Kimberly Gosling

Professor Gosling teaches Professional Responsibility, Remedies, and the Law Firm Externship and Agency Externship courses.

Professor Gosling is an experienced litigator with a deep background in private and public practice.  She started her career at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where she spent more than 10 years handling complex, high-stakes litigation matters, including product liability, consumer class action, commercial, and privacy disputes, and trying cases in federal and state courts.  After leaving private practice, she served as a Deputy Attorney General at the California Attorney General’s Office, representing the state in high-profile cases that protected the California coast, ensured access to affordable housing, and made development safer in areas prone to wildfire.  Early in her career, Professor Gosling also spent a year clerking for the Honorable Jeffrey T. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. 

Professor Gosling has always had a passion for teaching and mentoring law students and lawyers.  While earning her JD at Harvard Law School, she was a member of the Board of Student Advisers and served as a teaching assistant in courses on constitutional law and legal writing.  She advised younger lawyers throughout her time in practice, with a special focus on working to improve the careers of women in the law.  Professor Gosling also taught as a lecturer in USD’s 1L Experiential Advocacy Practicum for many years.  She takes great pleasure in getting to know students and helping them navigate the early days of their legal career.

In 2025, Professor Gosling received USD School of Law's Thorsnes Prize for Excellence in Teaching (determined by student vote). Professor Gosling serves on the board of directors of Father Joe’s Villages, the largest homeless services provider in Southern California. She also served for six years on the board of directors of the San Diego County Bar Foundation. She has been recognized by Chambers USA Women in Law, which named her a finalist for the national Future Leader Award (2015); Legal 500 U.S., which commended her in the area of “Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense: Aerospace/Aviation” (2014-2015); and Super Lawyers, which named her a “Rising Star” (2015-2016) and “Top Rated Attorney” (2016-2017) in business litigation. Professor Gosling is also a nine-time recipient of the Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services from the State Bar of California (2007, 2009-2016).