Media Advisory: California’s Chief Justice to Deliver Commencement Address at UCI Law on May 11
IRVINE, Calif., May 6, 2013 - California’s Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye will deliver the commencement address at UC Irvine School of Law on May 11.
The law school, which opened its doors in August 2009, will celebrate its second commencement, in which 84 students are expected to participate. The event will be held at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, May 11, in Aldrich Park in the center of the UC Irvine campus.
Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye was sworn into office as Chief Justice of California on January 3, 2011. She is the first Asian-Filipina American and the second woman to serve as the state’s Chief Justice. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye has served for more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts.
Born in 1959 in Sacramento, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye attended C. K. McClatchy High School (1977) and Sacramento City College (1978) before receiving her BA from the University of California, Davis, graduating with honors in 1980. She entered the UC Davis, Martin Luther King, Jr., School of Law in 1981. After receiving her JD in 1984, she worked as a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted a variety of criminal offenses. In 1988, she served on the senior staff of Governor Deukmejian as deputy legal affairs secretary and as a deputy legislative secretary.
In 1990, Governor George Deukmejian appointed her to the Sacramento Municipal Court, and in 1997, Governor Pete Wilson elevated her to the Superior Court of Sacramento County, where she presided over both criminal and civil assignments. In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated her to the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District. In 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger nominated her as Chief Justice.
MEDIA CONTACT: Rex Bossert, assistant dean for communications and public affairs, rbossert@law.uci.edu, (949) 824-3063.
ABOUT UC IRVINE SCHOOL OF LAW
UC Irvine School of Law seeks to create the ideal law school for the 21st century by doing the best job of training lawyers for the practice of law at the highest levels of the profession. Recruited from prestigious schools, the faculty ranked seventh in the country in scholarly impact in a recent study. The student body has median grades and LSAT scores comparable to those of student bodies at top 20 law schools. The school's innovative curriculum stresses hands-on learning, interdisciplinary study and public service.