A bit about me.
Hi! My name is James and I’m a 3L at Berkeley Law. After graduation, I’ll be joining Cooley’s San Francisco office as a corporate associate. Before law school, I served in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer and Paralegal Specialist in the JAG Corps. Outside of class, I’m an associate editor for the Ecology Law Quarterly, write for the Berkeley Business Law Journal blog, co-lead Military and Veterans at Berkeley Law, and volunteer with Swords to Plowshares.
Where I studied.
UC Berkeley School of Law
2024 – 2027J.D. Candidate
Berkeley, California
Honors
Berkeley Law Dean’s Fellowship Jurisprudence Award: Venture Capital Deal Bootcamp U.S. Military Promise ProgramActivities
Ecology Law Quarterly — Associate Editor & Mentor Berkeley Business Law Journal — Blog Writer & Mentor Military & Veterans at Berkeley Law — Co-Leader La AlianzaCalifornia State University, San Marcos
2020 – 2024B.S., summa cum laude, Business Administration – Finance
San Marcos, California
Honors
Summa Cum Laude Dean’s List (all semesters)Activities
Associated Students Inc. — Veterans Student Representative CoBA Peer Mentor Program — Mentor CSUSM Finance Society — Treasurer & Director of OperationsWhere I’ve worked.
Cooley LLP
2025 – PresentIncoming Associate, General Corporate
San Francisco, California · Beginning 2027
Summer Associate
Palo Alto, California · Summers 2025 & 2026
Honors
Cooley Diversity Fellow (1L & 2L)Morrison Foerster
2026Summer Associate
San Francisco, California
Honors
Wetmore FellowSome things I’ve written.
I write for The Network, the blog run by the Berkeley Business Law Journal. Mostly about what’s happening at the intersection of regulation and business.
Views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of any current or future employer.
The Last Frontier: Why Private Equity Wants a Piece of Law Firms
Read articleFTC Launches Operation AI Comply: When Do AI Claims Cross Into Deception?
Read articleCoal’s Last Stand: Is There a Future, and Should There Be?
Read articleThe Price of “Affordability”: Newsom’s SB 682 Veto
Read articleAssociate Editor & Mentor
Editing and cite-checking for Berkeley’s environmental law journal.
In the news.
Berkeley Law 2L Year Recap: Recruiting, Grading, AI & Law School Culture
Watch on YouTube Also on SpotifyService & leadership.
Military Police Corps — E-4 Specialist
Deployed for 13 months to Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, Romania. Automated and digitized a NATO-compliant Base Access Plan in Excel, addressing security, fraud, and terrorism risks and enhancing installation security protocols for 1,000+ personnel.
DVIDS feature: Joint U.S.–Canadian MP Range, Romania
Joint U.S.–Canadian Military Police training during 13-month deployment to Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base — sighting (left) and firing line (right).
Photos: U.S. Army by Spc. Ethan Valetski, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment — via DVIDS, public domain.JAG Corps — E-5 Sergeant
Supervised legal matters for 10 independent companies while personally leading a 30-member team as the Platoon Sergeant.
Decorations
Army Commendation Medal Good Conduct Medal National Defense Service Medal GWOT Expeditionary Medal GWOT Service Medal Overseas Service Ribbon Armed Forces Reserve Medal w/ M Device Military Outstanding Volunteer Service MedalSwords to Plowshares — L.O.V.E.
Intake Volunteer and Veteran Advocate since August 2024. Providing pro bono legal assistance through L.O.V.E. to disadvantaged veterans seeking VA benefits or discharge upgrades.
Veterans Student Representative
In my senior year at California State University, I represented the military-affiliated student body on university committees and mentored fellow veterans in collaboration with ASI.
When I’m not going through casebooks, I’m usually reading for fun. Here are some of the books that have stuck with me.
Let’s connect.
Feel free to reach out — happy to talk about anything.