SAN FRANCISCO — University of California Hastings College of the Law has made the following announcement about a scholarship named after the late Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who would have turned 61 on Aug. 29.
=*=
Thanks to the generosity of many, we have raised over $60,000 in support of the San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi Memorial Scholarship at UC Hastings Law! Help us reach our endowment goal of $100,000 by giving today.
Once endowed, this scholarship will be awarded annually and in perpetuity to LEOP students — those who have experienced educational, economic, social, or physical obstacles that have restricted their access to academic opportunities and resources.
Donations are tax-deductible, UC Hastings Foundation tax ID number 23-7135898.
Jeff, who passed away in February 2019, dedicated his life to public service, beginning in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office shortly after graduating from UC Hastings in 1985. He was a passionate defender of those that needed defending most. And he inspired others to do the same.
Jeff was a proud Hastings LEOP graduate, someone who never hesitated to give back to his alma mater. He was the honored speaker at UC Hastings’ Fall 2018 Convocation, where his words electrified our community at the start of the new academic year.
He spoke about the need for law students to find something they believed in. Members of the legal profession, he said, served both their clients and society. He advised the audience of beginning lawyers to not simply sit back and represent the interests that came to them as advocates, but to reach out and advocate for those interests that most needed representation.
Jeff lived those words. In his position as public defender, he took on both individual cases and sought to change the system where it perpetuated injustice.
His lodestar was always the fundamental constitutional principles of fairness and equity. He fought to empower those with little or no power, to provide opportunity to those with little or no opportunity, and to ensure that the rule of law was adhered to by those charged with enforcing the law.
He believed in the human spirit and kindled that belief in those around him.
Thank you once again for contributing to the preservation of Jeff’s legacy.
For more information, click here.