Welcome Mikele Lewis-Nelson, who joined the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) in February as Executive Assistant to Yolanda Jackson, Executive Director and General Counsel and Jack Hannan, Deputy Executive Director. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Mikele has a…
JDC Immigration Staff Presenting at UC Davis Class
On Thursday, February 28, Mario Castillo Martinez and Hamid Yazdan Panah of the Northern California Rapid Response and Immigrant Defense Network (NCRRIDN), housed at the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC), were invited to present as guest lecturers by Dr.…
Job Shadowing Program Opens Doors of Opportunity to 34 Students
On Wednesday, March 6, 2019 members of the legal community came together to celebrate the success of the 2019 1L Open Doors Job Shadowing Program. Hosted by Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, the reception marked the conclusion of yet another successful…
Immigration Advocates: ICE, GEO Mesa Verde Contract Raises Transparency and Accountability Concerns
Immigration advocates in California are deeply alarmed over the legality of a newly announced $19 million contract between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and GEO Group, Inc. to continue the operations of the Mesa Verde Detention Facility in…
Proposed Changes to San Francisco Superior Court Local Rules, Effective July 1
Pursuant to California Rule of Court 10.613(g)(2), the public comment period for the proposed changes to the San Francisco Superior Court Local Rules commenced on March 13, 2019 and will end on April 26, 2019. The proposed changes to…
BASF Leader Circle Firms Named Among Best Firms for Women and Minority Attorneys
Several BASF Leader Circle firms were highlighted in Law360’s 2018 Glass Ceiling Report. The following firms were named Best Law Firms For Female Attorneys in their size category. For the top ranked firms in every tier, women make up at least 50 percent of…
Justice & Diversity Center Welcomes New Director of Donor and Community Engagement
The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) of the Bar Association of San Francisco welcomes Shuwaski Young as our new Director of Donor & Community Engagement. A Mississippi native, Shuwaski moved to California after serving in the Obama Administration’s Department…
Mayor Breed Names Manohar Raju as Successor to Late Public Defender Jeff Adachi
This morning, Mayor London Breed named Manohar Raju as the next public defender of San Francisco. Raju is a long-time attorney with the public defender’s office and was mentored by the late Public Defender Jeff Adachi who passed away…
JDC and AILA Host Reception Honoring Attorney Volunteers and Judges
On February 13, 2019, the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) hosted a reception for the San Francisco Immigration Court and immigration attorneys at the offices of Keker, Van Nest & Peters in San…
BASF Hosts Reception to Honor Judge Amarra Lee
On February 5, 2019, the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) hosted a reception to honor Judge Amarra Lee. Judge Lee, appointed to the bench last November, is the first African-American woman to serve on the San…
Use a Pair of Em-dashes to Mark Off an Abrupt Break in a Sentence or One to Emphasize the Text at the End
Depending on the context, an em-dash—so named because its width matches a typesetter’s capital M—can take the place of a comma, parenthesis, or a colon in a sentence. Because it signals an abrupt break in the text, the em-dash…
JDC Celebrates Another Successful Year for Federal Pro Bono Project
More than fifty celebrants, including sixteen federal judges from the Northern District of California, gathered at the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse in February to mark another successful year of the Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC)…