Alumni

Bob Dunning ’73 was a daily columnist and sportswriter for the Davis Enterprise for 54 years. He wrote an estimated 28,000 pieces for the newspaper, wryly chronicling life in “The City of All Things Right and Relevant.” In 2021, the community celebrated his career with a downtown parade.

Jade Tran ’01 is a Partner at Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP (WSHB). She is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has tried many high profile, complex cases with significant exposure. She was the youngest member ever of Orange County’s ABOTA. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, she has been honored as one of the “Nation’s Best” by Lawyers of Color. She recently completed her second term on the King Hall Alumni Board.

What attracted you to being a trial lawyer, and what do you enjoy about it now?

On May 9, the Daily Journal profiled Magistrate Judge and  UC Davis Law adjunct professor Dennis Cota ’86 of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

In the story, Cota discusses his devotion to teaching and coaching trial practice students at UC Davis Law, and how Professor Emeritus Edward Imwinkelried “really inspired me to be a litigator.”

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Sarah F. Torres ’07 as an immigration judge at the new Concord Immigration Court in Contra Costa County.

For five years, Torres served as managing attorney for the immigration legal services program at the Opening Doors nonprofit in Sacramento. Before that, she was a partner at Tomlinson & Torres PC. 

Dean Kevin R. Johnson and Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin spoke on the panel “Contemporary Civil Rights Issues: 2024 and Beyond,” on May 18 at the Unity Bar Summit at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Clara Levers '03 to serve as a Yolo County Superior Court judge on an interim basis.

Levers won election in March to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge and fellow King Hall alum David Rosenberg ’74. The governor’s appointment allows Levers to take the bench before her official January 2025 start date.

A Woodland native, Levers has served as a California deputy attorney general since 2008.

Dean Kevin R. Johnson and Maggy Krell ’03 spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Raheem Hosseini for a May 19 story about how former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be encouraging Christian nationalism,  which was once considered a fringe element of Christianity.

Michelle Lauron ’94 was elected as a San Bernardino Superior Court judge in March. 

Lauron, a San Bernardino County supervising deputy district attorney, defeated Dieter Carlos Dammeier, a California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board administrative law judge, in a landslide victory.

Lauron joined the San Bernardino District Attorney’s office just after law school, in 1995. 

The Georgetown Environmental Law Review published an article by Sarah Chen Small ’23 titled “Toxic Film: Analyzing the Impact of Films Depicting Major Contamination Events on the Regulation of Toxic Chemicals.”  

Kristy Young Coleman ’08 is Lead Counsel at Airbnb. Previously, she was Counsel at Goodwin Procter’s San Francisco office, specializing in real estate with a focus on hospitality assets. She began her legal career at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, where she focused on commercial finance and bankruptcy. Kristy has an extensive background in politics, beginning before law school and continuing today. She currently serves on the UC Davis School of Law Alumni Association Board of Directors.

What drew you to real estate and hospitality law?