Dear Friends,

It’s been a truly transformative week in our beloved Santa Clara Law community! 

On Sunday, we were joined by alumna and Law Advisory Board Chair, Dorian Daley, her loved ones, current and former faculty, and staff, for the unveiling of the Daley Center for Conflict Resolution. The Daley Center, endowed through Dorian’s $5 million donation, joins our growing number of top-ranked centers of excellence, fulfilling our mission of creating competent and compassionate lawyers. Howard Charney was in attendance and reminded us of the critical role donors like Dorian play in ensuring the success of our law school. Lisa Kloppenberg shared the vision for the Center and the cutting-edge conflict resolution expertise and experiences awaiting our students, under the leadership of Leor Chechick and Gary Spitko.

Dorian reflected on her journey and aptly shared that lawyering, unlike the common portrayals of combative, unsympathetic sparring, is actually about building connection, finding common ground, and listening — similar to being a good friend. Dorian has been a great friend to our law school in so many ways for over four decades, and her wisdom and achievements continue to inspire our students to this day. Thank you to Cheryl Caligaris and the Advancement, Alumni Relations, & Communications team; Lisa McMahon; as well as our University partners for putting this event together; and to Teresa Kopriva for blessing the meal we shared. 

With Howard Charney and Dorian Daley

For a 22nd year, we also welcomed hundreds of estate planning attorneys and financial services professionals for our annual Jerry A. Kasner Estate Planning Symposium. Our speakers and breakout session leaders addressed the latest developments, best practices, and case studies in estate planning, including the implications of recent changes at the federal level. Many thanks to Chuck Packer for his leadership and continued partnership, to Marjorie Short and Stacey Scheirer for organizing and executing an impeccable convening after months of planning and hard work, to our staff and volunteers who shared their time with us, and to the sponsors who made this event possible. We are honored to bring the best and brightest in estate planning to Silicon Valley year after year to network and share their insights. 

A full house at the Kasner Symposium 2026

This week also marked the Northern California Innocence Project’s (NCIP) two day Art and Art Therapy Workshop. This special event for NCIP’s wrongfully convicted clients is designed to provide a trauma-informed, creative space where exonerees can process their experiences through artistic expression while building community and healing. Under the guidance of SCU’s art faculty and trained facilitators, the exonerees had the opportunity to explore and share their personal stories in ways that traditional support services often cannot provide. Thank you to NCIP’s Cy’mone Stewart for leading this event and to the Center for Creative Exploration's Maria Fairburn-Smith, PopUp productions’ Hershey Suri and Jack Morrill, and Professor Renee Billingslea for facilitating. Following the art workshops, NCIP held a class for our students, during which clients Joe Diaz, Ronnie Sandoval, Miguel Solorio, Anthony Penton, and Zavion Johnson shared their experiences with incarceration and the justice system. Thanks to Executive Director Todd Fries and the incredible team at NCIP, our clients were able to find freedom, dignity, and hope.

NCIP clients Jose Diaz, Miguel Solorio, Ronnie Sandoval, Anthony Penton, and Zavion Johnson

I also want to take this opportunity to remind you that I’m hitting the road to visit alumni across the country this September. I hope you’ll join me at one of our stops! While we maintain a strong connection with our alumni online, including through this newsletter, there’s no substitute for sitting down together in the same room. That’s why I’m personally traveling to Seattle, Hawaii, Houston, and Dallas this fall to meet our Law Broncos face-to-face. These mixers are a chance to catch up with classmates, meet alumni from other class years working in your area, and expand your professional network. Register here — I’d love to see you there.

With warm regards and great gratitude,   

 

Michael J. Kaufman
Dean and Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law