Faculty Spotlight: Professor Jessica Fink
“Our students are why I do what I do,” says Jessica Fink, Clara Shortridge Foltz Professor of Law at California Western. “They are incredible people—brave, dedicated, grittier than almost any other population I can think of, and doing really empowering things with their law degrees.”
Professor Fink’s reverence for her students is reciprocal, as she is often cited by current students and alumni as one of the most impactful individuals on campus. Her Constitutional Law class reshapes how students understand and approach the law, her mentorship gives them strength and confidence to pursue their unique path in the profession, and her example gives them a level of excellence to aspire to.
Originally from West Bloomfield, Michigan, Professor Fink grew up telling everyone who’d listen that she was going to be a lawyer. She didn’t have any lawyers in her family—she just knew. Her path to the law began at the University of Michigan, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. She then attended Harvard Law School, where she confronted her impostor syndrome by committing to “always being the hardest working person in the room.” She jokes about a classmate who would knit through lectures— "But I’ve never been that student. Things don’t come easily to me. I’m just not at all scared of hard work.”
After earning her J.D., she took her work ethic to Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she fell in love with employment law. “I’m a gossipy person by nature,” she admits. “A practice area where I have to dig in and find the dirt makes me a very happy girl.” Professor Fink notes that she’s also somewhat of an anomaly in academia, having represented the employer side in litigation. This experience continues to inform her teaching, as she emphasizes for her students the importance of understanding both sides of an issue.
Professor Fink is also quick to dissuade her students of the notion that she’s a professor because she didn’t like practice or wasn’t good at it—neither could be further from the truth! If she hadn’t met her husband she would likely still be in practice. She teases her students that they have to visit her office hours to hear the full romantic story—one that led her from a prestigious law firm, doing work she loved and excelled at, to the one city in the country where they didn’t have an office. But she followed her heart— relocated, got married, and transitioned from practice to academia.
Since joining California Western as a Teaching Fellow in 2005, Professor Fink has built a reputation for fostering a dynamic and stimulating classroom environment. “I teach the way I need to learn,” she explains, emphasizing the importance of structure, making connections explicit, and using visuals, examples, and analogies to bring content to life: to understand dormant commerce power students are asked to compare Boston cream donuts to glazed donuts. Her classroom also thrives on intellectual challenge, as she prompts students to grapple with high-stakes cases like the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act and presidential immunity. “If you walk into my classroom, one moment I might seem far left of Rachel Maddow and the next I’m far right of Tucker Carlson,” she says, telling her students, "'I’m not here to change your mind about anything. I’m here to help you understand different legal perspectives. Because if you don’t understand the opposition’s position, you don’t really understand your own.’”
Beyond the classroom, Professor Fink focuses her scholarship on gender sidelining, discrimination, and workplace harassment. Her scholarship tackles systemic challenges in employment law, offering practical solutions. For instance, she has proposed leveraging the “faithless servant doctrine” to hold workplace harassers accountable, suggesting that figures like Harvey Weinstein could be forced to forfeit earnings gained while engaging in harassment. “I can’t write unless I’m passionate,” she says—a philosophy evident in her work. From examining the #MeToo movement to proposing innovative policy solutions during COVID-19, her research offers bold ideas for using the law to solve practical questions of justice and equity.
In 2018, Professor Fink was named the Clara Shortridge Foltz Professor of Law—a title of profound personal significance. She is honored to follow in the footsteps of Professor Emerita Barbara Cox, who previously held the position, and to be connected to the legacy of Clara Shortridge Foltz, California’s first woman lawyer, a suffragist, a pioneer in public defense—and, Professor Fink notes, a single mother to five children.
Off campus, Professor Fink embodies Foltz’s legacy in her devotion to her family—her husband of 17 years and their two teenage boys. She frequently discusses work-life balance with her students, emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries. “I get so much joy and satisfaction out of my job, but my family always comes first.” Professor Fink mentors her students on the importance of saying “no”— “From 4 to 9, I’m not available. Family dinner is non-negotiable. But after 9, I can go back to work.”
If you have the impression that Professor Fink rarely stops to rest, you have it right. She uses every spare moment to sneak in pages of a book (she reads one a week). She loves to cook and bake and host parties—“why have four people when we could have 30?” Whether in her writing, teaching, or personal life, Professor Fink embodies passion. The California Western community benefits greatly from her tireless commitment.
ABOUT CALIFORNIA WESTERN SCHOOL OF LAW
For 100 years, California Western School of Law (CWSL) has trained practice-ready lawyers and thoughtful advocates for justice. As the first and longest-running law school in San Diego, CWSL remains committed to providing students with the fundamental knowledge, skills, and real-world experience to thrive in a rapidly evolving legal landscape. CWSL enrolls a student body representative of our diverse society, amplifying access to opportunities for social and economic mobility. Tailored programming allows students to focus on specific areas of interest, and distinguished faculty are dedicated to student growth and scholarship on critical social issues. The law school emphasizes practical, hands-on training through clinics, internships, externships, and pro bono service. CWSL is committed to excellence in education, nurturing compassionate legal professionals who use the law effectively and creatively to solve complex human and societal problems. For more information, visit www.CWSL.edu.