Community Fellows
No question is too big or small. Community Fellows can offer perspective on class preparation, outlining, exam preparation, job search, co-curricular activities, social life in Orange County and life/work balance. The Community Fellows will also host a variety of small gatherings and large events to connect first-year students with the larger campus community.
List of Community Fellows
Jenaun Aboud
(Class of 2017)
Hometown: Anaheim Hills
Alma Mater: Cal State Fullerton - English
Professional Interests: Employment Law, Civil Rights Litigation, Reproductive Justice
Hobbies: Hiking, camping, top-rope climbing, paddleboarding, cardio fitness, dystopian fiction, fantasy fiction, stand-up comedy, consuming all forms of dairy
Co-Curricular: Student Bar Association, Women's Law Society, The VoiceThea Alli
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Alma Mater: United States Air Force Academy - Political Science
Professional Interests: Employment Law, Municipal Law
Hobbies: Cooking, gardening, and rollerskating
Co-Curricular: Veteran's Advocacy Society (President), Public Interest Law Fund (PILF), Black Law Student's Association (BLSA), Center on Law, Equality, and Race (CLEaR)
Alina Ananian
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: La Crescenta, CA
Alma Mater: UCLA - Applied Mathematics
Hobbies: Dancing, napping, eating, binge watching Netflix
Co-Curricular: Student Bar Association, American Constitution SocietyLindsay Anderson
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA
Alma Mater: UC Riverside - History, Law & Society
Professional Interests: I am very interested in animal law. I am specifically interested in seeing the practice of shark finning ended in my lifetime
Hobbies: Attending indie concerts and painting ceramics
Co-Curricular: I am currently serving as President of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund (SALDF) at UCI Law
Sara Banco
(Class of 2017)
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Alma Mater: California State University, Monterey Bay
Professional Interests: Criminal Law, Appellate Law, Juvenile Justice Law, Mental Health Law
Hobbies: Fantasy books, dog parks, boating, skiing, theater
Sarah Boxer
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Glastonbury, CT
Alma Mater: University of Connecticut, Storrs
Professional Interests: Labor and Employment Law, Civil Rights Litigation
Hobbies: Taking my bulldog to the dog beach, iced coffee, napping
Co-Curricular: Workers' Rights Clinic, Women's Law Society, Law Students for Reproductive Justice
Helen Boyer
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Newark, DE
Alma Mater: American University
Professional Interests: Civil Rights, Social Justice Law, Education Law, Prison Reform, Gender & Sexual Orientation Law
Hobbies: Music, guitar, drinking too much coffee
Co-Curricular: National Lawyers Guild, PILF, Workers' Rights Clinic, Transgender Legal Name and Gender Change Clinic, OutLaw
Raymond Cho
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Irvine, CA
Alma Mater: University of Southern California - Economics / East Asian Languages and Cultures
Professional Interests: Public Interest Law
Hobbies: Netflix, "Yelping" places to eat, adventures, and traveling
Co-Curricular: Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
Amanda Cordova
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Oceanside, CA
Alma Mater: UC San Diego
Hobbies: Cross-country traveling, reading nonfiction, window shopping, Netflix
Co-Curricular: Admissions Ambassador, Pro Bono, Public Interest Law Fund
Shirley Diaz
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Alma Mater: University of Nevada, Reno - BA in Political Science and International Affairs; University of Nevada, Reno - MA in Economics
Professional Interests: Litigation
Hobbies: Step dancing, drinking coffee, watching The Bachelor(ette)
Co-Curricular: Women's Law Society, Latino/a Law Student Association
Rebecca Garcia
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Anaheim, CA
Alma Mater: San Jose State University - Psychology
Hobbies: Running, eating, going to the beach, and napping
Co-Curricular: PILF, Advance Parole for DACA students, Criminal Law Society
Vanessa Gomez
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Alma Mater: Princeton University - B.A. in Sociology; Certificates in Law & Finance from NYU.
Professional Interests: Employer: Law firm/In-house Counsel; Practice areas: Securities, Business law, Real Estate, Labor & Employment, Business Litigation, Finance
Hobbies: Basketball, running, marathons, the beach, music, trying new food havens
Co-Curricular: Latino/a Law Students Association: 1L Rep & Incoming Co-Chair, Business Law Society: 1L Rep, Street Law: Incoming Student leader, CARES: Incoming Student leader, Pro Bono: Mississippi Center for Justice, Coachella Saturday Clinic, Naturalization Fairs, U-Visa Project for Victims of Special CrimesMatthew Jacinto
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA
Alma Mater: UC Berkeley - Political Science
Hobbies: Beach volleyball, live music, reading, not doing the dishes
Co-Curricular: Domestic Violence Declarations, Director of Social Programming
Star Leal
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL
Alma Mater: Florida Atlantic University
Professional Interests: Children's Advocacy and Criminal Law
Hobbies: Disney and spending time with my kids
Co-Curricular: Children's Advocacy Group, Social Security benefits, Expungement Clinics
Jordan Liebman
(Class of 2017)
Hometown: Santa Barbara, CA
Alma Mater: UC Santa Cruz
Professional Interests: Land Use and Natural Resources Law, Constitutional Law, Plaintiff-side and Public Interest Litigation
Hobbies: Guitar, ukulele, banjo, Settlers of Catan, hiking, cooking
Co-Curricular: Environmental Law Society, Pro Bono, Law Review
Mariah Lindsay
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Orange, CA
Alma Mater: Cal Poly Pomona - Political Science with a Minor in History
Professional Interests: Public Interest, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Women's Rights, Criminal Law
Co-Curricular: PILF Publicity Co-chair; Law Students for Reproductive Justice Internal Vice President
Laura Lively
(Class of 2017)
Hometown: Santa Clarita, CA
Alma Mater: CSU Fullerton - English Literature; Duke University, M.A. Humanities
Professional Interests: Civil Litigation
Hobbies: Singing, songwriting, Duke Basketball, cooking, hiking, reading
Co-Curricular: President of the Student Bar Association, Style Editor for UC Irvine Law Review, Research Assistant for Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, 2015-2016 Research Fellow for Professor Trilby Robinson-Dorn, Women's Law Society
Sean Lobb
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Temecula, CA
Alma Mater: UC Irvine - International Studies
Professional Interests: Networking, Litigation, Public Speaking, teaching, and Pro-bono work
Hobbies: Tennis, surfing, sailing, beach volleyball, international travel, running, San Diego Chargers and Padres, international music, learning languages, basketball, the beach, Disneyland, and comedy movies
Co-Curricular: Street Law, Mississippi Center for Justice, Criminal Law Society, PILF, and UCI Student Bar Association
Emma McBurney
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: London, England
Alma Mater: Yale University - Anthropology
Professional Interests: Appellate Law, Criminal Law, Litigation
Hobbies: Crossfit, FBI TV shows
Co-Curricular: Faculty Appointments Committee Member, Veterans Advocacy Society, Global Justice Summit
Brian McCall
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Andover, MA
Alma Mater: George Washington University - International Affairs; Masters in Tourism Administration - George Washington University
Professional Interests: Construction Law, Land Use, Real Estate, Environmental
Hobbies: Playing with my puppy, The West Wing, rapping Hamilton to myself, GW basketball, watching "Nick at Nite" re-runs of Friends/Full-House
Co-Curricular: PILF, International Refugee Assistance Project, Admissions Ambassador
Carol Park
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Seoul, Korea
Alma Mater: HUFS/DIS
Hobbies: Yoga/Pilates, creative writing
Samuel Sung Cheol Park
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Alma Mater: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Hobbies: League of Legends, running, rock climbing, playing piano, trying (almost anything) that's new, and collecting office supplies
Co-Curricular: Student Bar Association, OutLaw, U-Visa Project, Saturday Academy of Law, Street Law, and Community Fellows
Mason Sayer
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Newport Beach, CA
Alma Mater: UCLA - Geography
Professional Interests: Environmental Law and Policy
Hobbies: Martial Arts, boxing, surfing, drums, guitar, singing
Co-Curricular: Environmental Law Society, International Refugee Assistance Project, Staff Editor for The Voice, Admissions Ambassador
Chris Valentino
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Benicia, CA
Alma Mater: San Francisco State University - Political Science; Bowling Green State University - Master's Degree: College Student Personnel
Professional Interests: Social Justice, Criminal Defense State and Local Government
Hobbies: Running, Cooking
Co-Curricular: Public Interest Law Foundation
Olivia Weber
(Class of 2017)
Hometown: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Alma Mater: University of Montana
Professional Interests: Indian law, environmental law, direct legal services
Hobbies: I love white water rafting, and am a white water river guide in the summer. While in school, I trail run, paddle board, ski, backpack, and play golf and tennis. I also love getting together with my classmates and laughing for hours on end about stupid things. Believe me, you can still have fun in law school!
Co-Curricular: PILF, Environmental Law Society, SBA, and Native American and Indigenous Law Student Association
Christine Wendel
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Newton, Iowa
Alma Mater: University of Missouri - BA in Broadcast Journalism; Universität Hamburg Aarhus Universitet- Dual Masters Degree of Journalism, Media and Globalisation
Professional Interests: International Law, Environmental Law
Hobbies: Jogging, soccer
Co-Curricular: Environmental Law Society, International Law Society, IRAP, UCI Admissions Ambassadors, Pro Bono
Lauren Yun
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Orange County, CA
Alma Mater: University of Southern California
Professional Interests: International Human Rights and Intellectual Property.
Hobbies: Reading literally anything, competitive e-sports (LoL, CSGO, TF2), documentaries, and making excuses not to go to the gym
Co-Curricular: PILF, Reproductive Justice Pro Bono Project
Sami Zaret
(Class of 2018)
Hometown: Newport Beach, CA
Alma Mater: UCLA - English
Professional Interests: Environmental and Natural Resources Law, Immigration Law, Reproductive Rights, Philosophy and the Law
Hobbies: Cooking, running (...aka jogging...aka walking fast), food tours, road trips, Peet's Cold Brew Coffee
Co-Curricular: Law Students for Reproductive Justice, Street Law, Pro Bono