Erin Bernstein

Bio

Professor Bernstein will be joining UC Law SF during the Spring 2026 semester to co-teach State and Local Government for Law with Professor Yvonne Mere.

Prior to joining UC Law SF, Erin co-founded Bradley, Bernstein and Sands LLP, a woman-owned litigation boutique serving the West Coast with offices in Seattle, Portland, and the Bay Area.

Erin has two decades of experience leading complex cases through trial and appeal. She excels at developing creative strategies to win difficult, groundbreaking, and high-profile cases for her clients—whether in state or federal courts. Erin’s docket representing plaintiffs and defendants has included actions related to public records laws, breach of contract, municipal law, health privacy, class-action defense, consumer law, and constitutional claims.

Erin works closely with government and corporate leaders facing litigation challenges that have a policy and political dimension. Erin is a national leader in affirmative litigation on behalf of local governments, and has been lead trial and appellate counsel in cases involving novel issues of data privacy, breach of contract, consumer law, housing law, healthcare, and First Amendment claims. After over a decade developing and supervising complex policy and litigation in these matters, Erin has a deep understanding of the best strategies for engaging with governments and private companies alike. She enjoys providing pragmatic business- and policy-oriented advice to her clients, and helps them craft novel solutions that properly balance the risks and rewards of legal action.