California Western Faculty Highlights – September 2025

Dean and President & Professor of Law Miriam H. Baer

Dean and President Miriam H. Baer spoke at a Fiduciary Law Symposium sponsored by Duke Law School in honor of Professor Deborah DeMott, a Duke professor and scholar, on September 19th. Dean Baer participated in a luncheon panel discussing DeMott’s work on corporate wrongdoing. Dean Baer subsequently presented a paper entitled The Collapse of the Scandal Paradigm: Contemporary Compliance in the 21st Century Firm. Papers presented at the symposium will be published in Law and Contemporary Problems. 

Chief Justice Roger Traynor Professor of Law William Aceves

Professor William Aceves presented on the Constitution's history, significance, and continued relevance in modern society at the San Diego County Bar Association’s Constitution Day 2025 event on September 17th.   

Dean Steven R. Smith Professor of Law Susan Bisom-Rapp

Professor Susan Bisom-Rapp was quoted in Law360 "Union Deal For Calif. Gig Workers May Yield Limited Benefits" for her expertise in employment law. The article’s subject dovetails with Professor Bisom-Rapp's recently completed interdisciplinary comparative law study, co-authored by HEC Montreal’s Urwana Coiquaud, of how governments in California and British Columbia responded to the regulatory challenges posed by app-based firms.

Professor Bisom-Rapp's co-authored article, How to Manage the Wolf in the Fold: A Government-Focused Approach to Regulatory Capture in the Platform Economy Comparing California with British Columbia, (with Urwana Coiquaud), has been accepted for publication by Connecticut Law Review. 

Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development  and Professor of Law Shawn Fields

Professor Shawn Fields's latest book, The New Public Safety: Police Reform and the Lurking Threat to Civil Liberties, was published on August 26 by the University of California Press. On September 25, Professor Fields welcomed Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Professor Jamelia Morgan and Florida State University College of Law Professor Nadia Banteka to discuss his book as part of California Westerns’ celebration of the release.

Professor Fields’s article, “Post-Chevron Deference in Asylum Proceedings,” has been accepted for publication in Cardozo Law Review.  

Legal Writing Professor Joshua Jones

Professor Joshua Jones spoke at the Western States Regional Legal Writing Conference, hosted by UC Irvine on September 5. The presentation title, "Whatever Happened to Universal Citation?" discussed the once robust movement to align citation across the jurisdictions. 

Executive Director of the California Western Innocence and Justice Project and Associate Professor of Law Amy Kimpel

Professor Amy Kimpel is co-facilitating a Clinician Crew for the Association of American Law Schools Clinical Section to provide mentorship and collaboration for criminal law clinicians new to the field.   

Louis and Hermione Brown Professor of Law Kenneth Klein

Professor Kenneth Klein was quoted about underinsurance in LaPresse’s (a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) “Your Home May Not Be Sufficiently Insured.”

Professor Klein presented "Truth and Consequences: What Catastrophe Teaches US About Homeownership and Underinsurance," as the first presentation in the 2025 UConn Insurance Law Workshop Series.

Professor Klein was a panelist on "Premium Pressure: How Rising Rates and Reduced Access Are Reshaping California Real Estate" at Center for California Real Estate, an institute of the California Association of Realtors's annual REimagine! Conference & Expo. 

Associate Professor of Law Nancy Marcus

Professor Nancy Marcus presented, "Promoting Rigor in Writing Through a Multi-Tiered Approach to Memo and Brief Draft Feedback” at the 2025 Legal Writing Institute Central States Conference in Chicago, Illinois, on September 27th.  

Professor Marcus has entered into a book contract with Cambridge University Press, to publish the manuscript Cambridge Companion to Bisexuality and the Law, along with co-authors University of Mississippi School of Law Professor of Law Ann Tweedy and New England Law School Assistant Professor of Law Eliot Tracz. 

Associate Clinical Professor and Executive Director New Media Rights Clinic Art Neill & Staff Attorney and Assistant Program Director Erika Lee

Professors Art Neill and Erika Lee, and 2L Jaylene Potter presented "Law 101 for Creators" on behalf of New Media Rights at the KPBS Explore program orientation September 18th in-person and 19th virtually. 

E. Donald Shapiro Professor of Law Joanna Sax

Professor Joanna Sax participated in the September Board of Trustees meeting for the Academy of Food Law and Policy, on which she serves as Vice Chair. 

Dean Emerita and Professor of Law Sean M. Scott

Professor Sean M. Scott has joined the Association of American Law Schools as Senior Consultant for Dean and Faculty Services. 

Professor of Law Kristen van de Biezenbos

Professor Kristen van de Biezenbos was interviewed by Energi Media for “Why Trump Attacks the American Constitution.”