Creation of Matthew O. Tobriner Summer Social Justice Fellowships

These internships will be funded by the Matthew O. Tobriner Memorial Fund, created upon Justice Tobriner’s untimely death in 1982, after he had retired from the California Supreme Court and before he could assume his appointment as a professor at Hastings. More than 500 of Justice Tobriner’s friends, former clerks, and family created an endowed fund to honor his memory by sponsoring activities consistent with his philosophy and ideals.  Justice Tobriner was an extraordinary jurist, whose ground-breaking opinions, such as Green v. Superior Court (the implied warranty of habitability case), are still studied by law students throughout the nation.  Before joining the bench he practiced labor law.  As an attorney and judge, he believed that one of the fundamental purposes of law was to protect the individual against injustices whether perpetrated by the state or private centers of power.

This fund has been used for many years to support an annual lecture at Hastings.  Understanding that the increased costs of attending law school present barriers to students wishing to pursue public interest law careers, the Tobriner Advisory Committee supported the College’s request to redirect a portion of the fund payout to support summer public interest internships.

The Tobriner Fellows will be chosen by the same process used to select students to receive summer grants funded by the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation out of proceeds from HPILF's annual auction. Details on the application procedure will be announced early in the spring semester. At least one of the summer grants will be awarded to an intern at the Employment Law Center.  The Tobriner Fellows will be asked to report back on their summer public interest internships at a public event that will include a lecture by a member of the public interest community on a social justice topic, thus continuing a tradition of holding an annual event in honor of Justice Tobriner’s memory and commitment to social justice.