- About
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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William Patton
USC Gould School of Law
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION
- 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

Lecturer in Law
Email: wpatton@law.usc.edu699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: June 21, 2018
William Patton teaches U.S. Common Law & Analysis in the Two-Year Extended LLM program at USC Gould School of Law. He is also a professor emeritus at Whittier Law School, where he joined their faculty in 1984 after teaching several years at UCLA Law School. Patton’s primary research interest is at the intersection of juvenile law, ethics, and forensic child and adolescent psychiatry which he teaches at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. He has testified as an expert witness, argued several cases in the California Supreme Court, authored many legislative analyses and testified often in various state legislatures regarding pending legislation involving the psychological and jurogenic effects of the legal system on children. Patton has published books with Cambridge University Press and LexisNexis and has published more than 45 law review articles that can be accessed at http://ssrn.com/author=625098.
Patton has advocated for children for more than thirty years. He started his legal career as a public defender where he represented children in juvenile delinquency, parental termination, and mental health cases. While at UCLA Law School he taught in the Child Abuse Clinic and supervised law students in representing clients in the child dependency courts. Patton is the Founding Director of the Whittier Law School Center for Children’s Rights, and he serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit law firm, Los Angeles Dependency Attorneys.
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
Robin Craig
April, 2023
"Marine Biodiversity: Trends, Targets, and the BBNJ," Lewis and Clark School of Law 2023 Environmental Law Symposium: Protecting Biodiversity: Five Decades of Progress but an Uncertain Future, Portland, OR, April 7, 2023.
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.