Lance Cotton’s (JD ’19) journey from the youngest of four siblings to becoming a Deputy District Attorney for the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office is a testament to perseverance, community, and a deep commitment to justice. As one of the few black attorneys in this prominent county office, Cotton embodies the spirit of Chapman
Bobby Waltman’s (JD’12) passion for justice, public defense and personal injury practice began when he was just seven years old. Other kids his age might have loaded up on cartoons and MTV, but Bobby Waltman spent his couch time curled up next to his father, watching Sub Rosa VHS tapes as his dad prepared cases
Launched in May 2024 to coincide with the school’s commencement celebrations, Fowler School of Law’s Amicus magazine is an annual publication commemorating a year in the life of our school. It’s a celebration of our students, our alumni, faculty and staff, introducing new readers to the broader Chapman Family at the Fowler School of Law.
A cool January morning saw Lieutenant Colonel Alex Douvas (JD ’05) return to campus with a small entourage of Marine Corps recruiters to discuss his work as a Marine Corps “judge advocate” (military lawyer) with Fowler students interested in learning about what it might offer. It has been ten years since Douvas was last on
March 14-16 marked the 20th annual Scholars Weekend for the Fowler School of Law, an important event in the admissions cycle and a terrific opportunity for the Fowler School of Law community to welcome outstanding prospective candidates already admitted to our JD program. Prospective students were treated to a hands-on taste of school life over
In a likely first for an alumnus of the Fowler School of Law, Bryan F. Clavecilla (JD ’07) was appointed to serve as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 29, 2024–filling the vacancy left by Judge Linda Marks’ retirement. Previously Clavecilla served as a Commissioner for the
A cool fall evening provided the perfect backdrop to the Fowler School of Law State and Federal Bar Swearing-in Ceremony held in a packed Memorial Hall on Friday evening. In attendance were the one-hundred-plus bar exam passers, faculty, family and friends, along with Judge Nathan Vu, the Honorable Mark Wallace (Retired), Dean Paton, Professor Nate
What draws one to work as a lawyer and an advocate in the difficult area of child abuse, sexual abuse, and their legislation? Amanda Simmons’ (JD ’21) answer is direct and about as unequivocal as it gets: “If not me, then who?” She offers, “I waited twenty-five years for someone else to clean up this
“Oh, there was never a Plan B,” alumni Mandi Ford (JD ’18) chuckles on a Zoom call from her Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG) office at Fort Riley, Kansas, “even before my bar results came in, I was packing for the Army.” In part, it was the intrigue and promise of adventure, as this native
How does a personal injury lawyer with a strong focus on motor vehicle accident cases survive two years of shelter-in-place state mandates during COVID-19, when suddenly no cars were on the road? Alumnus Daniel Kim (JD ’12) knows that the answer to this riddle lies somewhere between having an entrepreneurial mindset and possessing an uncanny