About Us & Our Mission
Since 1872 we have been providing San Francisco legal professionals with networking and pro bono opportunities in order to better serve our community.
Timeline 1870 to 2008
1849 Tadich's Restaurant established
1852 First law firm in San Francisco? established
1855 University of San Francisco established
1864 Jack's Restaurant established
1865 San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner established
1870 City of New York Bar established
1872 State enacts first code of laws
1872 BASF founded
1878 UC Hastings College of the Law established
1878 American Bar Association established
1878 California Constitutional Convention
1879 California Constitution established
1879 Superior Courts established
1878 Clara Shortridge becomes the first woman attorney
1891 Stanford University established
1894 Boalt Hall School of Law established
1901 Golden Gate University established
1906 Great Earthquake destroys BASF headquarters
1906 Courthouse collapses in the earthquake
1910 BASF helps write written code of legal ethics
1916 BASF creates San Francisco Legal Aid Society
1920 Queen's Bench established
1927 The Barristers Club of BASF is established
1927 State Bar of California established
1934 BASF plays major roles in longshoremen strike
1937 San Francisco Bar published by BASF
1937 San Francisco Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild established
1945 BASF activates CLE
1946 Lawyers Club of San Francisco established
1947 BASF's Lawyer Referral & Information Service established
1947 BASF donates its law library to the City of San Francisco
1950 The Brief Case published by BASF
1955 National Bar Association established
1974 California Women Lawyers established
1977 BASF's Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP) established
1981 BASF's first woman president is Joanne M. Garvey
1983 San Francisco Women Lawyers Alliance established
1983 BASF establishes the Office of Citizen Complaints
1985 BASF Foundation established
1986 BASF's Early Settlement Program established
1988 Homeless Advocacy Project of VLSP established
1989 BASF established Goals and Timetables for Minority Hiring and Advancement
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
1990 BASF's first Asian-American president is Michael G.W. Lee
1993 BASF's first African-American president is Raymond C. Marshall
1996 Community Organization Representation Project of VLSP established
1997 BASF's Law Academy program established
1998 BASF's Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Program established
1999 BASF's first openly gay president is Therese M. Stewart
2002 BASF's No Glass Ceiling Task Force established
2006 BASF's first Asian-American woman president is Joan Haratani
Did You Know?
In 1872 BASF holds it first formal meeting. It is the first bar association in California. Headquarters, including “two fine billiard tables,” are established on the second floor of 634 Sacramento. The initiation fee is $50, annual dues are $60 (in 2007 dollars, that's $1667!), and admission requires a “recommendation of the committee on admissions and the ballot of members.”
In 1878 Clara Shortridge Folz wins legislation to cause the words “white male” to be struck from the statute governing admission to legal practice and argues her own case successfully to the California Supreme Court for admission to Hastings College of Law. She becomes the first woman licensed to practice law in California. Later she founds the public defender movement.
In 1945 BASF activates a program of continuing legal education with a series of lectures on recent tax laws.
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