economic justice policy issues, such as improving conditions and identifying pathways to build power for workers in precarious and underpaid jobs, from “gig work” to issues affecting workers with arrest and conviction records. She represented NELP in various roles in the California Strategic Enforcement Partnership (CSEP), the California Coalition for Worker Power (CCWP), and the Coalition for Low-Wage and Immigrant Worker Advocates (CLIWA). During her 10 years at NELP, Nayantara was a proud member of the NELP Staff Association, NOLSW, UAW, LOCAL 2320.

Before working at NELP, Nayantara spent almost nine years with the Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy program, where she advised organizations and coalitions on the legal issues related to their campaigns for economic justice, immigrants’ rights, environmental justice, reproductive justice, and more.

Nayantara has a JD from Berkeley Law, an MA from the University of Chicago, and a BA from the College of William and Mary.

Brenda Muñoz

Brenda Muñoz has over 20 years of experience working with labor unions and organizations in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors to improve the lives and well-being of working people. She has diverse skills as an organizer, strategic researcher, policy analyst, and manager.

Prior to joining the Labor Center, Brenda led the strategic and programmatic direction of the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership’s Labor Liaison Program. She served as a bridge between public and private sector union leaders and Kaiser Permanente leaders on health benefit and worker well-being issues. Earlier, Brenda worked as a policy analyst at the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO), and, as a graduate student, with the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement researching and analyzing employer compliance with the historic San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance. As a staff member at the Berkeley-based nonprofit Labor Project for Working Families, Brenda conducted outreach and education among union members around work and family balance issues. She also worked at AFSCME in several states, including California, Maryland, and New Mexico, as both an organizer and a strategic researcher. Brenda has a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She enjoys hiking, crafting, and photography.
Satoshi Yanai

Satoshi Yanai is the Senior Assistant Attorney General of the Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section at the California Department of Justice. The mission of the Worker Rights and Fair Labor Section is to utilize the broad legal powers of the Office of the Attorney General to conduct investigations, litigation, and policy advocacy in order to combat systemic business practices that undermine the economic security, health and safety, and dignity of California workers, and to maintain a level playing field for legitimate businesses operating in the State. Prior to joining the California Department of Justice in 2007, Satoshi advocated on behalf of workers at the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor; at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (now the California Civil Rights Department); and in private practice at a firm representing labor unions and multiemployer employee benefit plans.

The State of Health Policy in America: A Town Hall
2026-03-17 12:30 - 14:00 | Deb Colloquium Room, 333 Golden Gate, San Francisco, CA, United States
Join us to hear from experts about current events in health policy and law. Lunch will be provided for those that RSVP by Tuesday, March 10th.
Program Schedule

Time
Program

12:30 pm

Welcome

12:35 pm

Coverage and Affordability

12:55 pm

Public Health

1:15 pm

Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity

1:35 pm

What can you do?

1:50 pm

Q&A

Featured Speakers

Ben Barsky, Associate Professor of Law, UC Law SF

Janet Coffman, Professor, UCSF

Thalia González, Professor of Law, UC Law SF

Katie Gudiksen, Executive Editor, The Source

Sarah Hooper, Professor of Practice, UC Law SF

George Horvath, Associate Professor of Law, UC Law SF

Dorit Reiss, Professor of Law, UC Law SF

RSVP to Attend In-Person

Open House for Center for Racial and Economic Justice
2026-03-18 12:30 - 13:30 | 333 Skydeck
Link to RSVP.

Breaking Into Transactional Law: Building a Corporate Legal Career
2026-03-19 12:30 - 13:30 | 198 – 240, 198 McAllister Street, Room 240, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Join LexLab for lunch and a panel discussion about building a corporate legal career. Our panelists will be:

Lindsey Mignano, Co-Founding Partner of SSM
Will Newsom, Partner at Cooley
Ali Alemozafar, Partner at WSGR
Daniel Lopez, Partner at Willkie Farr

Here’s the direct registration page for the lunch talk: https://forms.gle/ysQ5PEhJ68CGgQiNA

All of our events and registration links can be found at: https://lexlab.uclawsf.edu/events

From DC to the Bay: Making Political Progress in Challenging Times
2026-03-24 16:00 - 17:00 | 200 ARC, Alumni Reception Center, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
RSVP
RSVP to Attend In-Person
** This is open only to current UC Law SF students, faculty, staff and alumni. This event is closed to the public audience or folks not affiliated with UC Law SF. **

Center for Social Justice - Dependency Law
2026-03-25 12:30 - 13:30 | 200-640, 200 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA, 94102
RSVP here!
Zoom Link

Constitutional Democracy and Cookies
2026-03-26 12:30 - 13:30 | Dining Commons
Professor David Levine and Executive Director Nicole Ozer will be tabling this session. Please stop by!

Reception and Tasting Tour for Immigration Law Attorneys
2026-03-26 16:00 - 18:00 | 198 – 240, 198 McAllister Street, Room 240, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
Click Here to RSVP

Social Justice Concentration Info Session
2026-03-30 12:30 - 13:30 | 200-122, 200 McAllister, San Francisco, CA, 94102
RSVP here!
Link to Zoom

Celebrating Richard Marcus: UC Law Journal's Festschrift Issue
2026-03-30 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
The Provost and Academic Dean’s Office and the UC Law Journal cordially invite you to join us in honoring Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Law and Horace O. Coil Chair in Litigation Rick Marcus and the publication of a special Festschrift issue recognizing his lifetime of scholarly achievements. The celebration will take place on March 30 at 4:00 p.m.

Speakers, all of whom contributed articles for the special journal issue, include, in addition to Professor Marcus:

UC Law SF Board of Directors member Simona Agnolucci (’06)
UC Berkeley Law Professor of Jurisprudence Andrew Bradt
Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein Founding Partner Elizabeth Cabraser
Michigan Law Emeritus Professor of Law Edward Cooper
UC Law SF Distinguished Professor Scott Dodson
UC Law SF Chancellor & Dean and Distinguished Professor David Faigman
United States District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal
Stanford Law School Professor of Law and Associate Dean Diego Zambrano

To access the full articles from the special journal issue, please click here.

The event takes place in the Deb Colloquium Room in Cotchett Law Center (333 Golden Gate), runs from 4:oo-6:00p.m., and concludes with a reception. The event is open to UC Law SF faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
RSVP To Attend In-Person
** This is open only to current UC Law SF students, faculty, staff and alumni. This event is closed to the public audience or folks not affiliated with UC Law SF. **

CEALS Presents - Bumps on China's Belt and Road
2026-04-01 12:30 - 13:30 | 333-201
Featured Speaker: Professor John Ohnesorge, University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30 PM
Location (*ROOM CHANGED): Room 333-201 (333 Golden Gate Ave., UC Law SF in Room 201)

The Belt and Road Initiative, announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, has provided the framing for a dramatic expansion of China’s reach into the global economy. Please join the Center for East Asian Legal Studies for a talk with Professor John Ohnesorge who will briefly describe the Initiative and debates surrounding it, then focus on key current economic and geopolitical challenges to its continued expansion.

Professor John Ohnesorge is Professor of Law, Director of the East Asian Legal Studies Center, and founder and director of the Compliance Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. A native of Minneapolis, Professor Ohnesorge received his B.A. from St. Olaf College (English and Psychology, 1985), his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School (cum laude, 1989), and his S.J.D. from Harvard Law School (2002). He spent several years in East Asia, as a teacher and law student in Shanghai in the 1980s, as a lawyer in private practice in Seoul in the 1990s, and as a visiting scholar at Seoul National University. He spent 2023 as a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar at Yonsei University in Seoul. His research interests include Administrative Law, Politics and Compliance, Law and Economic Development, East Asian Legal System Development, and International Economic Law.

A light lunch will be provided.

RSVP here

Constitutional Democracy and Cookies
2026-04-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Dining Commons
Professor Ming Chen will be tabling this session. Please stop by!

Spring Symposium: Learning from FCI Dublin
2026-04-03 09:00 - 16:00 | 198-213
Symposium on incarceration of women and harms at FCI Dublin.

Birthright Citizenship, Reconstruction, and Immigrant Rights Today
2026-04-08 18:00 - 19:30 | Edith Stone Room, 1249 Marin Ave, Albany, 94706, United States
Birthright Citizenship, Reconstruction, and Immigrant Rights Today

Talk by Greg Downs (Prof of History at UC Davis) and Ming H. Chen (UC Law, San Francisco)

After the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed citizenship as a birthright to almost all people born in the U.S. But there have been many challenges to this right, including in a Supreme Court case heard April 1, 2026.
Come hear two experts explain the history of birthright citizenship and the relevance of that history to battles over citizenship today.

Greg Downs is professor and chair of History at UC Davis, author of four books on slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and another one forthcoming on Why Reconstruction Matters with Kate Masur.
Ming H. Chen is Harry & Lillian Hastings Professor of Law at UC Law San Francisco. She focuses on the intersections of citizenship, race, and equality in Constitutional and administrative law.
This talk is part of the Path to Belonging project and is co-sponsored by the City of Albany, the Albany Library, and the League of Women Voters.

REGISTER HERE

Center for Racial and Economic Justice - Juvenile Court Fines and Fees: Unseen Shackles Webinar
2026-04-09 10:00 - 11:00 | Webinar
Register Here to Attend Virtually!

Symposium: Abolition in Teaching and Practice
2026-04-10 08:00 - 19:00 | 198 Auditorium
This symposium will explore how abolition is taught and practiced in law, community, and academic settings, emphasizing the expertise of both directly impacted people and allies.

Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfutu_rhQtO9GmXf4qRLYFxCnN2ocSv3HLvqza9keSkwp4F0Q/viewform
