CannonFodder

 The Class of 2012 was joined by family and friends, founding donors, volunteers, and administrators for a celebratory dinner and ceremony honoring those who worked for many years to make the School of Law a reality.  The critical roles of Chancellor Michael Drake and Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost Michael Gottfredson were acknowledged with crystal gavels.  The years of work by the core volunteers were acknowledged with plaques: Mark Robinson, Hon. Andrew Guilford, Thomas Malcolm (accepted by his sister, Mary Ford), Gary Singer, James Irvine Swinden, and Senator Joseph Dunn.  

A marvelous weekend of celebrating the 58 graduates of our inaugural class, culminating in the Saturday ceremony featuring keynote speaker Hon. Harry Edwards and Jean Su ’12.  No better culmination of four years of loving labor!

The John S. & Marilyn Long U.S.-China Institute for Business and Law formally launched during a signing ceremony at Fudan University, Shanghai. 

Fudan and UC Irvine agreed to develop student and faculty exchanges, create a think-tank for practical solutions to U.S.-China investment challenges, and implement a 3-year initiative to further bilateral unerstanding of Intellectual Property / Innovation in both countries.

The second academic year wrapped up with an awards ceremony honoring the recipients of external scholarships and 2010-11 student pro bono work.  And there was a great deal to celebrate:

89% (127 of 142) of UC Irvine  Law Students did at least some pro bono during the 2010-11 academic year.
86% of 2L’s (52 students)
92% of 1L’s  (77 students)

UC Irvine Law students completed more than 4,400 hours of pro bono work over the past 12 months.  These hours were entirely legal work, since students do note count travel time or training and orientation hours.

25 students (6 2L’s and 19 1L’s) completed at least double the recommended hours.

UC Irvine Law students participated in 69 different pro bono projects over the past 12 months.

THE FIRST ROUND of the inaugural EXPERIAN / Jones Day Moot Court Competition opened February 15th.  Sixteen members of the School of Law’s first class are competing in brief writing and oral argument, mooting a current case before the US Supreme Court, Al-Aulaqi v. Obama.  The final round, to which the public is invited, will take place March 30th in the Mark P. Robinson, Jr. Courtroom.

– CGC

Together with five first year students, I accepted the invitation of the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County to attend the 2010 Red Mass.  The mass was followed by a legal community dinner, at the beginning of which I was graciously asked to share a few words about my arrival at the School of Law.  By the end of the evening it became clear that our students are ready to establish a school chapter, and now have a number of supporters eager to act as sponsors.

– CGC

Enabled by a generous lead gift from Mark Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson, Dean Chemerinsky announced to the public that all students in UCI Law’s third incoming class will receive at least a 1/3 scholarship for all three years of law school.   

The well timed announcement came not only as part of the 2010-11 admissions cycle; it was made mid-way through the School’s first ABA accreditation site visit.   Thank you, Mark, from the future students of the Class of 2014!

– CGC

The inaugural Al Meyerhoff Lecture in Public Interest Law featured remarks by Connie Rice.  Made possible by Marcia Brandwynne, the annual lecture launched in spectacular style, rallying students and practitioners to the ideals that brought them to seek justice and access. 

For photos and video of the Connie Rice Al Meyerhoff Lecture, and also of the Mark P. Robinson Jr. Lecture by Burt Neuborne in April 2010, go to our Distinguished Lectures page.

– CGC

In commemoration of the founding year of UC Irvine School of Law and in acknowledgment of the generous donors who made so much of it possible, the Founders Wall has been installed in the of the lobby of the law library.   Students and visitors are quick to find donors they recognize.

– CGC

UCI School of Law is working closely with The Newkirk Center for Science & Society, led by Professor Joseph DiMento. Professor DiMento shares joint appointments with the School of Law and the School of Social Ecology (pictured hosting The Newkirk Center table at the recent UCI Medal Dinner). Working with Liz Eastin, Professor DiMento recently staged an international symposium on marine and fresh water conservation. 

Professors from UCLA Law and multiple UCI departments will present a forensic science forum, “Badly Fragmented: When Courts and Science Clash,”  October 19, 4:00 p.m.
E-mail newkirckcenter@uci.edu to RSVP.

– CGC

The John and Marilyn Long U.S.-China Institute for Business and Law is now housed in the UCI MPAA law suite. Donor John Long presented the office keys to interim co-directors Professor John Graham and Professor Archie Kleingartner on August 25.  Recruitment now begins in earnest for the permanent director and executive director. 

– CGC

In celebration of the end of our first academic year, Mark Robinson, of Robinson Calcagnie Robinson, is publishing multiple appearances of a full page notice in the Orange County Business Journal, congratulating students, faculty and staff–and inviting the public to support our ambitious scholarship program.  From all of us at UCI Law, thank you, Mark!

– CGC

Reports are inadequate at introducing the vibrancy of Shanghai, local universities and firms included.  The business, law and journalism schools of Fudan University have been extremely gracious in their welcome; so too Jiao Tong University’s KoGuan Law School and Antai College of Economics & Management.
 

Can we mention the architecture too often? Of business towers, shops, housing, and, yes, university buildings?  Does everywhere else now appear staid by comparison?  

–CGC

How graciously LG Electronics has hosted us here in Beijing! Thanks to Nam Woo and Sang Hoon Lee, all doors – and restaurants – have been opened to the UCI envoy.

We are determined to create a truly bilateral collaboration between Chinese and U.S. universities to organize the Long Institute’s research focus.

Meetings with Tsinghua University, The People’s Universityof China, China University of Political Science & Law, China Daily, and Guangming Daily have confirmed the need for an entity serving both sides of the Pacific.

–CGC

As UC Irvine prepares to establish the U.S.-China business and law institute, an exploratory envoy is discussing the optimal bilateral approach with universities and corporations in Hong Kong and the mainland.  Here with Archie Kleingartner, Allison Long, John Long,  Marilyn Long,  and Chia-Wei Woo, founding president of Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Professor Woo, as a former president of SF State and provost of UCSD, has provided prominent contacts throughout Hong Kong and China.  Certainly one of the most influential, he also may be the most charming man in China!

–CGC