Conferences and Symposia

California Western School of Law (CWSL) hosted its Centennial Celebration at Rancho Bernardo Inn. The celebration tee'd off with an Alumni Golf Tournament — featuring over 50 golfers — followed by a Cocktail Reception and wrapped up with the CWSL Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner.

In bringing the Smithsonian’s The Bias Inside Us exhibition to campus, California Western School of Law (CWSL) made space for critical conversations on the intersections of bias, privilege, law, and justice. As part of this community engagement project, CWSL hosted "Critical Conversations: Breaking Barriers to Property Ownership," a panel that featured Professor Emily Behzadi Cárdenas and George Fatheree. This event was made possible in part by the Law, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity fund and San Diego Foundation.

California Western School of Law had the pleasure of hosting The Bias Inside Us — a exhibition and community engagement project organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) with major support provided by The Otto Bremer Trust and local support provided by San Diego Foundation. On May 9, 2024, CWSL hosted an Open House Reception to kickoff the exhibit.

For the One-Hundred-Eighteenth Commencement Ceremony, 212 California Western graduates earned their Juris Doctor degrees. This year's commencement speaker was San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan. You can view the program here.

Join us for an insightful symposium hosted by the California Western Law Review and the International Law Journal, where we venture into the profound nexus of law, technology, and evolving global regulations. This event is designed to be a powerful catalyst in understanding the deep-seated impact of advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) on international and American legal paradigms. This symposium serves as an excellent platform for legal professionals to not only enrich their understanding, but also to fulfill their CLE and Ethics CLE requirements. 

Join Pulitzer Prize winner Louis Menand for "Bakke, Roots and Branches," an address on the legacy of Regents of the University of California v Bakke, the seminal 1978 case that upheld race-based affirmative action programs in education, recently overturned by SFFA v Harvard.

Larry Pozner has long been recognized as America’s authority on modern cross-examination. Pozner’s book Cross Examination: Science and Techniques (Lexis 3rd edition 2018, Pozner and Dodd) and his resulting seminar Pozner on Cross: the Chapter Method revolutionized our profession’s view of the purposes and methods of modern cross.

Pozner on Cross: The Chapter Method is an innovative and highly entertaining program that teaches the most efficient method to draft and deliver winning cross-examinations. For more than 25 years this ever-evolving seminar has been America’s best-attended trial techniques program. Pozner on Cross: The Chapter Method, adds principles of neuroscience and behavioral psychology to the most advanced techniques of cross. The program uses a great many examples of the step-by step techniques to recognize, write, and deliver powerful cross-examinations.

California Western School of Law is excited to host a screening of Peabody Award Winning Filmmaker Abby Ginzberg’s Judging Juries, followed by an expert panel. This film highlights a glaring inequity in the U.S. judicial system — barriers to jury service which deprive defendants in criminal cases of juries which represent a cross-section of the community. While there are many issues contributing to the lack of diversity in the jury pool, juror pay is at the top of the list. The film looks at the issue of juror pay, the use of peremptory challenges which permit the dismissal of potential jurors for no stated reason and the use of former felony convictions as a bar to jury service.

The panel will feature experts, Taylor Morrison, Deputy District Attorney in San Diego and Judge Daniel Segura, San Diego Superior Court, and will be moderated by CWSL's Professor Shawn Fields.

Please join the CWSL faculty and guest panelists for our Law, Justice, and Technology Initiative’s inaugural event. Following an afternoon screening of the documentary Coded Bias, available on Netflix, four distinguished panelists will provide insight about current trends and problems at the law, justice, and technology intersection. Moderated by intellectual property attorney, Maresa Talbert, ’17, the panelists include: Jessica Gross, ’17, Corporate Counsel for Privacy and Data at Sony Interactive Entertainment; Alexis Hancock, Director of Engineering at Electronic Frontier Foundation; Brenda Simon, ProFlowers Professor of Internet Studies at California Western School of Law; and Corynne McSherry, Legal Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation. A reception follows the panel discussion and Q&A session.

*This event is CLE eligible.

The Law Review Symposium: Unlocking the Golden Gate: Policy Solutions to California’s Housing Shortage will be held on Thursday, March 23rd from 12:30 – 5:30pm in the Auditorium at California Western School of Law, 350 Cedar Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Reception to follow.

Learn about current issues regarding capital punishment practices in the U.S. and effects on international relations. MCLE credits available.

California Western School of Law welcomes Professor Aya Gruber and Professor India Thusi to campus this fall. These esteemed authors and professors will hold a conversation about the feminist war on crime, neofeminism and the carceral state. Cal Western's Professor Hannah Brenner Johnson will be moderating this event.

Navigating the complex landscape of state and federal law relating to marijuana can be a challenge. Judges and leading industry organizations came together to look at the impact of marijuana legalization on courts and society.

The 6th Annual Legal Ethics Conference at California Western School of Law focuses on the relationship between legal ethics and the public interest by examining the role of lawyers representing the government and government officials.

The California Western Law Review hosted a discussion about modern policing and its impact on women of color and trans women. Panelist and attendees engaged in conversations about how to identify, bring awareness and generate solutions to critical legal issues regarding this topic.

The 5th Annual Legal Ethics Conference at California Western focused on the ethical dilemmas within artificial intelligence (AI) and its many applications. The conference included panels featuring thought leaders, scholars, and professionals working in legal ethics, AI, and technology. Our speakers discussed the ethical issues that arise from rapidly advancing.

The California Western Law Review presented a discussion based on Andrea Freeman’s book Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race and Injustice. The symposium raised important questions and focused on the intersection of food law and policy, Critical Race Theory, health and reproductive rights, and feminist theory. 

The California Western School of Law International Law Journal presents a robust discussion on radical democracies, central banks, digital currencies, and the legal implications of emerging technologies.

The Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce hosted a special panel, moderated by California Western President and Dean Sean Scott, designed to share new innovation, standards, policies, and forecasts with legal insight. Panelists included boutique law experts specializing in intellectual property, labor and employment, and technology as well as venture capital and general counsel directing some of San Diego's Fortune 500 companies.

In recent years, protests throughout the country have denounced racial inequality and demanded justice for the murders of Black men and women. While the focus of these protests was on criminal justice reform, they reflect the broader movement to confront structural racism. The disparate impact of the global pandemic on communities of color further highlights the existence of profound inequality. This panel addressed how the legal profession is fighting to support racial equality and promote human dignity.