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About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
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Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
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Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
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Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
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Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
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Alumni and Giving
The global Trojan network of more than 10,000 law alumni and donors include recognized leaders in numerous fields who are deeply committed to supporting student and law school success.
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Michael Brennan
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- + WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Post-Conviction Justice Project
Email: mbrennan@law.usc.eduTelephone: (213) 740-2527
Fax: (213) 740-5502
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA Room: 400
Last Updated: June 5, 2017
Michael Brennan is an authority on the three-strikes law and the death penalty, as well as criminal defense and appeals.
A specialist in clinical legal education, Brennan co-directs the Post-Conviction Justice Project and teaches Trial Advocacy. He was the directing attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance before teaching at USC Gould School of Law and then Emory University. He also served as deputy federal public defender and as a partner in Balaban, Stern and Brennan before returning to USC Law in 1984.
Brennan received his BA and LLB from the UC Berkeley. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He previously chaired the Federal Indigent Defense Panel Selection Committee for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, served as a member of the LACBA Judicial Evaluation Committee, consulted for the National Legal Services Training Program and was a member of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
San Francisco Chronicle
April 14, 2021
Re: Jean Lantz Reisz
Jean Reisz was interviewed about the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco's rejection of an earlier U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals decision that denied asylum to Salvadoran sisters who were harassed by a gang. “Their journey to asylum has been difficult and longer than it should have been,” she said. The judge and the board “ignored the evidence and denied lifesaving relief to the twins based on unlawful conclusions” that the court has now overturned. The article also appeared in Microsoft News.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Michael Simkovic
February, 2021
"Income Taxes and Work Hours," University of Virginia Law and Economics Workshop, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA.
Dorothy S. Lund
February, 2021
“The Corporate Governance Machine” (with Elizabeth Pollman), 122 Columbia Law Review (forthcoming 2022)
Michael Simkovic
February, 2021
“Income Taxes & Work Hours,” Florida Tax Review.