New Faculty: Alina S. Ball, Leading Transactional Clinical Professor

Alina S. Ball will join the UC Hastings clinical faculty July 1, 2013. She will develop and launch UC Hastings’ Social Enterprise & Non-Profit Law Clinic, which debuts in the 2013-2014 academic year. Ball will also teach the newly launched Startup Technology Clinic. 

Ball joins UC Hastings from Georgetown, where she is a teaching fellow with the Harrison Institute for Housing and Community Development. Prior to teaching, she was an associate with Morrison & Foerster LLP’s Washington D.C. office.

Academic Dean Shauna Marshall said, “Alina adds depth to our clinical program with her extensive knowledge of transactional practice,” and is the perfect choice to launch the new Social Enterprise Clinic. The clinic is designed to help “benefit corporations,” that is, money-making ventures that promote social justice and environmental aims, Marshall said. “She will bring additional skills and expertise to our newly created Innovation Law Clinics.”

Professor Robin Feldman, who oversees the Innovation Law Clinics, said Ball’s “background in corporate work at Morrison & Foerster combined with her public interest work as a Fellow at Georgetown Law School's Harrison Institute are the perfect combination for launching our new Social Enterprise and Non-Profit Law Clinic. Alina is captivating when she talks about her experiences in D.C. and her passion for transactional work in the community. I know she will not only lead but also inspire our students.”

Nancy Stuart, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning, said clinics function as “learning labs,” training students while benefitting entities that would not otherwise be able to afford legal services. “We seek to serve organizations that otherwise wouldn’t have the resources for legal help. Providing legal support at the front end will enable them to achieve their mission, purpose and vision. With Alina at the helm, the clinic is bound to be a model for others.”

"I look forward to joining UC Hastings," Ball said. "The school has a national reputation as a leader in experiential education. So much groundbreaking progress is being made in social enterprise and nonprofit work in the Bay Area, and will be of great use to my work. As a California native, I am committed to serving our state from a city I love."

“We are ecstatic to have Alina join our clinical program,” said Professor Ascanio Piomelli. “We consider her the leading transactional clinical professor on the entry-level market this year. Her scholarship focuses on how transactional lawyers can work most effectively with business entities in low-income communities of color.”

In Washington D.C., Ball represented low-income tenant associations in a variety of transactional matters that included working with the tenants to organize, purchase residential buildings, develop and renovate their residential buildings and learning how to operate the buildings. In private practice, she represented investment advisors and other entities in secondary debt transactions. She also has experience advising nonprofit corporations on issues relating to entity formation, regulation of exempt organizations, and nonprofit governance.