LAW PORTAL
- 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.
- Students
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
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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Dara Barker
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)
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- 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: dbarker@law.usc.edu699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: August 16, 2018
Dara K. Barker, is an attorney specializing in the area of juvenile law, both dependency and delinquency, and in family law. Barker developed, implemented and administered court policies and programs designed to improve the functioning of the juvenile court and the lives of dependents and wards under juvenile court jurisdiction. As an attorney for the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, and as a minor’s counsel in family court, she represented numerous foster children and children in the middle of highly contested custody and visitation proceedings. She also served as a parenting plan coordinator and represented fost-adopt parents.
Barker earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She taught juvenile law in the Children’s Rights Fellow program at Whittier Law School and taught at the UCLA School of Law. She co-authored a law review article, published in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, entitled “A Child-Centered Response to the Elkins Family Law Task Force.”
Barker sits on the board of the United Friends of the Children. Barker has been a foster parent herself and adopted a child from the foster care system.
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
"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
April, 2023
"California Exceptionalism in the Colorado River: A Brief History and Implications for the Future."
Robin Craig
April, 2023
"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).
