UCI law faculty presented

UCI announced its “dream team” founding faculty Thursday for the university’s new law school, which plans to welcome its first students in fall 2009.

The group of teachers come from various institutions and backgrounds from across the United States, and school officials hope they will bring leadership to the law school, founding Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said.

“These outstanding individuals, each of whom comes directly from — or has taught at — a top-tier school, form the foundation for creating one of America’s best schools of law, an effort that will begin the day we open its doors,” Chemerinsky said.

Many of the faculty have already moved in at UCI and are preparing the school before it admits its first students.

The person who will coordinate admission, Victoria Ortiz, has moved from UC Berkeley.

“We are excited to be getting off the ground,” Ortiz said. “As far as I am concerned, the law school is about the students. If we don’t have students around, it gets pretty lonely.”

Ortiz made the decision to leave Berkeley to fill a similar capacity at UCI as the assistant dean of student services and director of admissions because this was a chance to build something from the ground up.

“This is the kind of opportunity that doesn’t present itself every day,” she said. “How could you say no to that?”

Ortiz added that the chance to work with Chemerinsky, as well as the team of faculty he has brought in, made the job worthwhile.

To learn more about the UCI School of Law, go to www.law.uci.edu.

For photos of the new faculty, click here.

FOUNDING FACULTY OF UCI’S LAW SCHOOL

 Rebecca Avila, assistant dean of administration and finance. Avila is coming to UCI after serving as the senior associate dean of administration and finance at USC Annenberg School for Communication.

 Rex Bossert, director of communications and public affairs. One of the two journalists getting on board at UCI, he is the former editor in chief of the National Law Journal.

 Dan L. Burk, professor. Formerly a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, Burk is an expert in cyber law and biotechnology.

 Charles Cannon, assistant dean of development and external affairs. Cannon is leaving after 19 years of work at UCLA, where he held numerous jobs, including in alumni relations, communications and special events.

 Linda R. Cohen, professor. An associate dean at UCI for research and graduate studies, Cohen will offer expertise in government regulation and policy for research and innovation.

 Joseph F.C. DiMento, professor. DiMento is a professor of planning, policy and design, and director of Newkirk Center for Science and Society. He has written 10 books on environmental law and urban planning.

 Catherine Fisk, professor. Fisk was a faculty member at the Duke University School of Law before coming to UCI. Fisk’s focus will be on her expertise in labor and employment law, as well as civil rights law.

 Carrie Hempel, professor and dean of clinical education and service learning programs. Hempel was directing attorney for the USC Post-Conviction Justice Project.

 Trina Jones, professor. Co-editor of “Law and Class in America: Trends Since the Cold War,” Jones had taught at Duke University School of Law since 1995. She has focused her work on discrimination in law and civil procedure.

 Elizabeth Loftus, professor. Currently a professor of psychology at UCI, Loftus has testified as an expert and consulted in many high-profile cases.

 Carrie Menkel-Meadow, professor. A professor at Georgetown University since 1996, she hopes students at UCI will be eager to learn about how they can help solve world issues like poverty, environmental degradation and discrimination. An expert is in dispute resolution, she has trained lawyers, judges, diplomats and mediators in the U.S. and five continents.

 Rachel Moran, professor. Leaving her job as a professor at UC Berkeley, Moran is the incoming president of the Assn. of American Law Schools and an expert in education and law, diversity and civil rights.

 Victoria Ortiz, assistant dean of student services and director of admissions. Held a similar position at UC Berkeley School of Law.

 Ann Southworth, professor. Southworth did research on law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and plans to release her book “Lawyers of the Right: Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition” soon. The book will discuss the class and cultural conflict among lawyers as she is interested in the social role lawyers play.

 Beatrice A. Tice, professor and associate dean of library and information services. Formerly chief librarian and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Tice plans to have librarians function as partners in the law community, rather than the traditional role of service providers. Tice is from Newport Beach and has practiced law in Orange County.

 Grace C. Tonner, professor and associate dean of lawyering skills. Tonner is the director of the Legal Practice Program at the University of Michigan Law School, and has spoken around the world at conferences on legal writing and has been published on the topic.

 Kerry Vandell, professor. Already a business professor at UCI, Vandell brings his knowledge of real estate finance, economics and other business practices to the school.

 Henry Weinstein, professor. Weinstein was a legal affairs writer for the Los Angeles Times for 30 years and was a winner of Columbia University’s John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism. He earned his law degree from UC Berkeley in 1969.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].