New Dean willl make a difference.
Dean Newton has strong ties to UC Hastings.
After graduating from University of California at Berkeley in 1973, she attended UC Hastings College of the Law and graduated (Order of the Coif) in 1976.
She returned to Hastings as a Visiting Professor for the school year 1994-95.
Current
Mary Kay Kane She attended the University of Michigan where she received a B.A. degree in English and a J.D. in law in 1971.
She came to Hastings in 1977.
She served as Associate Academic Dean from 1980-82, as Acting Academic Dean during the 1987-88 academic year, as Academic Dean from 1990-93, and has been Dean since December 1993.
She has been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, the University of Texas at Austin, and Boalt Hall.
From Leiter
Like many large, state law schools, Hastings has been treated badly by U.S. News; probably only Wisconsin has fared as badly at the hands of the U.S. News criteria that reward a school for being small and private. U.S. News to the side, I've often heard folks remark that Hastings is an underperforming law school; when you consider that it's part of the prestigious University of California system, and located in one of the three great American cities (the other two being, of course, New York and Chicago), surely it should be unambiguously top 20 or better?
Could Hastings accomplish what NYU did in the 1990s, i.e., exploit its location to recruit a first-rate interdisciplinary faculty? That must surely be one of the challenges facing Dean Newton as she takes the helm. As Dean Newton remarked: "I am excited about the opportunity to lead Hastings as it secures its place as one of the best law schools in the country." Many in the legal academy will watch with interest.
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