Faculty Accolades
Inspire. Empower. Transform.
UC Irvine Law faculty are nationally recognized scholars, educators, and leaders shaping law and policy. Award-winning and highly influential, they drive critical legal conversations while mentoring students for success in law school and beyond.
- Multiple professors have won the Derrick J. Bell Jr. Award for junior faculty member who, through activism, mentoring, colleagueship, teaching and scholarship, have made extraordinary contributions to legal education, the legal system or social justice, including Mario Barnes (2008), Kaaryn Gustafson (2009 while at UConn) and Stephen Lee (2014).
- Fourteen UC Irvine Law faculty are members of the American Law Institute: Mario Barnes, Alex Camacho, Robert S. Chang, Andrew Gold, Dalié Jiménez, Stephen Lee, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Austen Parrish, R. Anthony Reese, L. Song Richardson, Kenneth Simons, Emily Taylor Poppe, Ari Waldman and Christopher Whytock.
- Four UC Irvine Law professors are reporters for the ALI: R. Anthony Reese: Associate Reporter, Restatement of the Law, Copyright; Kenneth Simons: Chief Reporter, Restatement Third of Torts: Intentional Torts to Persons; Emily Taylor Poppe: Associate Reporter, Principles of the Law, High-Volume Civil Litigation; and Christopher Whytock: Associate Reporter, Restatement of the Law Third, Conflict of Laws.
- Elected fellows of the American Bar Foundation are Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Mario Barnes, Joshua Blank, Rachel Croskery-Roberts, Joseph F. C. DiMento, Stephen Lee, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Austen Parrish, Ezra Ross and Shauhin Talesh.
- Additionally, Professor Rachel Croskery-Roberts is President of the Association of Legal Writing Directors.
2025
- Professor David Kaye and International Justice Clinic Recognized for Digital Rights Work in South Korea
- Professor David Kaye Announced as the 15th Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom
- Professor Emily Taylor Poppe Appointed Associate Reporter to The American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law, High-Volume Civil Litigation Project
- Professor Ari Waldman Ranked No. 34 Among Top-Cited Legal Scholars of 2024
2024
- Professor Robert Chang Received 2024 NAPABA Trailblazer Award
- Professor Robert Chang Installed as the Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights
- Professor Mehrsa Baradaran Recognized as Inaugural Winner of the Patricia J. Williams Award at the AALS Race and Private Law Reception in 2025
- Professor Cindy Thomas Archer to Receive 2025 AALS Section Award for Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research
- UC Irvine Law Community Honored Chancellor’s Professors of Law Mario Barnes and Courtney Cahill
- Professor Ari Waldman Received Dukeminier Award for Scholarship on Sexual Content Moderation and Queer Expression
- Professor Dalié Jiménez Testified Before U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Private Student Loans
- Professor Paul Hoffman Part of Legal Team Honored with Public Justice's Trial Lawyer of the Year Award
- Professor Jane Stoever Received the Women For: Orange County's Suffrage Day Award
- Professor Victor Fleischer is No. 23 on "SSRN Tax Professor Rankings," listed by number of paper downloads on SSRN database including all-time downloads and recent downloads (TaxProf Blog)
- Professor Ari Waldman Awarded Law and Society Association Programming Grant
- Professor Mehrsa Baradaran Recognized in the Los Angeles Times as part of its L.A. Influential, Civic Center Feature
- Professors Kaaryn Gustafson and Ari Waldman Received 2024 Law and Society Association Awards
- Professor Ji Seon Song Named a 2024-25 Hellman Fellow
- Professor Susan McMahon Honored with 2024 Teresa Godwin Phelps Award for Excellence in Legal Communication Scholarship
- Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow Celebrated Success as Producer of Award-Winning Play Fatherland, Now Open in NYC
- Professor Swethaa Ballakrishnen Awarded Law and Society Association Global Collaboration Grant
- Professor Alison Mikkor Electeded to Board of Directors for the Association of Legal Writing Directors
- Professor Ezra Ross Elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Professor Joseph F. C. DiMento Elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Mario Barnes and Courtney Cahill Named Chancellor's Professors of Law
- Professor Trilby Robinson-Dorn Appointed Vice Dean of UCI Law
- Professor David Kaye Appointed U.S. Independent Expert to the Venice Commission (Council of Europe)
- Professor Omri Marian Named National Reporter to the 2025 Congress of the International Fiscal Association
- Austen L. Parrish to Serve as President-Elect of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 2024
- Professor Dalié Jiménez Awarded Funds to Study Student Loan Interventions and Debt Collection Practices
2023
- Professor Shauhin Talesh Among 2022 Teacher of the Year Award Winners by the Association of American Law Schools
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Cites UC Irvine Law Professor Mehrsa Baradaran’s Book 15 Times in Dissent on Affirmative Action Case
- No. 20 in the nation in Forward Looking Academic Impact Rankings for U.S. Law Schools. (Matthew Sag, Emory University School of Law)
- Professor Shauhin Talesh was selected to serve as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in summer 2023 at FGV Direito Rio (Rio de Janeiro Law School)
- Professor Jane Stoever testified on June 20, 2023, before the state Assembly Judiciary Committee on Senate Bill 741 (Min), on behalf of UC Irvine Law ’s Domestic Violence Clinic clients
- Professor Annie Lai and UC Irvine Law Immigrant Rights Clinic Honored by ACLU SoCal
- ACLU Advocates for Justice Event to Honor UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic and Co-Director Annie Lai, Hosted by Sister Unity
- Professor David Kaye, UC Irvine Law International Justice Clinic Director, Receives Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
- ACLU to honor activists and legal champions, including UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic and it's Co-Director Annie Lai, at 2023 Advocates for Justice Event
- Professor Swethaa Ballakrishnen Awarded Prestigious Campus-Wide Faculty Honor for Research
- Professor Jane Stoever Named Among Most Influential People in Orange County for 2022 by the OC Register
- Professor Emily Taylor Poppe Named to Editorial Boards of Law & Social Inquiry and Law & Society Review
- Mario Barnes and Kaaryn Gustafson Honored with Prestigious American Bar Foundation Fellows Outstanding Scholar Award
- Professor Shauhin Talesh Named Co-Editor of the Law & Society Review
- Professor Omri Marian was selected as the U.S. National Reporter for WU Vienna's "Crypto Assets: Tax Law and Policy"
- Professor Vic Fleischer was ranked #20 among SSRN's Top 25 U.S. Tax Professors in the all-time downloads and recent downloads on Paul Caron's TaxProf Blog
2022
- UC Irvine Law Faculty, Staff and Student Awarded 2022 Pro Bono Honor Roll
- Professor Swethaa Ballakrishnen honored by the New India Foundation for their book Accidental Feminism, which was long listed as one of the top ten most important works from 2021 about today's India
- Professor Goodwin nominated for Los Angeles Times Inspirational Women award
- Professor Goodwin honored at the 2022 Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Installation & Awards Dinner
- Professor Shaffer ranks #42 on Brian Leiter's Law School Report, "Top 95 law faculty ranked by D-Index"
- UC Irvine Law Ranked #21 for Top Law Faculties by Scholarly Distinction in Brian Leiter's Law School Report
- Professor Susan Seager Honored by the LA Press Club with Award for Contributions to Press Freedom
- VIDEO: Prof. Goodwin honored with 2022 Margaret Brent Award
- Professor Menkel-Meadow, Prof. Burk, and Prof. Shaffer ranked as top law professors in Brian Leiter's Law School Reports listing by h-index (Google Scholar).
- ABA Journal honors Prof. Goodwin with Margaret Brent Award
- UC Irvine Law 's Bryant Garth appointed Interim Director of the American Bar Foundation
- Professor Ballakrishnen received Honorable Mention for LSA 2022 Herbert Jacob Book Prize
- Professor Loftus receieved Honorary Doctorate from Australian National University
- Professor Susan Seager honored by the LA Press Club with Award for Contributions to Press Freedom
- Professor Rachel Croskery-Roberts Elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Professor Rachel Croskery-Roberts Selected as President-Elect for Association of Legal Writing Directors
- Professor Gregory Shaffer named President of American Society of International Law
- Professor Gregory Shaffer awarded the 2022 Chadwick F. Alger Prize from the International Studies Association for his book "Emerging Powers and the World Trading System: The Past and Future of International Economic Law"
- Professor Talesh Elected to the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
- Professor Ballakrishnen Awarded over $500,000 NSF Grant
- UC Irvine Law Graduate Tax Program Professors Joshua Blank, Victor Fleischer and Omri Marian Named Among Top 50 Most Downloaded U.S. Tax Law Professors of 2021 by SSRN
2021
- Prof. Tinto bestowed the Crispin Star award from the Federal Defenders of the Northern District of Georgia in recognition of her contributions to the positive development of federal law
- UC Irvine Law ranked No. 8 for "Best Professors" and No. 9 for "Most Diverse Faculty" by the Princeton Review
- Prof. Goodwin’s book “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood” selected as a Choice 2021 Outstanding Academic Titles awarded by ACRL
- Prof. Stoever awarded the 2021 Justice for Children Leader Award from the California Protective Parents Association in Nov. 2021
- Prof. Menkel-Meadow named among most-cited critical race and feminist legal scholars of all time
- Prof. Hasen ranked No. 3 most-cited election law scholar in the U.S.
- Prof. Goodwin to be honored with Marcy Syms Leader for Gender Equality Award at Women’s eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century gala
- Prof. Goodwin ranked No. 5 most-cited health law scholar in the U.S.
- Prof. Goodwin honored with University of Pennsylvania Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellowship
- Prof. Menkel-Meadow highlighted as a highly-cited scholar in the field of law and social sciences
- Prof. Shaffer ranked No. 5 most-cited international law & security scholar in the U.S.
- Prof. Burk ranked No. 4 most-cited intellectual property scholar in the U.S.
- Prof. Fleischer ranked No. 5 most-cited tax faculty
- Prof. Loftus receives 2020 IUPsyS Lifetime Career Award
- Prof. Ballakrishnen named a 2021-22 UCI Hellman Fellow
- Prof. Gustafson named an inaugural UCI Inclusive Excellence Term Chair
- Prof. Ballakrishnen awarded 2021 ASA Sociology of Law Section Distinguished Book Award for their book "Accidental Feminism"
- Prof. Croskery-Roberts Re-elected to Board of Directors for ALWD
- Prof. Goodwin Elected to the Board of Trustees of the Hastings Center and Chair Elect of the Fellow's Council
- Prof. Shaffer named President-Elect of ASIL
- Prof. Mark Rosenbaum named among Top Lawyers of the Decade
- Prof. Ballakrishnen and Prof. Blank named 2020 AALS Teachers of the Year
2020
- Chancellor Gillman, Prof. Hasen and Prof. Porter recognized among OC's 100 top influencers of 2020
- Prof. Goodwin was named to the 2021 PSI Board of Directors
- Prof. Stoever recognized with 2020 Inclusive Excellence Spirit Award
- Prof. Moran named to Law & Society Association Board of Trustees
- Prof. Stoever honored as 2020 Woman of the Year by Rep. Lou Correa
- Prof. Hasen receives grant from Craig Newmark Philanthropies for work on new book on cheap speech and American elections
- Prof. Ballakrishnen recognized with honorary mention of 2020 Adam Podgorecki Prize
- Prof. Goodwin named recipient of a 2020-21 Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Award
- Neil Sahota was named a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management
- Prof. Ashar receives inaugural Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award from the AALS Clinical Section
- Prof. Goodwin recognized with an honorable mention of the John Hope Franklin Prize
- Profs. Garth and Seron recognized with Legacy Awards from the Law and Society Association
- Prof. Loftus receives Suppes Prize from the American Philosophical Society
- Joe Dunn honored at March 2020 celebration of Orange County’s Political Legacy at Cal State Fullerton
2019
- UC Irvine Law Professor Grace C. Tonner to Receive 2020 Legal Writing Section Award from AALS
- Profs. Ballakrishnen and Gustafson elected to serve on Law and Society Association’s Board of Trustees
- Knight Foundation awards $170K to support two projects led by Profs. Hasen and Kaye
- Prof. Menkel-Meadow named 2019 L. Randolph Lowry Award recipient
- UC Irvine Law Vice Dean and Professor Christopher Whytock Named Director of Studies at The Hague Academy of International Law’s 2020 Winter Session
- Prof. Reese Named 2019 Vanguard Award Winner by the Intellectual Property Law Section of the California Lawyers Association
- Profs. Loftus and Camacho named among top 50 most cited interdisciplinary scholars
- Prof. Goodwin receives Be the Change Award at 3rd Annual Diversity & Inclusion, Unity in Service Celebration
- Prof. Ballakrishnen receives 2019 Canadian Review of Sociology Best Article Award, nominated for 2019 Kanter Award
- Prof. Burk awarded IP Research Grant from the Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law at the University of Houston Law Center
- Prof. Stoever Named Outstanding Supporter of Prevention, Everyday Hero
- Prof. Lai, UC Irvine Law Immigrant Rights Clinic honored by Impact Fund for work challenging workplace immigration raids of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County
- Prof. Burk awarded senior fellowship at the Weizenbaum Institute for artificial intelligence research
- Prof. Talesh part of team to receive $1.4M for research on cybersecurity, cyber insurance
- Prof. Goodwin named Hastings Center Fellow
2018
- Astor-White v. Strong case, led by Prof. Gustafson and UC Irvine Law Appellate Litigation Clinic, named top 10 copyright ruling of 2018
- ERC Consolidator Grant awarded to Prof. van Rooij
- Prof. Loftus awarded Ulysses Medal from University College Dublin
- Prof. Jiménez named among the American Bankruptcy Institute's "40 Under 40" list
- Prof. Simons receives 2019 Prosser Award from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) – UC Irvine Law
- Prof. Goodwin to receive Sandra Day O'Connor Legacy Award – UC Irvine Law
- Prof. Goodwin named "Professor of the Year," Asst. Dean of Admissions Austin honored with "Lifetime Leadership Award" by Thurgood Marshall Bar Association and BLSA – UC Irvine Law
- Prof. Loftus named one of the most influential psychologists in the world – The Best Schools
2017
- Carrie Menkel-Meadow Selected for Prestigious American Bar Foundation Fellows Outstanding Scholar Award – UC Irvine Law
- Alex Camacho Elected to American Law Institute – UC Irvine Law
- Associate Law Librarian Melody Lembke named to American Association of Law Libraries Hall of Fame – AALL
- UCI Professor Annie Lai honored for her work on immigrant rights – OC Register
- Prof. Burk awarded Fulbright Scholarship in cybersecurity – OC Business Journal
- Prof. Porter named to American Bankruptcy Institute Commission on Consumer Bankruptcy – ABI News
- Prof. Hasen's "Plutocrats United" receives honorable mention for 2017 Scribes Book Award – Scribes
- Adjunct Prof. Hoffman to be awarded Santa Clara Law Alexander Law Prize for leadership in human rights work – Santa Clara Law
2016
- Bryant Garth named to list of “most influential people in legal education”
- AAAS Board Member Prof. Loftus receives John Maddox Prize – AAAS
- Summer Kim receives Trailblazer Award from OC Korean American Bar Association
- Adjunct Prof. Mark D. Rosenbaum named to the Daily Journal's list of "Top 100 Lawyers in California" - Daily Journal
- Prof. Hasen named to Daily Journal’s list of “Top 100 Lawyers in California” (PDF) – Daily Journal
- Omri Marian named national reporter for Congress of the European Association of Tax Law Professors
- Prof. Leslie wins Antitrust Scholarship award for Best Private Enforcement Article – American Antitrust Institute
- Article “Can Informal Law Discipline Subsidies?” co-authored by Prof. Shaffer and Vinhcent Le ’16, wins inaugural John Jackson Prize – Oxford Journal of International Economic Law
- Elizabeth Loftus wins 2016 Isaac Asimov Science Award
- Michele Goodwin wins Law Students for Reproductive Justice Outstanding Faculty Award
- Prof. Lerner and IP, Arts, and Technology Clinic students win CLAY award for work on DMCA copyright exemption for authors, filmmakers – Daily Journal/California Lawyer
- Prof. Camacho’s article “Going the Way of the Dodo” jointly named by Environmental Law Institute and Vanderbilt Law School as one of year’s best – Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review
- Prof. van Rooij to receive inaugural John and Vivian Sabel Award for best article in Journal of Contemporary China – University of Denver
- Alexandra Natapoff received the 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship
2015
- Prof. Hasen’s Election Law Blog makes 2015 Blawg 100 Hall of Fame list – ABA Journal
- Prof. Porter and fellow contributors at Credit Slips Blog recognized by making ABA Journal 2015 Blawg 100 list – ABA Journal
- Dan Burk Receives IP Vanguard Award from California Bar
- Public Interest Programs Director Anna Davis' Attorney of the Year award highlighted – Orange County Business Journal
- Alex Camacho: Top Five Environmental Law Article of the Year in 2015 for his article “Going the Way of the Dodo: De-Extinction, Dualisms, and Reframing Conservation” in Washington University Law Review
2014
- Christopher Leslie wins award for article on predatory pricing
- David Kaye appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression