University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Encyclopedia
University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings or Hastings) is a public
law school
in San Francisco, California
, located in the Civic Center
neighborhood.
Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings
, the first Chief Justice of California, it was the first law school of the University of California
(UC) system and was one of the first law schools established in the Western United States
. It is one of the few university
-affiliated law schools in the United States that does not share its campus with undergraduates
or other graduate programs.
Hastings has a unique relationship with the University of California. In 1878, when Justice Serranus Clinton Hastings
gave $100,000 to the University of California to start the law school bearing his name, he imposed two conditions: the school must remain in San Francisco near the courts; and it could not be governed by the Regents of the University of California
. Thus the school's leader (who holds the dual titles of chancellor
and dean
) must obtain funds directly from the California State Legislature
, unlike other UC institutions, which receive money from the Regents. In a commencement address, Hastings called his school "a temple of law and intellect, which shall never perish, until, in the lapse of time, civilization shall cease, and this fair portion of our country shall be destroyed or become a desert."
In the 1960s, Hastings began the "65 Club," the practice of hiring faculty who had been forced into mandatory retirement at age 65 from Ivy League
and other elite institutions. After the passage of age discrimination laws, however, the "65 Club" slowly phased out, and Hastings hired its last "65 Club" professor in 1998. In the mid-1950s, Newsweek
published a story where then Harvard Law School
dean and jurist
Roscoe Pound
declared, referring to UC Hastings: "Indeed, on the whole, I am inclined to think you have the strongest law faculty in the nation."
UC Hastings campus spreads among three main buildings located near San Francisco's Civic Center:
The campus is within walking distance of the Muni Metro
and Bay Area Rapid Transit
Civic Center/UN Plaza Station. UC Hastings is commonly but affectionately derided by students and alums as being located in the ugliest corner of the most beautiful city in the world. Indeed, the school has been referred to in jest as "UC Tenderloin."
Located within a two-block radius of the campus is the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
, the California Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal for the First District, San Francisco Superior Court, San Francisco City Hall
, United Nations Plaza (and Federal Building Annex), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
, and the Main Library of the San Francisco Public Library
system. The heavy concentration of public buildings within the Civic Center, as well as the high crime rate, result in heavy police presence, and high security, around UC Hastings.
. Pursuant to California law, eight of the directors are appointed by the Governor of California. Pursuant to the UC Hastings constitutive documents, the ninth director must be a direct lineal descendant of UC Hastings founder Clinton Serranus Hastings. The Hastings family member now serving on the board is Claes H. Lewenhaupt.
UC Hastings' detachment from the UC Regents gives it a broad degree of independence in shaping educational and fiscal policies; however, due to a shrinking California education budget, Hastings must also compete for limited educational funds against its fellow UC campuses. Despite the apparent competition among the UC law schools, Hastings was able to maintain its traditionally high standards without having to decrease class size or raise tuition prices to higher levels than fellow UC law schools, until the California budget crisis in June 2009, first raised the possibility of slashing $10 million in state funding.
A few days later, however, lawmakers rejected the harsh budget cut, agreeing to cut only $1 million and apparently preventing dramatic tuition hikes.
Under California law, if the government ever cuts funding to Hastings to below the 19th century figure of $7,000 a year, the state must return the $100,000, plus interest, to the Hastings family. State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has argued that the rejected $10 million budget cut, in abandoning state financial support for the school, would have allowed the Hastings family to launch an expensive court fight to reclaim the $100,000 plus hefty interest.
program with concentrated studies available in seven areas: civil litigation, criminal law, international law, public interest law, taxation, family law, and recently, a new concentration in intellectual property law. Most J.D. students follow a traditional three year plan. During the first year, students take required courses as well as one elective course. In the second and third years, students may take any course or substitute or supplement their courses with judicial externships or internships, judicial clinics, or study abroad. The college also offers a one-year LL.M. degree in U.S. legal studies for students holding law degree
s from foreign law programs. It is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school since 1939.
UC Hastings College of the Law and UCSF Medical School have commenced a joint degree program, and in 2011 will begin enrolling their first class of graduate students in the Master of Studies in Law
(MSL) and LL.M. in Law, Science and Health Policy programs. Students will have coursework available at each institution for fulfillment of the degrees. This program is a component of the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science and Health Policy.
Hastings has a chapter of the Order of the Coif
, a national law school honorary society founded for the purposes of encouraging legal scholarship and advancing the ethical standards of the legal profession. It joined the Association of American Law Schools
(AALS) as a charter member in 1900; it renewed its membership in 1949.
ranks Hastings 42nd among top law schools in the US and as the most diverse
of the four U.S. News & World Report ranked law schools in the UC system. It was listed with a "B+" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students. UC Hastings also has the largest student body and student/faculty ratio of the UC schools.
In January 2011, UC Hastings was given a "B" in the "Best Public Interest Law Schools" listing by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
In 2009, Super Lawyers magazine ranked UC Hastings 11th in terms of law schools that produced the most "Super Lawyers".
According to Brian Leiter
's law school rankings, Hastings ranks 27th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty, on par with USC
. In terms of student quality, Hastings ranks 33rd in the nation by average LSAT score.
According to the Web site "Law School Advocacy," UC Hastings had the No. 3 Moot Court
program in the country in 2010, with Top 5 rankings in each of the last five years.
and The Traynor Reader: Essays, by the Honorable Roger Traynor.
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
law school
Law school in the United States
In the United States, a law school is an institution where students obtain a professional education in law after first obtaining an undergraduate degree.Law schools in the U.S...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, located in the Civic Center
Civic Center, San Francisco, California
The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
neighborhood.
Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings
Serranus Clinton Hastings
Serranus Clinton Hastings was a 19th-century politician and a prominent lawyer in the United States. He studied law as a young man and moved to the Iowa District in 1837 to open a law office. Iowa became a territory a year later, and he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the...
, the first Chief Justice of California, it was the first law school of the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
(UC) system and was one of the first law schools established in the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
. It is one of the few university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
-affiliated law schools in the United States that does not share its campus with undergraduates
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
or other graduate programs.
History
Serranus Clinton Hastings
Serranus Clinton Hastings was a 19th-century politician and a prominent lawyer in the United States. He studied law as a young man and moved to the Iowa District in 1837 to open a law office. Iowa became a territory a year later, and he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the...
gave $100,000 to the University of California to start the law school bearing his name, he imposed two conditions: the school must remain in San Francisco near the courts; and it could not be governed by the Regents of the University of California
Regents of the University of California
The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full members:* The majority are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms....
. Thus the school's leader (who holds the dual titles of chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
and dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
) must obtain funds directly from the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
, unlike other UC institutions, which receive money from the Regents. In a commencement address, Hastings called his school "a temple of law and intellect, which shall never perish, until, in the lapse of time, civilization shall cease, and this fair portion of our country shall be destroyed or become a desert."
In the 1960s, Hastings began the "65 Club," the practice of hiring faculty who had been forced into mandatory retirement at age 65 from Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
and other elite institutions. After the passage of age discrimination laws, however, the "65 Club" slowly phased out, and Hastings hired its last "65 Club" professor in 1998. In the mid-1950s, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
published a story where then Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
dean and jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
Roscoe Pound
Roscoe Pound
Nathan Roscoe Pound was a distinguished American legal scholar and educator. He was Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936...
declared, referring to UC Hastings: "Indeed, on the whole, I am inclined to think you have the strongest law faculty in the nation."
Location
- 200 McAllister Street houses academic space and administrative offices
- 198 McAllister contains mainly classrooms and faculty offices
- 100 McAllister100 McAllister Street100 McAllister Street is a residential apartment tower located in San Francisco, California, owned and operated by the University of California, Hastings College of the Law...
(known casually as "The Tower") is student housing
The campus is within walking distance of the Muni Metro
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
and Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
Civic Center/UN Plaza Station. UC Hastings is commonly but affectionately derided by students and alums as being located in the ugliest corner of the most beautiful city in the world. Indeed, the school has been referred to in jest as "UC Tenderloin."
Located within a two-block radius of the campus is the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San...
, the California Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeal for the First District, San Francisco Superior Court, San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
, United Nations Plaza (and Federal Building Annex), the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world....
, and the Main Library of the San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Francisco. Its main library is located in San Francisco's Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street at Grove. The first public library of San Francisco officially opened in 1879, just 30 years after the California Gold...
system. The heavy concentration of public buildings within the Civic Center, as well as the high crime rate, result in heavy police presence, and high security, around UC Hastings.
Organization and structure
UC Hastings is controlled by a nine-member Board of Directors. The UC Hastings Board of Directors exists independently of, and is not controlled by, the Regents of the University of CaliforniaRegents of the University of California
The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full members:* The majority are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms....
. Pursuant to California law, eight of the directors are appointed by the Governor of California. Pursuant to the UC Hastings constitutive documents, the ninth director must be a direct lineal descendant of UC Hastings founder Clinton Serranus Hastings. The Hastings family member now serving on the board is Claes H. Lewenhaupt.
UC Hastings' detachment from the UC Regents gives it a broad degree of independence in shaping educational and fiscal policies; however, due to a shrinking California education budget, Hastings must also compete for limited educational funds against its fellow UC campuses. Despite the apparent competition among the UC law schools, Hastings was able to maintain its traditionally high standards without having to decrease class size or raise tuition prices to higher levels than fellow UC law schools, until the California budget crisis in June 2009, first raised the possibility of slashing $10 million in state funding.
A few days later, however, lawmakers rejected the harsh budget cut, agreeing to cut only $1 million and apparently preventing dramatic tuition hikes.
Under California law, if the government ever cuts funding to Hastings to below the 19th century figure of $7,000 a year, the state must return the $100,000, plus interest, to the Hastings family. State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) has argued that the rejected $10 million budget cut, in abandoning state financial support for the school, would have allowed the Hastings family to launch an expensive court fight to reclaim the $100,000 plus hefty interest.
Academics
Hastings offers a three year Juris DoctorJuris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
program with concentrated studies available in seven areas: civil litigation, criminal law, international law, public interest law, taxation, family law, and recently, a new concentration in intellectual property law. Most J.D. students follow a traditional three year plan. During the first year, students take required courses as well as one elective course. In the second and third years, students may take any course or substitute or supplement their courses with judicial externships or internships, judicial clinics, or study abroad. The college also offers a one-year LL.M. degree in U.S. legal studies for students holding law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
s from foreign law programs. It is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school since 1939.
UC Hastings College of the Law and UCSF Medical School have commenced a joint degree program, and in 2011 will begin enrolling their first class of graduate students in the Master of Studies in Law
Master of Studies in Law
A Master of Studies in Law is a master's degree offered by some law schools to students who wish to study the law but do not want to become attorneys. M.S.L. programs typically last one academic year and put students through the same regimen as a first-year J.D. student. M.S.L...
(MSL) and LL.M. in Law, Science and Health Policy programs. Students will have coursework available at each institution for fulfillment of the degrees. This program is a component of the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science and Health Policy.
Hastings has a chapter of the Order of the Coif
Order of the Coif
The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...
, a national law school honorary society founded for the purposes of encouraging legal scholarship and advancing the ethical standards of the legal profession. It joined the Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...
(AALS) as a charter member in 1900; it renewed its membership in 1949.
Rankings
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
ranks Hastings 42nd among top law schools in the US and as the most diverse
Diversity (politics)
In the political arena, the term diversity is used to describe political entities with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles....
of the four U.S. News & World Report ranked law schools in the UC system. It was listed with a "B+" in the March 2011 "Diversity Honor Roll" by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students. UC Hastings also has the largest student body and student/faculty ratio of the UC schools.
In January 2011, UC Hastings was given a "B" in the "Best Public Interest Law Schools" listing by The National Jurist: The Magazine for Law Students.
In 2009, Super Lawyers magazine ranked UC Hastings 11th in terms of law schools that produced the most "Super Lawyers".
According to Brian Leiter
Brian Leiter
Brian Leiter is an American philosopher and legal scholar who is currently John Wilson Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, and founder and Director of Chicago's new Center for Law, Philosophy, and Human Values and the editor of the Philosophical Gourmet Report. He taught from...
's law school rankings, Hastings ranks 27th in the nation in terms of scholarly impact as measured by academic citations of tenure-stream faculty, on par with USC
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
. In terms of student quality, Hastings ranks 33rd in the nation by average LSAT score.
According to the Web site "Law School Advocacy," UC Hastings had the No. 3 Moot Court
Moot court
A moot court is an extracurricular activity at many law schools in which participants take part in simulated court proceedings, usually to include drafting briefs and participating in oral argument. The term derives from Anglo Saxon times, when a moot was a gathering of prominent men in a...
program in the country in 2010, with Top 5 rankings in each of the last five years.
Bar passage rates
Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 80.8% of Hastings Law graduates passed the California State Bar.Post-graduation employment
Based on a 2001-2007 6 year average, 93.9% of Hastings Law graduates were employed 9 months after graduation.Publications
Inaugurated in 1997 as the publishing department at UC Hastings, the O'Brien Center for Scholarly Publications publishes nine journals on various aspects of the law. The oldest journal out of the nine is the Hastings Law Journal, which was founded in 1949. The O'Brien Center also has published two books: Forgive Us Our Press Passes, by Daniel SchorrDaniel Schorr
Daniel Louis Schorr was an American journalist who covered world news for more than 60 years. He was most recently a Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio...
and The Traynor Reader: Essays, by the Honorable Roger Traynor.
- Hastings Law Journal
- Hastings Business Law Journal
- Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal
- Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly
- Hastings International and Comparative Law Review
- Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal
- Hastings Women's Law Journal
- West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy
- Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal
Alumni
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(1967) - California State SenateCalifornia State SenateThe California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
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(1985) - The Public Defender of San Francisco - Jeffrey Amestoy (1972) - Former Chief Justice of The Vermont Supreme Court
- Daniel BalsamDaniel BalsamDaniel Balsam is an American lawyer best known for his lawsuits against e-mail spammers for violations of internet spam laws. Balsam has been filing lawsuits against spammers since 2002 and has earned over $1 million in court judgments. By filing lawsuits, Balsam aims to publicize the names of the...
(2008) - Internet lawyer and lobbyist - Marvin Baxter (1966) - Associate JusticeAssociate JusticeAssociate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
of the California Supreme CourtSupreme Court of CaliforniaThe Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:... - Joseph T. BockrathJoseph T. BockrathJoseph Thurston Bockrath is the R. Gordon Kean Professor of Law at the LSU Law Center. He joined the faculty in 1976 following three years as an Assistant Professor of Marine Studies at the College of Marine Studies at the University of Delaware...
- Professor of Law at LSU Law Center - Lloyd BraunLloyd Braun (media executive)Lloyd Braun is a television and Internet media executive who currently runs the entertainment firm BermanBraun.-Early life and career:Braun earned his B.A. from Vassar College in 1980, and his law degree from Hastings College of the Law in 1983...
(1983) - former media executive with Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
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and MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of San Francisco - Melvin Brunetti (1964) - Senior Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Richard BryanRichard BryanRichard Hudson "Dick" Bryan is an American politician. He served as the 25th Governor of the U.S. state of Nevada from 1983 to 1989. He is a former United States Senator from Nevada. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:...
(1963) - former U.S. Senator and Governor of Nevada - James S. BubarJames S. BubarJames S. "Jim" Bubar is a Democratic candidate for US Representative from the District of Columbia to the United States Congress....
(1978) - Democratic candidate for US (Shadow) Representative from the District of Columbia - Ed CaseEd CaseEdward Espenett "Ed" Case is a Democratic politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Case, a Blue Dog Democrat, first came to prominence in Hawaii as majority leader of the Hawaii State Legislature and for his campaign for Governor of Hawaii in 2002...
(1981) - U.S. CongressmanUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
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) - Christopher DardenChristopher DardenChristopher Allen Darden is an American lawyer, writer, lecturer and practicing attorney. He was a 15-year veteran of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, where he was assigned to the prosecution of O.J. Simpson. Darden gained fame during the O.J...
(1980) - prosecutorProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
in O.J. Simpson trial - Sean ElsberndSean ElsberndSean Elsbernd is an American politician currently representing District 7 for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. District 7 includes neighborhoods west of Twin Peaks, the Villas at Parkmerced, Lake Merced, Harding Park Golf Course, San Francisco State University, City College of San...
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- Terence HallinanTerence HallinanTerence Hallinan is an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He is the second of six sons born to leftist attorney Vincent Hallinan and his wife Vivian....
(1964) - San Francisco District Attorney - Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisKamala Devi Harris is an American attorney. She is the 32nd and current Attorney General of California following the 2010 California state elections. Harris has worked as an author and a politician and has served as District Attorney of San Francisco since 2004...
(1990) - Attorney General of California - Bob Hertzberg (1979) - former Speaker of the California State AssemblyCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
and Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
mayoral candidate - William Robert Holcomb (1950) - longest serving Mayor of San Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Bernardino, CaliforniaSan Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
- Michael HuttnerMichael HuttnerMichael Huttner is an attorney, author and activist and is the founder of ProgressNow a network of progressive communication organizations in 12 American states with over 2.4 million online members.-Founder of ProgressNow:...
(1995) - progressive activist and founder of ProgressNow - Vicki IovineVicki IovineVicki McCarty Iovine is an American model, writer, and lawyer.-Biography:Iovine received her undergraduate degree in Journalism from University of California, Berkeley. She earned a law degree from Hastings College of the Law and an LL.B...
(1980) - Playboy Playmate, author - Gregg JarrettGregg JarrettGregory Walter "Gregg" Jarrett is an American news anchor for Fox News Channel.Joining the network in November 2002, he co-anchors weekend newscasts with Julie Banderas and serves as a substitute anchor weekdays...
(1980) - Anchor, Fox News Channel - Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson - founder of Shakey's Pizza
- Bernie C. LaForteza (1990) - Judge, Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County
- Otto LeeOtto LeeOtto O. Lee has been a Sunnyvale, California city council member since 2003, before which he was on the Planning Commission, which he chaired from 2000 to 2001. From 2005 to 2006 he was Vice Mayor and from 2006 to 2007 the 57th Mayor...
(1994) - Mayor of Sunnyvale - Robert Matsui (1966) - U.S. CongressmanUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from California's 5th Congressional District (SacramentoSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
) - Wiley Manuel (1953) - Justice of the California Supreme Court
- Rodney MelvilleRodney MelvilleRodney Melville is a presiding judge in Santa Barbara County's superior court. He is most notable for being the judge in Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestion trial, in which Jackson was acquitted.-Biography:...
- US judge, notable for presiding over the People v. JacksonPeople v. JacksonPeople vs. Jackson was a 2005 trial involving recording artist Michael Jackson. The accuser was a boy, Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged crimes...
case - Thomas MesereauThomas MesereauThomas Arthur Mesereau, Jr. is an American attorney best known for defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial.-The Robert Blake murder trial:...
(1979) - criminal defense attorney with a star-studded client list, including Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Robert BlakeRobert Blake (actor)Robert Blake is an American actor who starred in the film In Cold Blood and the U.S. television series Baretta. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted for the 2001 murder of his wife, but on November 18, 2005, Blake was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death.-Early... - Nicholas G. MooreNicholas G. MooreNicholas G. Moore is currently a director at Wells Fargo & Company and retired chairman and chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers.Moore received his BS degree in accounting from St. Mary's College of California and his JD degree from University of California Hastings College of the Law...
(1967) - Chairman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers - George MosconeGeorge MosconeGeorge Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
(1957) - assassinated Mayor of San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland... - Paula A. NakayamaPaula A. NakayamaPaula A. Nakayama of Honolulu, Hawaii is Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court. She served her first term from 1993 to 2003. She is currently serving her second term which lasts from 2003 to 2013. At a young age, Nakayama moved to San Jose, California where she graduated from...
(1979) - Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme CourtHawaii State Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions of the trial courts in which appeals have been granted... - Andrew Downey Orrick (1947) - former Acting Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and son of William Horsley Orrick, Sr. of the law firm Orrick, Herrington & SutcliffeOrrick, Herrington & SutcliffeOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is an international law firm founded in San Francisco. Orrick traces its roots back to 1863, making it the oldest continuously-operating law firm in San Francisco, and the second-oldest privately-held company in San Francisco after Levi Strauss & Co....
, where he also worked - Mario R. RamilMario R. RamilMario R. Ramil was an Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court and was the second Filipino American in the United States to rise to the office. He served his tenure from 1993 to 2002....
(1975) - Associate Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court - Robert Rigsby (1986) - Associate Justice in the D.C. Superior Court
- George R. RobertsGeorge R. RobertsGeorge R. Roberts is an American financier and was one of the three original partners of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. , which he co-founded alongside Jerome Kohlberg and first cousin Henry Kravis in 1976.-Biography:...
(1969) - co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts Company - Kevin Shelley (1980) - 28th California Secretary of StateCalifornia Secretary of StateThe Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...
- Jackie SpeierJackie SpeierKaren Lorraine Jacqueline "Jackie" Speier is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco.She is also a former member of the California State...
(1976) - U.S. CongresswomanUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution... - Todd SpitzerTodd SpitzerTodd Spitzer is a former California State Assemblyman, Orange County Supervisor, Assistant District Attorney in Orange County, long-time Victims’ Rights advocate and current advisor to Marsy’s Law for All, the organization formed after the 2008 passage of California’s Victims' Bill of Rights Act of...
(1989) - California State AssemblyCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
man - Timothy TauTimothy TauTimothy Tau is an American Writer and Filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 Hyphen Asian American Short Story Contest for his short story, "The Understudy", which was published in the Winter 2011 issue of Hyphen , Issue No...
(2007) - Writer and Filmmaker - Nancy TellemNancy TellemNancy Tellem currently serves as Sr. Advisor to the CEO, CBS Corp. She is most recently the President of CBS Network Television Entertainment.-Legal/TV Career:...
(1979) - CBS Entertainment President - Richard ThalheimerRichard ThalheimerRichard Thalheimer is founder, and former CEO and chairman, of The Sharper Image Corporation.-Early life:Thalheimer's family settled in Arkansas before the American Civil War and started a livery business. Thalheimer was raised in Little Rock. After graduating from Hall High School in Little...
(1974) - CEO and Founder of The Sharper ImageThe Sharper ImageThe Sharper Image is an American product brand, formerly associated with a defunct retail company, now licensed for use on consumer electronics and gift products.... - Tom UmbergTom UmbergThomas John Umberg is a U.S. politician, who was a Democrat in the California State Assembly, representing the 69th District.-Military service and family:...
(1980) - California State Assemblyman - Ann VenemanAnn VenemanAnn Margaret Veneman is the former Executive Director of UNICEF, a position she held from 2005 to 2010. Her appointment was announced on January 18, 2005 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Previously, Veneman was the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the first and only woman to hold that...
(1976) - 27th U.S. Secretary of AgricultureUnited States Secretary of AgricultureThe United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
, Executive Director of UNICEF - Adam WassermanAdam WassermanAdam Wasserman is a founder of ExamSoft, an examination software used nationwide for law school and state bar examinations. Wasserman first co-designed and developed ExamSoft examination software. Before creating ExamSoft, he developed a marketing campaign for the sale and distribution of...
(1995) - Founder of ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc.
Faculty
Current
- Bill DodgeBill DodgeFor the English footballer see Bill Dodge Professor William S. Dodge was born in Nigeria, where his parents were stationed while serving in the Peace Corps. Shortly after he was born, his family returned to the Marin headlands, in California, where Bill spent the remainder of his childhood...
- Roger ParkRoger ParkRoger C. Park is a law professor at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, California, who specializes in evidence. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Case Editor of the Harvard Law Review. He has also served as a law clerk for...
- Joseph GrodinJoseph GrodinJoseph R. Grodin is a lawyer and former appellate and Supreme Court judge in the state of California.-Biography:Grodin is a graduate from the University of California in Berkeley and from Yale University...
- Geoffrey Hazard
- Ethan LeibEthan LeibEthan J. Leib is a law professor at Fordham Law School. He is the author of several books, including Deliberative Democracy in America: A Proposal for a Popular Branch of Government....
- Ugo MatteiUgo MatteiUgo Mattei is the Alfred and Hanna Fromm Professor of International and Comparative Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco, California and a full Professor of Civil Law in the University of Turin, Italy...
The Sixty-Five Club
- William ProsserWilliam ProsserWilliam Lloyd Prosser was the Dean of the College of Law at UC Berkeley from 1948 to 1961. Prosser authored several editions of Prosser on Torts, universally recognized as the leading work on the subject of tort law for a generation. It is still widely used today, now known as Prosser and Keeton...
, Torts - Rudolf SchlesingerRudolf SchlesingerRudolf Berthold Schlesinger was a German-born American legal scholar known for his contributions to the study of comparative law, a discipline that examines the differences and similarities among the legal systems of nations....
, International & Comparative Law - Julius StoneJulius StoneJulius Stone was Challis Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney from 1942 to 1972, and thereafter a visiting Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales and concurrently Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the Hastings...
, Jurisprudence & International Law - Roger Traynor - Former California Supreme Court Justice
- Raymond Sullivan - Former California Supreme Court Justice
- Arthur GoldbergArthur GoldbergArthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
- Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Hastings in popular culture
- Christian Legal Society v. MartinezChristian Legal Society v. MartinezChristian Legal Society v. Martinez, 561 U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2971, 177 L.Ed.2d 838 , is a June 28, 2010, decision by the United States Supreme Court...
, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case, arose from events at UC Hastings in 2003. - Lindsey McDonaldLindsey McDonaldLindsey McDonald is a fictional character from the television series Angel. He first appeared in the series' first episode, "City of," and featured prominently in the story arcs of seasons one, two, and five. Lindsey is the only character besides Angel himself to appear in both the first and last...
, an attorney at the demonic law firm Wolfram and HartWolfram and HartWolfram & Hart − Attorneys at Law is a fictional international, and interdimensional law firm featured in the television series Angel, as well as other extended materials in Joss Whedon's Buffyverse.-Fictional history:...
in the television show AngelAngel (TV series)Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
, was a Hastings alum