Michael Roster
USC Gould School of Law

Michael Roster formerly was managing partner of Morrison & Foerster’s Los Angeles office; co-chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Practice Group worldwide, resident in both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.; and a member of the firm’s policy committee.

In 1993, Roster was appointed general counsel of Stanford University, Stanford Medical Center and Stanford Management Company. He subsequently was executive vice president and general counsel of Golden West Financial Corporation. Roster also has served as chair of the Stanford Alumni Association, chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel worldwide, and chair of two start-up companies, Insert Therapeutics and Encirq. He also is a former director of the California Bankers Association, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and Pasadena Heritage.

In 2008, Roster co-founded and for 10 years was co-chair of the Association of Corporate Counsel's Value Challenge, a project that is focused on better ways by which law firms and in-house counsel can serve their clients.

A graduate of Stanford University, Roster received his JD from Stanford Law School. He currently is a director of MDRC, a nonprofit corporation based in New York that evaluates the effectiveness of government and other programs affecting lower income families and individuals, and he previously chaired a project funded by two foundations to eliminate abuses in consumer credit cards in the U.S. He teaches Contract Drafting and Analysis at the USC Gould School of Law. 

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

LLM Guide
June 5, 2023
Re: USC Gould School of Law

Law schools have been adapting to the increase in technological advancements, especially with the increased need for attorneys with the creation of AI. “Attorneys work on the front end, conducting threat assessments to ensure that their clients’ systems and data are protected, and on the back end, to navigate any legal issues that may arise as a result of the attacks," Gruzas said.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

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"Fish, Whales, and a Blue Ethics for the Anthropocene: How Do We Think About the Last Wild Food in the Twenty-First Century?," 95:6 Southern California Law Review 1307-1343 (April 2023).

Robin Craig
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"California Exceptionalism in the Colorado River: A Brief History and Implications for the Future."

Robin Craig
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"Toward a Global Sustainable Development Agenda Built on Resilience" (with Murray W. Scown, Craig R. Allen, Lance Gunderson, David G. Angeler, Jorge H. Garcia, & Ahjond Garmestani), Global Sustainability (online publication April 2023).