- Advanced Writing & Revision
- Appellate Advocacy
- Appellate Practice of the Judicial Clerk
- Civil Procedure
- Ethical Lawyering
- Judicial Process
- Negotiations
- Remedies
- Scott Moot Court
Links
Education
- BA, magna cum laude, University of California, Los Angeles, Phi Beta Kappa
- JD, University of California Davis School of Law, Order of the Coif, Order of the Barristers
Background
Professor Delfino teaches skills and doctrinal courses in appellate law, criminal and civil procedure, the judicial branch, advanced legal writing, and alternative dispute resolution. Her research and scholarship interests center on the intersection of the law and current events and emergencies, such as the opioid epidemic, the proliferation of deepfakes and AI technologies, and immigration crises. Her work investigates the historical roots of events and crises while also projecting forward, exploring how the law can and should be used to provide solutions to emerging problems and potential catastrophes.
Professor Delfino believes that the answers to the societal challenges appear only through active intellectual engagement that crosses the disciplines within the law and beyond. Accordingly, her scholarship reflects the need for greater connections between fields of law and the academic disciplines of business, humanities, natural and applied sciences, and social science.
In addition to teaching and scholarship, Professor Delfino also serves as the Faculty Director of the law school’s Externship Department and the Faculty Director of Loyola’s nationally recognized and award-winning Moot Court Program. As Director of the Loyola Moot Court Program, Professor Delfino has developed a unique and intensive summer advocacy “boot camp” at Loyola for advanced legal writing and oral advocacy students.
Prior to joining the full time faculty of the law school Professor Delfino served as Lead Senior Appellate Attorney at the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Seven for 17 years. During her tenure at the court of appeal she researched and prepared more than 500 bench memoranda and draft legal opinions in numerous areas of law from felony criminal cases, to complex civil litigation, to family law and probate, to juvenile dependency and delinquency matters. In addition to her full time position at the Court of Appeal, in 1999 Professor Delfino joined the adjunct faculty of Loyola Law School.
Professor Delfino is a member of the adjunct faculty of the Glendale Community College where she teaches a political science course focused on California State and Local Government and a course focused on the United States Federal government and politics at the national level.
Professor Delfino also serves as a “neutral” for the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Since 1999 she has been mediator, arbitrator and judge pro tem. As a volunteer bench officer, Rebecca has presided over more than 100 limited civil arbitrations and small claims trials.
Professor Delfino began her legal career as litigator at Kirkland & Ellis and was later an associate at Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan in Los Angeles. She handled all phases of civil litigation in a variety of cases from complex multi-party product defect and construction cases to white-collar criminal defense, to protection of intellectual property rights, to defense of employment discrimination and harassment claims.
During law school Professor Delfino had an externship with the Honorable William Shubb of the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of California in Sacramento. After graduation from law school she served on a clerkship with the Honorable Cliff Young, Associate Justice of the Nevada State Supreme Court.
Professor Delfino also worked as an elementary school teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District in South Central Los Angeles before attending law school.
Professional Associations
Los Angeles County Bar Association Board of Trustees:
- Board of Trustees Member 2013-2015
Los Angeles County Bar Association Bar Foundation:
- Board of Directors: 2002-2005
Los Angeles County Bar Association Committees:
- Access to Justice; Appellate Courts; Sexual Orientation Bias; Diversity; Professional Responsibility and Ethics; Juvenile Courts Task Force; State Appellate Judicial Evaluation
Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers:
- Vice President: 2003-2004; Barristers Committees: Barristers Executive Board Committee Member: 1999-2004; Chairperson, Equity in the Legal Profession: 2001-2004
Italian American Lawyers Association:
- President: 2013; President-Elect: 2012; First Vice President: 2011; Second Vice President: 2010; Recording Secretary: 2009; Board of Governors: 2006-2009
Public Service
Appointments
Judicial Council of California Access and Fairness Advisory Committee:
- Appointed by the Chief Justice of the California State Supreme Court
- Member: 2011-2014
California State Bar Committee on the Administration of Justice:
- Member: 2007-2010
City of Glendale Audit Committee:
- Appointed by Glendale City Council in February appointed in 2005, Commissioner: 2005-2013; Chair of Committee: 2007-2011
Glendale Unified School District:
- Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee to oversee the expenditure of bond proceeds generated from the 270 million dollar general obligation bond for school construction passed in April 2011 by the residents of the Glendale Unified School District: Vice Chair of Committee 2011-2013
Glendale Education Foundation:
- Board of Directors: 2011-2014
Glendale Education Foundation, Summer School Inc.:
- Board of Directors: 2012-2014
Glendale Community College Career Education Advisory Committee for the Child Development Department:
- Member: 2008 to 2010
Fremont Elementary School:
- School Site Council, Vice Chair 2011-2013, Chair 2013-2014; Parents & Community for Fremont Foundation Board Member: 2009-2011, President 2012-2014
Volunteer Service:
“Yes on Measure S” --- School Facilities Bond Committee, Glendale Unified School District:
- Vice Chair of Campaign Committee
- (Measure S: a $270 million dollar school bond measure passed in April 2011 Glendale municipal elections with 69.9% of the vote)
“Save Our Schools” Glendale: (K-12 Educational Advocacy Group)
- Founding Member 2010
Awards and Recognitions
- California Congress of the PTA “Honorary Service Award” in “recognition of outstanding service to children and youth” 2013
- Burtis E. Taylor Community Education Award, presented by the Glendale Unified School Board to members of the Measure S Committee, June 2011
- Certificate of Appreciation from the Judges of the Los Angeles County Superior Court for service as a Temporary Judge and Arbitrator: 2006-2011
- Special Recognition Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers for “many years of contribution, dedication and leadership to the Barristers, the public, and the legal community at large:” 2004
Selected Scholarship
- A New Prescription for The Opioid Epidemic: 360-Degree Accountability for Pharmaceutical Companies And Their Executives, 73 Hastings L.J. 101 (2022)
- The Prescription Abuse Prevention Act: A New Federal Statute to Criminalize for Overprescribing Opioids, 39 Yale L. & Pol'Y Rev. 347 (2021)
- Pornographic Deepfakes: The Case for Federal Criminalization of Revenge Porn's Next Tragic Act, 88 Fordham L. Rev. Vol. 887 (2019), Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2019-08
- "Equal Protection Doctrine in the Age of Trump: The Example of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children," 84 Brook. L. Rev. 73 (2018), Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2018-18
- “Prohibition on Successive Prosecutions for the Same Offense — In Search of the ‘Goldilocks Zone’: The California Approach to a National Conundrum,” American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 54, No. 2, (2017); Loyola Law School, Los Angeles Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2017-22.
- “Frequent Failings and Fatal Flaws in Briefs Filed in The California Court of Appeal,” Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations of Southern California, December 2008
- “Your First Appeal in a California Court of Appeal,” article written for LACBA’s website as part of “Your First Series” – www.lacba.org/barristers/yourfirst, May 2008
- “Going Beyond Traditional Pro Bono,” Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 27, No.4, June 2004
- “Practice Tips from My Grandmother,” Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 26, No.3, May 2003
- "Making the Most Out of Court-Ordered Arbitration," Los Angeles Lawyer, Vol. 25., No.5, July/August 2002.