Workshops, Conferences, and Symposia
Our professors frequently participate in national and international conferences, lectures, workshops, and symposia. CWSL also welcomes renowned scholars and speakers from around the globe. Together with our students and faculty, our many visitors help us shape legal debates, further intellectual inquiry, and educate our community.
2025 Events
California Western School of Law’s International Law Journal and Law Review hosted a joint Fall Symposium to highlight six outstanding student articles recently published or forthcoming in each journal. The event provided students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to engage with cutting-edge legal scholarship and hear directly from student authors about their research and writing process.
The Lawyers Club of San Diego hosted a panel discussion on why women of color are
leaving the law at alarming rates and potential solutions to the retention crisis.
Sean Scott, Dean Emerita and Professor of Law at California Western School of Law,
was a panelist along with Nadia Bermudez, Principal at Meyers Nave, and Diana Cohen,
General Counsel at Dr. Bronner's. The event was moderated by Jodi Cleesattle, Supervising
Deputy Attorney General, CA DOJ.
The Honorable Devon Lomayesva ’99, the first Native American appointed to the San Diego County Superior Court, was joined by Dwight (Kala) Lomayesva, Executive Director of American Indian Recruitment Programs, and Angela Medrano, Esq. on a panel discussing “The Intersection Between Federal Indian Law, Tribal Law and State Law: A Spotlight on Child Welfare & the Intertribal Youth Court.”
California Western School of Law Constitutional Faculty, Chief Justice Traynor
Professor of Law William Aceves, Clara Shortridge Foltz Professor of Law Jessica Fink,
and Professor of Law Lisa Shaw Roy, previewed several upcoming U.S. Supreme Court
cases for the 2025–2026 term. Dean and President Miriam H. Baer moderated the panel.
Watch the discussion.
Andrew Jennings, Associate Professor of Law at Emory University, visited California Western School of Law and presented his work-in-progress Everyday Veil Piercing to the CWSL faculty.
California Western School of Law celebrated the release of Professor Shawn Fields’s newest book, The New Public Safety (University of California Press), with a special launch event on Thursday, September 25. The New Public Safety: Police Reform and the Lurking Threat to Civil Liberties offers a comprehensive vision for how America approaches policing and public safety in the 21st century.
California Western School of Law (CWSL) welcomed Chief Justice of California Patricia Guerrero for an address on the rule of law in honor of National Hispanic Heritage month. Dean and President & Professor of Law Miriam H. Baer greeted the audience of over one hundred attendees, which included over twenty jurists and government officials, in addition to prominent alumni, faculty, staff, and students.
Mark Nevitt, Associate Professor of Law at Emory University, visited California Western School of Law on September 2, 2025, to present his forthcoming Iowa Law Review article When Climate Change Forces Flight: Legal Duties in the Age of Retreat to the CWSL faculty.
California Western School of Law's (CWSL) Law Review and International Law Journal co-hosted their annual Spring Symposium: “How Labor and Employment Laws Work in Today's Global Economy." The event convened legal scholars, practitioners, and students to explore the evolving landscape of labor and employment laws with a dual focus between domestic and international perspectives.
California Western School of Law hosted Deborah Archer, President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law, as the Inaugural Galinson Solomon Lecture, "Dividing Lines and the Architecture of Inequality." The Galinson Solomon Endowed Fund for Antiracism, Justice, and Equity funds this lecture series along with an endowed chair, scholars-in-residence, and student scholarships.
California Western School of Law (CWSL) hosted guest speaker Randall Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School for his talk, "Freedom of Expression and the Race Question." This event was made possible by CWSL’s Dean and Professor Robert K. Castetter and Marjorie B. Castetter Fund.
Event Archive
California Western School of Law (CWSL) hosted its Centennial Celebration at Rancho Bernardo Inn. The celebration tee'd off with an Alumni Golf Tournament — featuring over 50 golfers — followed by a Cocktail Reception and wrapped up with the CWSL Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner.
In bringing the Smithsonian’s The Bias Inside Us exhibition to campus, California Western School of Law (CWSL) made space for critical conversations on the intersections of bias, privilege, law, and justice. As part of this community engagement project, CWSL hosted "Critical Conversations: Breaking Barriers to Property Ownership," a panel that featured Professor Emily Behzadi Cárdenas and George Fatheree. This event was made possible in part by the Law, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity fund and San Diego Foundation.
California Western School of Law had the pleasure of hosting The Bias Inside Us — a exhibition and community engagement project organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) with major support provided by The Otto Bremer Trust and local support provided by San Diego Foundation. On May 9, 2024, CWSL hosted an Open House Reception to kickoff the exhibit.
For the One-Hundred-Eighteenth Commencement Ceremony, 212 California Western graduates earned their Juris Doctor degrees. This year's commencement speaker was San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan. You can view the program here.
Join us for an insightful symposium hosted by the California Western Law Review and the International Law Journal, where we venture into the profound nexus of law, technology, and evolving global regulations. This event is designed to be a powerful catalyst in understanding the deep-seated impact of advancements such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) on international and American legal paradigms. This symposium serves as an excellent platform for legal professionals to not only enrich their understanding, but also to fulfill their CLE and Ethics CLE requirements.
Join Pulitzer Prize winner Louis Menand for "Bakke, Roots and Branches," an address on the legacy of Regents of the University of California v Bakke, the seminal 1978 case that upheld race-based affirmative action programs in education, recently overturned by SFFA v Harvard.
Larry Pozner has long been recognized as America’s authority on modern cross-examination.
Pozner’s book Cross Examination: Science and Techniques (Lexis 3rd edition 2018, Pozner and Dodd) and his resulting seminar Pozner on Cross: the Chapter Method revolutionized our profession’s view of the purposes and methods of modern cross.
Pozner on Cross: The Chapter Method is an innovative and highly entertaining program that teaches the most efficient
method to draft and deliver winning cross-examinations. For more than 25 years this
ever-evolving seminar has been America’s best-attended trial techniques program. Pozner on Cross: The Chapter Method, adds principles of neuroscience and behavioral psychology to the most advanced techniques
of cross. The program uses a great many examples of the step-by step techniques to
recognize, write, and deliver powerful cross-examinations.
California Western School of Law is excited to host a screening of Peabody Award
Winning Filmmaker Abby Ginzberg’s Judging Juries, followed by an expert panel. This film highlights a glaring inequity in the U.S.
judicial system — barriers to jury service which deprive defendants in criminal cases
of juries which represent a cross-section of the community. While there are many issues
contributing to the lack of diversity in the jury pool, juror pay is at the top of
the list. The film looks at the issue of juror pay, the use of peremptory challenges
which permit the dismissal of potential jurors for no stated reason and the use of
former felony convictions as a bar to jury service.
The panel will feature experts, Taylor Morrison, Deputy District Attorney in San Diego
and Judge Daniel Segura, San Diego Superior Court, and will be moderated by CWSL's
Professor Shawn Fields.
Algorithmic Justice: The New Frontier
Please join the CWSL faculty and guest panelists for our Law, Justice, and Technology Initiative’s inaugural event. Following an afternoon screening of the documentary Coded Bias, available on Netflix, four distinguished panelists will provide insight about current
trends and problems at the law, justice, and technology intersection. Moderated by
intellectual property attorney, Maresa Talbert, ’17, the panelists include: Jessica Gross, ’17, Corporate Counsel for Privacy and Data at Sony Interactive Entertainment; Alexis Hancock, Director of Engineering at Electronic Frontier Foundation; Brenda Simon, ProFlowers Professor of Internet Studies at California Western School of Law; and
Corynne McSherry, Legal Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation. A reception follows the panel
discussion and Q&A session.
*This event is CLE eligible.
Unlocking the Golden Gate: Policy Solutions to California’s Housing Crisis
The Law Review Symposium: Unlocking the Golden Gate: Policy Solutions to California’s Housing Shortage will be held on Thursday, March 23rd from 12:30 – 5:30pm in the Auditorium at California Western School of Law, 350 Cedar Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Reception to follow.
Cruel and Modern Punishment: The Death Penalty under International Law
Learn about current issues regarding capital punishment practices in the U.S. and effects on international relations. MCLE credits available.
California Western School of Law welcomes Professor Aya Gruber and Professor India Thusi to campus this fall. These esteemed authors and professors will hold a conversation about the feminist war on crime, neofeminism and the carceral state. Cal Western's Professor Hannah Brenner Johnson will be moderating this event.
National Interdisciplinary Cannabis Symposium
Navigating the complex landscape of state and federal law relating to marijuana can be a challenge. Judges and leading industry organizations came together to look at the impact of marijuana legalization on courts and society.
The 6th Annual Legal Ethics Conference at California Western School of Law focuses on the relationship between legal ethics and the public interest by examining the role of lawyers representing the government and government officials.
State Violence and Womxn: Defining the Reaches of Modern Policing California Western School of Law, Law Review.
The California Western Law Review hosted a discussion about modern policing and its impact on women of color and trans women. Panelist and attendees engaged in conversations about how to identify, bring awareness and generate solutions to critical legal issues regarding this topic.
Legal Ethics in Artificial Intelligence
The 5th Annual Legal Ethics Conference at California Western focused on the ethical dilemmas within artificial intelligence (AI) and its many applications. The conference included panels featuring thought leaders, scholars, and professionals working in legal ethics, AI, and technology. Our speakers discussed the ethical issues that arise from rapidly advancing.
Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice
The California Western Law Review presented a discussion based on Andrea Freeman’s book Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race and Injustice. The symposium raised important questions and focused on the intersection of food law and policy, Critical Race Theory, health and reproductive rights, and feminist theory.
Revenge of the State: Blockchain and the Future of Law, Governance, and Monetary Policy Revenge of the State: Blockchain and the Future of Law, Governance, and Monetary Policy
The California Western School of Law International Law Journal presents a robust discussion on radical democracies, central banks, digital currencies, and the legal implications of emerging technologies.
Where Business Law & Tech Intersect
The Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce hosted a special panel, moderated by California Western President and Dean Sean Scott, designed to share new innovation, standards, policies, and forecasts with legal insight. Panelists included boutique law experts specializing in intellectual property, labor and employment, and technology as well as venture capital and general counsel directing some of San Diego's Fortune 500 companies.
Racial Justice: Looking Back, Moving Forward
In recent years, protests throughout the country have denounced racial inequality and demanded justice for the murders of Black men and women. While the focus of these protests was on criminal justice reform, they reflect the broader movement to confront structural racism. The disparate impact of the global pandemic on communities of color further highlights the existence of profound inequality. This panel addressed how the legal profession is fighting to support racial equality and promote human dignity.