Donna Ryu, Clinical Professor of Law

Donna Ryu joined the Hastings faculty in 2002, after serving four years as an Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Women’s Employment Rights Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law.  Before becoming a clinical teacher, Professor Ryu litigated groundbreaking employment discrimination class actions on behalf of plaintiffs, and eventually co-founded an all-women civil rights firm.  Professor Ryu was named the 12th annual California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) for Employment Law, which honors lawyers for their "extraordinary achievements" and "profound impact on the law.”  She is a recipient of the Asian American Bar Association’s Joe Morozumi Award for Exceptional Legal Advocacy, which recognizes “uncompromising legal advocacy in matters of conscience.”  At Hastings, Professor Ryu was honored to receive the Rutter Award for Teaching Excellence.  Recently, Professor Ryu authored an amicus curiae brief in the California Supreme Court on behalf of California professors of constitutional and civil rights law in support of a challenge to Proposition 8.

Courses Taught: Individual Representation Clinic, Roles and Ethics in Practice, and Asian Pacific Americans and the Law