Brown Bag Lecture Series
Brown Bag Lecture Series Continues with Judge Hitchens’ Reflections on Her Career
The Elizabeth J. Cabraser Summer Brown Bag Lectures continued on June 21 with a thought-provoking discussion featuring The Honorable Donna Hitchens: “A Life in Law.” Regarded as a model of what a person can do with a law degree and a passion to create change, the recently retired jurist spoke about how her passion for social change contributed to her career as a civil rights advocate and San Francisco Superior Court Judge. Hitchens founded the Lesbian Rights Project (now the National Center for Lesbian Rights) shortly after law school to pioneer legal advocacy for the LGBT community.
Judge Hitchens recounted some of her greatest accomplishments, including the opening of the ACCESS (Assisting Court Customers with Education and Self Help Services) Center for people who need legal information but do not have lawyers. She was integral to the unification of courts that deal with children’s issues—such as delinquency, dependency, family law, and child support—with the goal of a “one family, one judge” policy to improve communication between the departments and ultimately make better-informed judgments. She was also a vocal sponsor of collaborative courts, which bring community resources along with attorneys and law enforcement into the process for solving complex social and behavioral health problems that can result in defendants cycling through courts and jails.
Judge Hitchens offered the following advice to law students: “Find—or better yet create—a job where you are passionate about your work. Whether it is in the public interest community, at a private law firm, or the city attorney’s office, find work about which you are passionate.”