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UC Hastings is now UC College of the Law, San Francisco

Learn more here

Jessica
Vapnek

Associate Dean of the MSL Program, Director of the International Development Law Center, Lecturer-in-Law

  • Office 388-200
  • Email Address vapnekjessica@uchastings.edu
  • Telephone +1 (415) 565-4801

Biography

Jessica Vapnek is Associate Dean of the MSL Program, Director of the International Development Law Center, and Lecturer-in-Law at UC Law SF. Previously, she was a Regional Technical Director for a consulting firm in San Francisco implementing rule-of-law projects around the world. In that role she managed complex international projects and helped write winning proposals. Previously, for almost 15 years, Professor Vapnek served as a Legal Officer with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, providing policy advice to member countries, drafting legislation on agriculture and natural resources, and writing and editing a number of articles and books. Professor Vapnek has lived in Africa (she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the former Zaire and a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana) and has worked in or traveled to 93 countries during her career. She continues to do occasional work for the UN as an expert, for example travelling to Bhutan and Malawi to review their veterinary legislative frameworks and to Nepal to evaluate a proposed draft food safety law. She speaks French, Spanish, and Italian.

Expertise

  • Food and Agriculture Law
  • International Law
  • Legal Research and Writing
  • Legislation

Education

  1. University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

    J.D.

  2. Yale University

    B.A.

Accomplishments

  1. Editor in Chief

    California Law Review

  2. Fulbright Scholar

    Ghana

  3. Fulbright Scholar

    Poland

  4. Peace Corps Volunteer

    Democratic Republic of the Congo

Selected Scholarship

  1. Drafting National Food Legislation in a Globally Connected World, with Melvin Spreij 2023

    RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INTERNATIONAL FOOD LAW (Michael Roberts, ed.)

  2. Food and Agriculture in Policy 2021

    BUSINESS & PUBLIC POLICY HANDBOOK, Edward Elgar

  3. Legislative and Regulatory Frameworks for Family Farming 2021

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  4. Regulatory and Legislative Framework for Novel Foods, in Food Formulation: Novel Ingredients and Processing Techniques 2021

    Wiley-Blackwell

  5. Agricultural Legislation in International Legislative Drafting Handbook 2020

    Carolina Academic Press

  6. Gender-Silent Drafting in a Non-Binary World 2020

    Capital Law Review 48:2

  7. Regulating the Packaged Water Industry in Africa: Challenges and Recommendations 2018

    20 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 217

  8. Resolving Disputes and Improving Security in Post-Conflict Settings: An Example from Liberia 2017

    Arbitration - The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management

  9. Cultural Factors and Ethical Integrity 2016

    Hastings International and Comparative Law Review

  10. Improving Access to Justice in Developing and Post-Conflict Countries: Practical Examples from the Field 2016

    Duke Forum for Law & Social Change

  11. 21 Cost-Saving Measures for the Judiciary 2013

    International Journal for Court Administration

  12. Legislative and Regulatory Options for Animal Welfare 2011

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  13. Law for Water Management: A Guide to Concepts and Approaches 2009

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  14. Legislatively Establishing a Health Certification Programme for Citrus 2009

    FAO Legal Papers Online

  15. Regulatory Measures Against Outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza 2009

    FAO Legal Papers Online

  16. Designing National Pesticide Legislation 2007

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  17. Legislative Implementation of the Food Chain Approach 2007

    Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

  18. Development of an Analytical Tool to Assess Biosecurity Legislation 2007

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  19. Guidelines for the Revision of National Plant Protection Legislation 2007

    FAO Legal Papers Online

  20. Recent Trends in the Law and Policy of Bioenergy Production, Promotion and Use 2007

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  21. Making National Food Laws 2005

    Rivista di Diritto Agrario (Agrarian Law Review)

  22. Perspectives and Guidelines on Food Legislation, with a New Model Food Law 2005

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  23. Law and Sustainable Development Since Rio: Legal Trends in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management 2002

    FAO Legislative Study Series

  24. Implementation of Management Plans 1999

    Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water: A Guide to their Public Health Consequences, Monitoring, and Management

  25. Institutional and Legal Measures to Combat African Swine Fever 1999

    FAO Legal Papers Online

  26. Establishing a Water Abstraction Licensing Scheme: Issues and Options 1999

    FAO Legal Papers Online

  27. The West African Drug Mule Train 1996

    Criminal Law Bulletin

Courses

  1. Legal Research and Writing for Masters Students
  2. Drafting Legislation
  3. Introduction to US Legal Systems
  4. Introduction to Law
  5. Advanced Legal Writing
  6. US Law & Current Events

Links

  1. Publications

Related News

von rotz_featured

New Center Provides International Development Opportunities for Law Students

10/12/22

Faculty Achievements: Fall 2021

11/28/21

Faculty Achievements: Summer 2021

10/09/21
Image of glasses at keyboard

Research Dean’s February 2020 Roundup of Scholarly Activities

03/01/20
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