PHILANTHROPY - Berkeley Law - University of California, Berkeley

CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES: ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Like those of its peer schools, Boalt’s curriculum offers a rich array of
courses for students interested in corporate litigation, public interest law,
criminal prosecution, international law, or any one of numerous other fields.
But unlike most of those schools, we give our first-year J.D. students a
head-start on customizing their legal education by allowing them to choose
electives during their second semester.
Most students also participate in one or more of our legal clinics, legal
journals, research centers, student organizations, public interest fellowships,
or field placements. Boalt offers several combined-degree programs
with other schools, and concurrent-degree programs with 12 schools and
departments at UC Berkeley.
Notable Results & Philanthropy Highlights
• Boalt’s J.D. Program received 7,255 applications for fall 2011
admission, down from a record 8,313 last year, but maintained
its high admission standards. The current first-year class averaged
a 3.8 undergraduate GPA and 167 LSAT score (95th percentile).
• Students in our Professional LL.M. Program now have an option
of enrolling in 10-week or 13-week sessions for two consecutive
summers. Taught by full-time Boalt faculty, they also became
eligible to receive Boalt’s Business Law Certificate.
• Boalt’s Professional Skills Program notched several regional
and national student victories in moot court, mock trial, and
negotiation competitions, and continued to expand its course
offerings. The program also launched an internal competition aimed
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at developing real-world negotiation skills. A $125,000 endowment
from Crowell & Moring established an annual Best Brief Award
for the two students who write the top briefs in the McBaine Moot
Court Competition, and a $5,000 gift from David Carrillo ’95 helped
broaden Boalt’s appellate curriculum.
• Hundreds of students took part in Boalt’s Student-Initiated Legal
Services Projects. These public-service initiatives provide legal
services and education throughout the Bay Area. Students
recruit supervising attorneys and partner with top public interest
organizations, firms, and government agencies.
• The Field Placement Program offers academic credit for working
with supervising attorneys at over 100 domestic and international
government agencies and public-interest organizations.
Last year, students worked at venues such as the Securities and
Exchange Commission, National Senior Citizens’ Law Center, Electronic
Frontier Foundation, and Sierra Leone Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• In 2011, Shauhin Talesh received the Law and Society Association
prize for best graduate student paper—the fifth time in six years
that a student from Boalt’s Jurisprudence and Social Policy
Program has won this national award.
Funding Priorities
The Professional Skills Program is establishing a fund for the Halloum
Negotiation Competition, and seeking area firms that would like to sponsor
and mentor a written and oral advocacy course section.
As one of the nation’s most successful trial lawyers, TERRY O’REILLY ’69 is happy to see Boalt Hall
ramp up its emphasis on courtroom training.
“Trial skills should be a key component of any great law school,” he says. “One thing lawyers can do that
a smart business school graduate can’t is represent people before the courts.”
This past year, Boalt continued to expand its practical offerings in and out the classroom. Using actual
or simulated client representation, students now have access to top training in counseling, interviewing,
litigation, transactions, negotiation, mediation, legal drafting, legislative drafting, and lobbying.
Boalt also achieved tremendous success in regional and national moot court, mock trial, and negotiation
competitions last year. This is welcome news to O’Reilly, who won Boalt’s moot court competition as a
student. He has since been named California Trial Lawyer of the Year and is a member of the Inner Circle
of Advocates—an organization of the nation’s best 100 plaintiff trial lawyers.
“I always wanted to do trial work,” says O’Reilly, who practiced with renowned trial lawyer Bruce Walkup ’38 for 17 years before
founding his own plaintiff firm, O’Reilly, Collins & Danko, in 1989. “I’m very grateful to Boalt for making that possible at a time
when it cost a couple hundred bucks a semester.”
Born and educated in England, O’Reilly played rugby at UC Berkeley and is now a trustee of the U.S. Rugby Football Foundation.
He is also a vintage-car racing enthusiast, competing in classic car rallies worldwide.