Welcoming 2025 Law Alumni Association

Board and Council Members

We are delighted to introduce UC Irvine Law's 2025 Law Alumni Association Board. Pictured (top left to bottom right) are LAA's new officers:

🔹 President Anne Marie Nicholson ('21), Associate at Haynes Boone, LLP

🔹 First Vice President Christopher Lawrence ('21), Associate at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

🔹 Second Vice President Maryam Meechka Zomorodian ('20), Program Director of Global Programs at UC Irvine Law

🔹 Graduate Tax LL.M. Officer Connor Jordan ('22), Associate at Holland & Knight LLP

🔹 Secretary Sean Lobb ('18), Associate at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth LLP

View the full 2025 LAA Officers & Governing Council

Dean News: Austen L. Parrish Inducted as President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) for 2025-2026 Term

Dean Parrish was inducted as President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) after delivering his inaugural address at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, on January 11, 2025. Dean Parrish and Immediate Past President Melanie Wilson reflected on the organization's past and future on the Aspen Leading Edge Podcast.

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Faculty News: UC Irvine Law Leadership and Honors at 2025 AALS Annual Meeting: "Courage in Action"

In addition to Dean Parrish's induction as President, UC Irvine Law faculty were honored at the Annual Meeting. Prof. Cindy Archer received the Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research Award, Prof. Mehrsa Baradaran received the Section on Race and Private Law's inaugural Patricia J. Williams Award, and Visiting Assistant Prof. Heather Tanana received a Section on Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples Early Career Scholarship Award. The Annual Meeting also featured several members of the UC Irvine Law faculty and staff who hold leadership positions and were presenters.

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School News: UC Irvine Law Rings in 2025 with National Leadership Roles in Law, Policy and Academia 

Explore how UC Irvine Law's faculty, staff, and administrators are shaping the future of legal education and policy in 2025, serving in prestigious leadership roles across academic, professional, and legal organizations, and driving innovation in areas ranging from environmental justice and freedom of speech to tax policy and human rights.

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Faculty Roundup: Pathbreaking Scholarship and Intellectual Community

Read this month's compilation of UC Irvine Law faculty's groundbreaking work, including recent scholarship, conferences and influential leadership.

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Faculty News: Two Professors Join UC Irvine School of Law’s Faculty in Spring 2025 

Starting January 1, 2025, Prof. Katie Porter has returned to UC Irvine Law after serving three terms in the U.S. Congress, and Prof. Charles (Chas) Tyler has joined the Law School’s doctrinal faculty from The George Washington University Law School.

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Dean's Corner: Dean Austen Parrish Thanks the Community for Its Tremendous Support and Reflects on Korematsu Day in OC Lawyer Magazine

Check out Dean Parrish's column in the January 2025 issue of OC Lawyer Magazine. In the Dean's Corner piece, he thanks the community for its tremendous support, and highlights some of the community-focused work being done at and by the Law School and how it enriches Orange County. He also describes the significance of Korematsu Day to UC Irvine Law, including the official launch of the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at UC Irvine last October.

Read the piece

Clinic News: Immigrant Rights Clinic Represents Advocacy Groups in Suit Seeking Transparency on ICE Enforcement Practices

The Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center — represented by the Immigrant Rights Clinic, directed by Prof. Annie Lai — filed a complaint in federal court on December 19 charging that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to respond to requests for data and records about the agency’s enforcement practices and collusion with state and local officials, including probation and parole.

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Clinic News: Workers, Law, and Organizing Clinic Drives National Labor Relations Board Complaint Protecting Detained Immigrant Workers

Led by Prof. Sameer Ashar, the Workers, Law, and Organizing Clinic and co-counsel California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice filed charges against private prison operator GEO Group and prompted the NLRB’s pivotal complaint extending labor protections to detained immigrant workers, strengthening a broader campaign to abolish immigrant detention and solitary confinement. Clinic clients were placed in solitary confinement after they led labor strikes in the facility. Bloomberg and OnLabor covered the case.

Read the press release

Q&A with Anne Marie Nicholson, UC Irvine Law Class of 2021 and 2025 LAA President

Anne Marie (Annie) Nicholson is an associate in the litigation practice group at Haynes Boone’s Orange County office, where she handles diverse business and civil litigation matters. She previously worked as a litigation associate and summer associate at national law firms, representing clients in construction, technology, real estate, and hospitality industries. Annie gained courtroom experience through externships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montana, the Veterans Legal Institute, and the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Office. A dedicated advocate for pro bono work, she founded UC Irvine Law’s fully funded Spring Break Trip to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Reservation and received the UC Irvine Law Pro Bono Independent Spirit Award for her extensive service in immigration, tribal, and employment law. Annie earned her Political Science degree as a Regents Scholar at UCLA, where she also volunteered with the Inner-City Law Center, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.

Q: How did UC Irvine Law prepare you for your legal practice?

The clinical practice at UC Irvine Law prepared me for practice by teaching me how to draft pleadings, correspond with opposing counsel and so forth. It gave me the foundational skills to be successful as a law firm associate.

Q: What do you like best about your work?

I love that it changes every day. I am always learning something new and interesting.

Q: What was the best part about being a student at UC Irvine Law?

The best part about being a student at UC Irvine Law was being able to have access to so many interesting courses and being able to pursue new intellectual interests. I also loved the supportive community, which was always willing to listen to new ideas.

Q: How do you stay involved with the UC Irvine Law community?

I stay involved with the UC Irvine Law Alumni Association which makes me feel connected to the UC Irvine Law community.

UC Irvine Law and New York Law School, Co-Hosts of AALS Journal of Legal Education, Featured in AALS Article About What's Ahead for the Publication

The piece, "UC Irvine School of Law and New York Law School Chart a New Path for the Journal of Legal Education," features a Q&A with journal editors (pictured right), including Dean Austen Parrish and Prof. Alison Mikkor, in which they discuss their vision for the journal and scholarship on legal education.

Read the Q&A

Complete list of UC Irvine Law in the media

UC Irvine Law Hosts Alumni Reception at AALS Annual Meeting

UC Irvine Law alumni, faculty, staff and friends gathered at the Law School's reception in San Francisco during the AALS Annual Meeting. It was wonderful to see everyone!

Christina Zabat-Fran '12 has assumed the position of Immediate Past President of the Orange County Bar Association.

Yashina Burns '16, Senior Vice President for Privacy and Legal Affairs for DeepIntent, was named to MM+M's 40 Under 40 list.

Alexis Federico '16 became Partner at Bienert Katzman Littrell Williams LLP.

Have an update you'd like to share? Let us know!

UC Irvine Libraries: Resources in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2025

The comprehensive list contains access to books and streaming media that explores the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Most material is open to the public and all are free to UC Irvine students, staff and faculty.

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>> Jan. 17 | 6 p.m. | BLSA & Alumni Mixer

(Details and Registration)

>> Jan. 20 | Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance

>> Jan. 24 | 12:00-1:15 p.m. | CLSC | Socio-Legal Studies Workshop: Jes Torres Baker - Fraud Narratives: The Formation and Reproduction of Skepticism Towards Immigrants in the U.S.

(Details and Registration)

>> Jan. 31 | 12:00-1:15 p.m. | CLSC | Socio-Legal Studies Workshop: Ayako Hirata - Fidelity to the Rules, Fidelity to the Agency: Government Lawyers in Japan and California

(Details and Registration)

>> Feb. 03 | 6:00-7:00 p.m. | CLEAR | Distinguished Lecture: Dylan Penningroth - Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights

(Details and Registration)

>> Feb. 7 & 8 | UCI Forum for the Academy and the Public | Facts Under Fire: Reporting in Impossible Times

(Details and registration to follow)

>> Feb. 13 | 5:00-6:00 p.m. | Mohannad and Rana Malas Lecture in Islamic Legal Studies Presented by Professor Marion Holmes Katz

(Details and Registration)

>> Sept. 6 | Save the date! This year's alumni reunion will celebrate the classes of 2015 and 2020.

(Details and registration to follow)