Public Interest Law Clinic
Public Interest Law Clinic offers students who have completed California Regulatory Law & the Public Interest an opportunity to design an individualized research and/or advocacy project and earn additional units during their third year.
Clinic projects range from straight research-and-writing projects—which may be published in the California Regulatory Law Reporter as a feature article and satisfy USD’s written work requirement—to the drafting, introduction, and lobbying of legislation; the drafting and argument of a petition for rulemaking; or participation in public interest litigation in which CPPC is involved, provided the project relates to regulatory or public interest law.
The number of units for any particular Clinic project is decided on a case-by-case basis and may be spread over multiple semesters. Public Interest Law Clinic is a non-graded course (high pass/pass/fail).
Ghost Guns Legislation
During the 2020-2021 Clinic, Marcus worked with CPPC attorneys and policy advocates to draft a bill, AB 1057 (Petrie-Norris), sponsored by CPPC and signed by the Governor on October 8, 2021, which will close a loophole for emergency Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO’s) and Domestic Violence Restraining Orders by including “ghost guns” in the definition of seizable items if a person is a threat to themselves or others.
Patient Protection
During the 2018-2019 Clinic, Kayla was instrumental in drafting proposed legislation that would require online review companies that review physicians and surgeons to include a link to the Medical Board’s official database containing disciplinary records. She was also interviewed by NBC News in San Diego about this project. While CPPC was unable to find a willing author for the bill in 2019, it continues to be among the Center’s policy priorities.