Alumni of the Year: Ted Mermin ‘96 (Vol. 83)
Ted Mermin is the founder and executive director of the UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice, the leading academic consumer law institution in the United States. In addition to offering 20 courses in consumer law at Berkeley – more than any other law school in the world – the Center convenes four annual or biennial conferences; four regular regional and statewide convenings of experts from government, legal services, nonprofits, and academia; and symposia on the application of consumer law to ameliorate problems ranging from the climate crisis, to conditions in prisons and detention centers, to coerced debt arising from abusive relationships. The Center regularly files amicus briefs in appellate courts throughout California and the United States, including the brief recently relied on by the California Supreme Court in California Capital Ins. Co v. Hoehn, which overturned decades of court of appeal decisions to establish the rule that a judgment based on a complaint that was never properly served may be challenged at any time. The Center also runs the burgeoning Consumer Law Advocates, Students and Scholars (CLASS) Network, which promotes the teaching and learning of consumer law and economic justice in law schools around the nation. At Berkeley Law, Ted teaches Consumer Protection Law, Comparative Consumer Protection Law and the Consumer Law & Economic Justice Workshop. Ted has also mentored the next generation of consumer advocates, including several students publishing notes with CLR.
Ted also leads the California Low-Income Consumer Coalition, a partnership of free legal service providers dedicated to furthering the rights of low-income Californians by changing the law. CLICC has drafted and co-sponsored laws to overhaul debt collection practices in the state, to preserve struggling families’ assets in the face of bank levies and wage garnishment, to eliminate hidden junk fees, and to establish the state’s revamped Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
