Rose Carmen Goldberg

Focus Areas: Health law and policy, Veterans law, Disability rights, Consumer protection, Gun violence, Tribal law, Social justice, Sexual harassment and assault

Rose Carmen Goldberg is a lawyer and policy advocate. Her decade of public interest work spans academia, state service, legal aid, and all branches of the federal government. Currently, Rose is Associate Director of Policy and Programs at Stanford Law School’s Deborah L. Rhode Center. She manages and develops programs and conducts original research to make the legal system more accessible and equitable. Her special interests include increasing access to justice for veterans, immigrants, gun violence survivors, and Native Americans.

Prior to joining Stanford Law School, Rose was a Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General’s Office, where she helped lead impact litigation and policy advocacy affecting millions of people. Her work focused primarily on gun violence prevention and veterans’ rights. She also led a successful suit that challenged the Trump administration’s failure to implement the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Rose was selected as one of thirty Public Rights Project Affirmative Leaders Fellows nationwide to deepen the impact of her office’s work to protect vulnerable communities in collaboration with public litigators across the country.

Rose is also a Lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law. She teaches the Veterans Law Practicum, which focuses on the rights of marginalized segments of the veteran population, and media advocacy for international Master of Law students. In addition, she serves as National Association of Attorneys General faculty (by invitation), teaching at state attorneys general offices across the country. She has also taught op-ed writing at Stanford Continuing Studies.

Previously, Rose received a Skadden Fellowship to support her creation of a first of its kind “Medical-Legal Partnership” that integrated mental health and legal services for veterans who have experienced sexual assault, racism, or sex-based discrimination. Before that, she clerked for the Honorable Theodore A. McKee, then Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Her federal service also includes health policy at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, a stint at the White House in the President Obama administration working on Native American Affairs, and a fellowship in the U.S. Senate working on gun violence prevention, women’s health, and Judiciary Committee matters.

Rose has written widely about sexual assault, veterans, mental health, and end-of-life issues in prominent outlets, including: Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Hill, Boston Globe, Hartford Courant, Albuquerque Journal, and Slate. Her writing has been recognized with awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the National Federation of Press Women.

She sits on the Board of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Historical Society, the Advisory Board of the American Indian Cultural District of San Francisco, and the Advisory Board of the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation. She is also the appointed Vice Chair of the California Lawyers Association Litigation Section’s Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, and was the first woman appointed.

Rose holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.P.A. focused on health policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a B.A. from St. John’s College’s “great books” program in beautiful New Mexico.

Education

• JD, Yale Law School
• MPA, Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs
• BA, St. John's College (New Mexico)

Honors and Awards

• Kathi Pugh Award for Exceptional Mentorship, UC Berkeley School of Law
• UC Berkeley Lecturer Teaching Fellowship op-ed grant
• Public Rights Project Affirmative Leaders Fellowship
• Awards for crisis commentary, social justice, and lifestyle writing, National Society of Newspaper Columnists
• Fay Stender Award for humanity, courage, and commitment to the underrepresented, California Women Lawyers
• Women Veterans Advocates Award, California Department of Veterans Affairs
• Jack Berman Award of Achievement for distinguished service to the public, California Young Lawyers Association
• Distinguished Fellow Award, Squire Patton Boggs Foundation
• National Center for Medical-Legal Partnerships Outstanding Research Award
• Oklahoma Supreme Court Susan J. Ferrell Scholarship
• Yale Law Women Senate Judiciary Fellowship
• Writing Fellow on mental health law, Yale Law Journal
• Native American Law Students Association Writing Prize