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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.
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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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Michael Parente
USC Gould School of Law
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Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Director, Post-Conviction Justice Project
Email: mparente@law.usc.eduTelephone: (213) 740-0383
Fax: (213) 740-5502
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: May 16, 2023
Michael Parente co-directs the Post-Conviction Justice Project, a clinical program in which law students represent clients serving life sentences in California prisons, often for crimes committed in their youth. Under his guidance, students serve as lead counsel at parole hearings, challenge unjust convictions and sentences in court, and advocate for clients in clemency proceedings. In addition, the Project works to pass legislative reforms to improve the parole process and advance other laws impacting incarcerated individuals.
Parente teaches a post-conviction clinical seminar and has taught Criminal Procedure.
Prior to joining the USC Gould School of Law faculty, Parente served as a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles for 10 years, primarily representing indigent individuals on California’s death row in post-conviction proceedings at all levels of state and federal court.
Parente holds a BS from Cornell University, an LLM in Law and Economics from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in Economics from George Mason University. He received his JD from USC’s Gould School of Law where he was chair of the Hale Moot Court Honors Program and a student supervisor in the Post-Conviction Justice Project.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Politi Fact
May 23, 2023
Re: David B. Cruz
Professor David Cruz was recently interviewed about a controversial bill that was passed in Connecticut. "Paying even modest attention to the bill’s definitions should make it clear beyond doubt that it will not be the source of protections based upon the age of people to whom one is attracted or with whom one has sex," Cruz said.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Jonathan Barnett
April, 2023
Comment Letter from Law Professors, Economists, and Business School Professors to the Federal Trade Commission on Proposed Non-Compete Clause Rule, Jonathan Barnett (co-lead author, with Adam Mossoff and Ted Sichelman), April 19, 2023.
Robin Craig
April, 2023
"Survival Equity and Climate Change Triage: How to Decide Who Lives and Who Dies," presentation as part of Adapting to a Warming World: Perspectives from the Environmental Law Collaborative, Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, University of Iowa School of Law, Iowa City, IA, April 14, 2023.
Robin Craig
April, 2023
Robin Craig's recent research on tribal water rights and COVID-19, comparing the Navajo Nation and the Klamath Tribes, was featured on NPR's "Academic Minute" on Monday, April 17, 2023.