We are excited to have Justice Martin Jenkins confirmed as our keynote speaker. As you may remember, he was scheduled to speak last year, but had to cancel due to illness. Justice Jenkins has deep professional roots in Alameda County, and we’re happy to welcome him back as we celebrate the hard work of our volunteers!
Justice Jenkins graduated from Santa Clara University in 1977, and after a brief period of employment with the Seattle Seahawks Professional Football Team, entered law school at the University of San Francisco School of Law. He obtained his law degree from University of San Francisco School of Law in 1980, and upon graduation was the 1980 recipient of the law school’s “Judge Harold J. Haley Award for exceptional distinction in scholarship, character and activities.”
After law school, Justice Jenkins worked as a prosecutor for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office from 1980-1983. In 1983, he joined the United States Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney, and was assigned to the Civil Rights Division-Criminal Section. As a lawyer in the Civil Rights Division, he prosecuted racial violence, including members of the Ku Klux Klan, and police misconduct cases.
In 1986, Justice Jenkins returned to the Bay Area to work as a trial attorney with the Pacific Bell Legal Department, handling personal injury and wrongful termination cases, and directing the company’s summer law clerk program, until his appointment by Governor George Deukmejian to the Oakland Municipal Court in 1989. In 1992, he was elevated by Governor Pete Wilson to the Alameda County Superior Court and in 1995, became the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Division.
Justice Jenkins was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in 1997 where he served until 2008 when he was confirmed to his current position as an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three.
A native of San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood, Justice Jenkins is involved in numerous civic, religious, and charitable organizations serving youth in the San Francisco Bay Area. On April 15, 1998, Justice Jenkins was awarded the St. Thomas More Award, given annually by the St. Thomas More Society of San Francisco, in recognition of his distinguished record of service and dedication to his family, his church and his community. In 2009, he received the Children’s Advocacy Award from Legal Services for Children (LCS) for “Outstanding leadership in public policy that protects children and youth from abuse and exploitation.”
Join us on May 5th at Justice for All: Celebrating Pro Bono!
Buy your tickets today here!
