Does “Public Interest Drift” Exacerbate the “Justice Gap”?

Posted on by Christina Smith

By Zachary Newman* and Salena Copeland† on November 14, 2023

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Introduction

Many aspiring lawyers attend law school because they want to engage in legal work to assist marginalized or disenfranchised communities. These individuals want to acquire the skills to support social justice and public interest efforts in the legal world. They may want to help prevent unjust evictions, support the rights of people with disabilities, secure protections for domestic violence survivors, fight for access to healthcare, defend consumers challenging illegitimate debt collections, or engage in the myriad of other civil matters that legal aid lawyers help with.[1] They may be motivated by an awareness that many people facing legal issues are unable to afford a lawyer to obtain counsel on how to navigate the complexities of the legal system and fight for their rights.[2]

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Does Mindfulness Enhance the Study and Practice of Law?

Posted on by Christina Smith

By Rhonda V. Magee* on November 14, 2023

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Introduction

In her blog, Seeking Serenity, When Lawyers Go Zen, author Amanda Enayati reflects on an interview with U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Breyer, in which the Justice briefly discussed a practice that supports him in maintaining his physical wellbeing and provides a background resource for his demanding work at the highest level of the legal profession.[1]

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Embracing Creativity in Legal Education

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Katie Moran* on April 19, 2023

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It all started with a single cup of coffee in November 2021. My good friend and fellow University of San Francisco School of Law (“USF Law”) alum, Jerome Hawkins, and I were talking about his new business, Hawkline Video, where he directs and produces documentary interviews with highly successful attorneys from all over the country.[1] Jerome was telling me about the similarities in what made many of the lawyers great.

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From Obstacle to Opportunity: Strategies to Enhance Happiness in the Practice of Law

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Judge Lynn Duryee* on March 7, 2023

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Introduction

The practice of law is hard. The workload, long hours, demanding clients, competition—all hard. Being a judge is not quite as hard, yet it has its challenges too: vexatious litigants, extreme isolation, courthouse politics, and the ethical mandate to act with dignity and courtesy at all times—a feat achievable only by superheroes, in my opinion. The time when dissatisfied family law litigants initiated a recall campaign against me—that was a rough patch. And yet, after forty-two years in the law, I am still energized and excited by my chosen career.

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Lifestyle Balancing: Queerness and the Practice of Law

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Slater Stanley* on January 6, 2023

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Introduction

To find your place within a system you need to understand it, and yourself in relation to it. The purpose of such an evaluation might be productivity, survival, comfort, power, or a combination thereof. Growing up in a conservative environment as a queer[1] child without queer role models, I am not unfamiliar with suppressing characteristics and desires that feel natural to me to fit more neatly within hegemonic heteronormative[2] expectations. I applied to undergraduate universities—and later law schools—with this in mind: I want to be somewhere socially liberal.

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Addressing Secondary Trauma in the Legal Profession

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Annie T. Le* on November 8, 2022

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Introduction

“The raging river is the client’s life . . . . The boulder falling is the trauma occurring. The image of secondary trauma is a lawyer standing in the river. They don’t get hit by the boulder, but they feel the ripple effect.” – Jean Koh Peters[1]

California Rule 1.1 of Professional Conduct requires a lawyer’s competency, not just education and skills, but also “mental, emotional, and physical ability.”[2] Stress can negatively affect mental and emotional ability, and a high level of stress is known to be associated with the legal profession.[3] While being invested in the clients’ cases and showing empathy, lawyers sometimes absorb clients’ suffering. Over time, repeated exposure to the first-hand traumatic experiences of others may lead to secondary traumatic stress, also called secondary trauma.[4]

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Turn Asylum on its Head and Presume Eligibility

Posted on by Kirkman Ridd

By Bill Ong Hing on September 25, 2022

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Introduction

 
Thirty-five years ago, I was fortunate to be part of the litigation team that won big before the U.S. Supreme Court in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca,[1] the case that established that asylum applicants “need not prove that it is more likely than not” that they will be persecuted in their home countries in order to prevail.[2]

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Leveling the Playing Field: Legal Technology Requires Retooling Legal Skill Sets to Stay in the Game

Posted on by Amy Metzgar

By Gonzalo (Sal) Torres on May 6, 2022

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Introduction

 

In the 2011 film, Moneyball,[1] new Oakland Athletics’ (“A’s”) baseball manager, Billy Beane (played with brillo by Brad Pitt) shakes up the centuries old business of baseball by proposing and implementing a new technology known as statistical analytics to draft its next group of players. Beane is immediately met with truculent resistance from the curmudgeons around the table who have no faith in this new approach. Eventually, Beane wins out and the A’s go on to have a stellar winning season.

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Free Speech and Technology

Posted on by Amy Metzgar

By Joshua P. Davis on January 26, 2022

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Technological advancements have thrown free speech doctrine into disarray. The speed, frequency, distance, and types of our communications have grown extraordinarily. We can send and receive photos and videos around the world more quickly and easily than we can walk down the street and chat with a neighbor. Such transformations put great pressure on aging legal rules designed for a different era.

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Who Lacks Voter ID?: Evidence from Expert Reports

Posted on by Amy Metzgar

By Joshua Hochberg on January 26, 2022

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Introduction

 

Over the past two decades, voter identification (“ID”) laws have become one of the most hot-button issues in American politics.[1] Recent legislative activity suggests this intensity will not cool soon, as new voter ID laws have been enacted in Arkansas,[2] Florida,[3] Georgia,[4] Montana,[5] and Wyoming.[6] Similar legislation is pending in more than a dozen states,[7] including efforts to enact voter ID laws via statewide ballot measures in Nebraska[8] and Pennsylvania.[9]

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