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
Chapman Law School alumni T. Gabe Houston (JD ’08) and Robbie Godinez Munoz (JD’20) have recently been awarded a $161 million verdict in a civil case against a major motorcycle manufacturer. The verdict, eight years in the making, has $11 million compensatory, and $150 million punitive damages attached to it, represents the culmination of a
When Alex Mohajer (JD ’11) graduated from Chapman University, his graduating class voted this champion of equality and LGBTQ+ rights, “Most Likely to be Held in Contempt of Court”–they were wrong, of course. Mohajer left Chapman and entered public service where, for the past ten years, he has been investigating allegations of discrimination and sexual
Diana Chao (JD ’10) is the incumbent president of the Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law (OCCDL), a partner in her firm, Everett Dorey LLC, and the matriarch of a young family. We caught up with her to discuss life since graduation, her continuing involvement in the Fowler School of Law alumni and