This ranking underscores our deep commitment to hands-on learning, public service, and training the next generation of lawyers.

Experiential learning is at the heart of our curriculum at UC Irvine Law. Through our clinics, externships, pro bono program, moot court and lawyering skills program, our students gain real-world legal experience for any legal practice.

UC Irvine Law ranked No. 9 with an A+ for practical training by National Jurist/preLaw Magazine (Spring 2026), shown over a campus building with pink flowering trees.

UC Irvine Law ranked No. 9 in the U.S. for Best Law Schools for Practical Training by preLaw Magazine (Spring 2026)! We’re proud to have consistently placed in the top 15 in this ranking.

View the full list of rankings: nationaljurist.com/best-law-sch...

UC Irvine Giving Day April 28, 2026

Save the Date: UC Irvine Law Giving Day is April 28! Support students, clinics, and public interest work — with matches from generous alumni & supporters. 💙

givingday.uci.edu/law

Drawing on decades of research, Prof. Loftus explained that exposure to AI-generated images or video can influence memory and contribute to false recollections.

The Memory Maker - Longreads OpenAI's Sora allowed you to deepfake yourself. Users started to remember things that never happened.

Professor Elizabeth Loftus was interviewed in a @longreads.com article exploring how emerging AI tools are reshaping human memory and perception. longreads.com/2026/04/09/o...

“Time Is So Precious” - Pedro Figueroa interviewed by Sameer Ashar - Inquest Organizer Pedro Figueroa recounts working while being held in immigration detention, where he earned as little as $1 a day and helped to organize historic labor actions against for-profit prison compa...

The case saw initial progress before new leadership at the NRLB decided to stop pursuing it.

In the interview, Pedro reflects on organizing efforts inside detention, the conditions workers faced and the legal challenges that followed — read the full piece: inquest.org/time-is-so-p...

A legal team led by Prof. Ashar, including clinic students, worked in collaboration with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and argued that the workers’ actions were protected under the National Labor Relations Act and that GEO had engaged in unlawful retaliation.

Pedro helped lead a labor strike at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center and was placed in solitary confinement by private prison operator GEO Group.

Professor @sameer-ashar.bsky.social, who leads UC Irvine Law’s Workers and Tenants Law and Organizing Clinic, co-authored a new piece in Inquest and interviewed clinic client Pedro Figueroa-Padilla, who was detained at an immigration detention center in Bakersfield.

📸 Pictured above with Professor Penelope Andrews (New York Law School), symposium organizer, Director of the Racial Justice Project, and former president of the Law and Society Association.

The daylong event explored challenges to the rule of law and democracy, including threats to electoral integrity, judicial independence, and the erosion of trust in institutions.

Professor Mario Barnes delivered the keynote address at New York Law School’s symposium, “Constitutionalism, the Rule of Law, and Democracy: A Retrospective on Jack Balkin’s Impact,” examining Yale Law professor Jack Balkin’s influence on constitutional law and democratic governance.

Drawing on his book, “Insuring Cyberinsecurity: Insurance Companies as Symbolic Regulators” (University of California Press 2025), the article examines how insurers are shaping cybersecurity practices and offers policy recommendations.

Professor Shauhin Talesh has published “Can Cyber Insurance Companies Provide Cybersecurity?” in The Brief, the journal of the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section.

www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_...

Hungarian ‘Regime Change’ Is Both Dangerous and Necessary I can’t remember ever hearing the winner of a democratic election stand in front of the cameras after their victory to promise “regime change.” A new dawn or era, yes. Hope, transformation, integrity,...

Professor @davidakaye.bsky.social, a U.S. member of the Venice Commission and former United Nations Special Rapporteur, is quoted in a @opinion.bloomberg.com column on Hungary’s post-election moment.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Hear from these students about their experience at UC Irvine Law: news.law.uci.edu/2026/04/06/l...

Among those in attendance were three UC Irvine Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) students from Mexico — Daniela Chavez, Miryam Figueroa and Estefanía Soto — who met with Consul Baltazar to discuss the Law School’s programs and their own experiences.

UC Irvine Law Q&A on LL.M. students transitioning from practicing law in Mexico to studying at UC Irvine Law, with four women standing together in an office.

In December, UC Irvine School of Law welcomed Maxaira Baltazar, the Consul of Mexico in Santa Ana, for a meeting focused on deepening ties between the two institutions — including potential scholarship pathways, pro bono projects, and experiential learning opportunities for law students from Mexico.

Led by Executive Director Robert S. Chang and Director Shanbhag, the Center continues the legacy of civil rights icon Fred T. Korematsu through integrated research, advocacy, and education, including recent amicus efforts defending First Amendment rights of law firms and birthright citizenship.

"It is deeply meaningful to receive the Community Leader Award from SCCLA, which itself provided path-breaking leadership when it established itself as the first Asian Pacific American bar association in the country,” said Prof. Chang.

Pictured here, Prof. Chang accepted the award alongside Director Shaleen Shanbhag, SCCLA board member and alumna Kellye Ng (’16) and SCCLA President Sharlene D. Lee.

Congratulations to Prof. Robert S. Chang and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality on receiving the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association’s 2026 Community Leader Award last week.

🔹The Honorable Mónica Ramírez Almadani, United States District Court for the Central District of California

🏆 Second-year law students Fiorella Barreto and Alex Davis won Best Brief and Sagarika Chidella was awarded Best Oralist.

Thank you to our wonderful panel of federal judges:

🔹The Honorable Ana de Alba, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
🔹The Honorable Brian A. Jackson, United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana

Moot Court participants, judges, and faculty pose together on stage following the finals, with award winners holding trophies.

A law student presents at a podium during the Moot Court finals while three federal judges sit on a panel on stage in front of a large audience.

A law student holds the Best Oralist award, a glass plate, and smiles in front of a UC Irvine Law backdrop.

Congratulations to all our 2026 Moot Court Competition participants, board, judges, and Professor Beatrice Tice for a successful competition! At the oral argument finals, Alex Davis won best advocate and Jared Stone was awarded runner-up best advocate.

🎥 www.youtube.com/live/bhIiP9r...

Birthright case forces US Supreme Court to confront prospect of Americans losing citizenship • Ohio Capital Journal The birthright citizenship case Trump v. Barbara is forcing the Supreme Court to confront the prospect of the United States becoming a much different nation — one where Americans risk losing their cit...

The Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality's amicus brief was featured in the Ohio Capital Journal article, "Birthright case forces US Supreme Court to confront prospect of Americans losing citizenship." ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/04/07/r...

Drake Appeal in ‘Not Like Us’ Case Slammed by Legal Scholars: ‘It Is Dangerous’ Drake’s appeal in his lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” should be denied, legal scholars say, arguing the case is dangerous.

Prof. Jack Lerner and the Intellectual Property, Arts & Technology Clinic's amicus brief was highlighted in the Billboard article, "Drake Appeal in ‘Not Like Us’ Case Slammed by Legal Scholars: ‘It Is Dangerous’."

www.billboard.com/pro/drake-ke...

...and Michael Bazyler (Chapman University Fowler School of Law). Henry Weinstein, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Lawyering Skills, delivered opening remarks and moderated the session.

He was mooted by UC Irvine Law Professors Joe DiMento and Carrie Menkel-Meadow, along with human rights scholars William J. Aceves (California Western School of Law)...