People

Meet the Law Library

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We’re down on LL1 and LL2 in the fancy, newish part of the law school. Our Director is Kathleen Vanden Heuvel who you can find in Rm. 216 near the Dean’s Office. Our Associate Directors are Marci Hoffman and Michael Levy. Marci is also the Foreign and International Law expert while Michael teaches Advanced Legal Research.

Then there are the Reference Librarians, Dean Rowan (Director), Marlene Harmon, I-Wei Wang, Joe Cera, Romona Collins, Janice Kelly, Keri Klein and Edna Lewis. Currently we also have 2 fabulous student research assistants, Maia Livengood (2L) and Gus Tupper (2L). We staff the ref desk, answer faculty and student research questions, teach legal research, maintain the law school’s institutional repository, and most importantly fill the candy bowl.

Ref Desk Staffers I-Wei Wang, Ramona Collins, Keri Klein (seated), and Marlene Harmon

Our back office has our Collection Services folks who you may not see but make the trains run on time. They handle ordering books and other materials, cataloging the stuff, and making sure everything is available on the shelves or via the website. These include catalogers Chris Tarr (head of cataloging), Enedina Vera, Irina Migal, and Shelly McLaughlin.

Catalogers Shelly McLaughlin, Chris Tarr, and Irina Migal

Our acquisitions/serials/conservation/stacks staff are Joaquin Clay, Precy Garcez, Oliver Kay, Monique Macauley, Kathy Renfro, and Blanca Sanchez.

Collection Services Joaquin Clay, Monique Macauley, Kathy Renfro, Oliver Kay, and Precy Garcez

The Circulation people who manage the circ desk (and our wonderful student workers) are Ramona Collins and Doug Avila.

The Computing folks are Mike Lindsey (Director of Web Development), Allison Cogen and Thomas Lee. Thomas also handles library administration and budget monitoring.

The Law Journal staff are Kira Abrams and Maria Vidal-Manou who work with the law school’s 13 student journals. Kevin Durkin-Oritz is the managing editor of the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, a multilingual legal journal index covers over 500 journals published worldwide .

What else do we do? Publish the semiannual book list (we want your reviews!), throw the new student party every August, hand out morale boosting donuts and cookies on holidays, provide study break puzzles and games stations throughout the law library, create research guides (including a student wellness guide), curate the popular reading and law in movies collections, organize the annual Faculty Book celebration, and so much more. As the adage goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover so come down and see us sometime.

Latest Faculty News

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Sonia Katyal has been selected to participate in the inaugural Berkeley Faculty Leadership Academy in Spring 2019. The Academy is “intended for tenured faculty who are interested in developing skills and knowledge for leadership on the Berkeley campus.”

To celebrate world refugee day on June 20, Katerina Linos and her research group launched the web site Digital Refuge. Katerina describes Digital Refuge as “an interactive mapping project that presents refugees’ experiences in their own words. With the help of many students who speak Arabic and Farsi, we mapped and analyzed multiple sources, including more than 6,000 in-person interviews and more than 10,000 social media posts from Facebook, to tell the story of displaced persons caught up in the refugee crisis.” Check it out!

Governor Brown has appointed Jordan Diamond, CLEE Executive Director and Co-Director of the Law of the Sea Institute, as one of two public representatives on the state’s Ocean Protection Council, whose mission is to “ensure that California maintains healthy, resilient, and productive ocean and coastal ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations.”

Eric Biber‘s ongoing project analyzing the relative impact of state environmental review procedures and local land use regulations on limiting housing development in California was featured in a segment of Capital Public Radio’s California Report.

Catherine Crump and clinical teaching fellow Megan Graham penned an op-ed in the SF Chronicle on the Supreme Court’s decision in Carpenter v. US, holding that the government needs a warrant to get access to cell phone location records.

Professor Robert Cooter honored at the Berkeley Law Citation Award Celebration

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Bob Cooter received the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award at the Citation Award Celebration last month. Alumni Noel Nellis ’66 and Quyen Ta ’03 received the Citation Award and the Young Alumni Award, respectively. When Dean Erwin Chemerinsky presented the award to Professor Cooter, he declared that, “If there was a Hall of Fame for law professors, Robert Cooter is someone who would be chosen on the first ballot. … Very few professors can say they’re responsible for creating a new field, but he did it with law and economics.” Bob responded: “Every morning I get up and say, ‘Today, I get to do exactly what I want to do.’ It’s the greatest job in the world.” Bob has taught at Berkeley Law since 1980.
Berkeley Law honors our faculty and alumni at the Citation Award Celebration each year. For more information on the award, see https://www.law.berkeley.edu/alumni/citation-award-ceremony/past-award-recipients

Prof. Nancy Lemon’s new book

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The fifth edition of Nancy Lemon’s seminal textbook, Domestic Violence Law, has been published by West Academic Publishing. Nancy’s expertise in the field includes creating and teaching the first law school class on the subject beginning in 1988 here at Berkeley Law.

The book covers many topics in 17 chapters, including the US legal system’s historical approach to domestic violence, statistics, different theories about causes of this epidemic, cultures without domestic violence, and how domestic violence impacts different groups differently (ethnic and religious groups, GLBTQ, and disabled people). It also includes chapters on torts, restraining orders, children, alternative dispute resolution, marital rape, law enforcement, prosecution, survivors of abuse as criminal defendants, judges, federal laws, housing/employment/public benefits, and ends with international human rights and asylum.)

A New Phase

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Our wonderful CFO, Drew Knab, will be leaving at the end of December to become the Associate Vice Chancellor for Financial and Business Services at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. This is a significant career advance for Drew and also allows him to be closer to his family in the Chicago area. Drew has done a terrific job as our CFO at a time of challenging budgets and changes in leadership at Berkeley Law. Please join me in wishing Drew all the best in the next phase of his career.

Dean Chemerinsky

Comings & Goings

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This time of year generates many opportunities to reflect on all we are thankful for and to give thanks. For the Berkeley Law HR team, it’s also a time of change.

For the past six years, Stephanie Tang has been an outstanding member of our team. Those who have worked closely with her know how incredibly gracious and generous she has been in supporting non-senate academic appointees. Her exceptional knowledge and customer service has served hundreds of employees each semester, but on December 1 Stephanie will leave Berkeley Law to assume a leadership role at Campus Shared Services (CSS).

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Welcome Wagon

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A shout-out to the “Welcome Wagon” idea and the committee. I was pleasantly surprised to be contacted by Farrah Fanara, office manager in the clinical program, explaining that she had been paired with me. We met last week and, double-surprise, the law school paid for our coffee and gifted me with a Zeb card. I am a retiree, working on a limited basis in Jewish Law and Israel Studies, and I appreciate the hospitality and collegiality I’ve experienced since joining the law school, albeit temporarily.

Submitted by: Diane Sprouse

 

Berkeley Law Board Gaming Group

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Do you destroy at Dominion? Concuss at Catan? Terrify at Ticket to Ride?

Then, please, calm down.

Do you like these games? Other board games? Want to hang out with people who like board games?

Then join us! We play during lunch hours and after work at whatever times fit into people’s schedules.

Our mailing list is here.  Submitted by: Montie Magree

Medieval Character Sighted in Registrar’s Office

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On October 31, Trick-or-Treaters descended upon the law school, and many were decorated in fanciful costumes. If you happened into the Registrar’s Office, you may have encountered the medieval personality, an unnamed Halloween reveler, with a remarkable resemblance to Edwin Bish.

Rumor has it Edwin was the designer and tailor of this elaborate outfit.  This only exhibits just another one of his many talents.

Baby Theo Arrives!

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Jordan Diamond and Alex Vargas became proud parents last month, welcoming Theo Thomas Vargas into the world. He was born at 8.5 pounds, hitting the charts at 21″ and with a full mop of hair. The new family is settled in at home, and they are all well and very happy.

Submitted by: Anonymous