Biography

After a litigation career in public interest law that included work for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and California Rural Legal Assistance, Miguel A. Méndez entered academia and has become a foremost expert, scholar, and teacher in the field of evidence law. An author of leading works on the laws of evidence in California, he writes about reforms in the federal and California evidence codes and on emerging issues in state substantive criminal law.

He is a consultant to the California Law Revision Commission, a board member at Public Advocates, and an elected member of the American Law Institute. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1977, Professor Méndez was deputy public defender in the Monterey County Public Defender’s Office, deputy director of California Rural Legal Assistance, and a staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Early in his career he clerked for the U.S. Court of Claims and was a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Alan Cranston (BA ̕36).

Key Works

• Miguel A. Méndez, Evidence: The California Evidence Code & the Federal Rules - A Problem Approach, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 4th ed., 2008.
• Miguel A. Mendez, Crawford v. Washington: a Critique, 57 Stanford Law Review 569-610 (2004).
• Miguel A. Mendez, Expert Testimony and the Opinion Rule: Conforming the Evidence Code to the Federal Rules, 37 University of San Francisco Law Review 411-440 (Winter 2003)
• Miguel A. Mendez, A Sisyphean Task: The Common Law Approach to Mens Rea, 28 University of California at Davis Law Review 407-443 (1995).
• Miguel A. Mendez, California's New Law on Character Evidence: Evidence Code Section 352 and the Impact of Recent Psychological Studies, 31 University of Los Angeles Law Review 1003 (1984).

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Criminal Law
• Evidence

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Miguel A. Mendez, Evidence: A Concise Comparison of the Federal Rules with the California Code, St. Paul, MN: West Pub., 2009.
• Miguel A. Méndez, Forfeiture of Cross-Examination Rights in California, 20 Stanford Law & Policy Review 501 (2009).
• Miguel A. Méndez, Evidence: The California Evidence Code & the Federal Rules - A Problem Approach, St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 4th ed., 2008.
• Miguel A. Méndez, Comparing the Federal Rules of Evidence with the California Evidence Code - Proposition 8 and the Wisdom of Using Initiatives as a Rule-Making Device, 36 Southwestern Law Review 571 (2008).
• Miguel A. Méndez, Apuntes Sobre el Proceso Penal Estadounidense, Revista Legal de la Universidad Metropolitana (2008).
• Miguel A. Méndez, Evidence: A Concise Comparison of the Federal Rules with the California Code, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2008 ed.
• Miguel A. Méndez, Evidence: The California Code and the Federal Rules - A Problem Approach, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 4th ed., 2008.
• Miguel A. Méndez, VII. Relevance: Definition and Limitations - Conforming the California Evidence Code to the Federal Rules of Evidence, 42 Universtiy of San Franciso Law Review 329 (Fall 2007).
• Miguel A. Mendez, Evidence: A Concise Comparison of the Federal Rules with the California Code, St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2007.
• Miguel A. Mendez, VI. Authentication and the Best and Secondary Evidence Rules, 41 University of San Francisco Law Review 1 (2006).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Board Member, National Coalition of Hispanic Organizations
• Board Member, Public Advocates, Inc.
• Consultant, California Law Revision Commission

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, Order of the Coif, George Washington University Law School
• Elected Member, American Law Institute
• Recipient, Mathew O. Tobriner Public Service Award, The Legal Aid Society — Employment Law Center