About Us

Shared Values

We are tied together by shared professional values. At the core of those values is the belief that the practice of law is foremost about serving others.

We embrace the responsibility and challenge of helping clients solve their most difficult problems, and we find our professional fulfillment in delivering sophisticated, exceptional legal services, taking pride in our ability to do so cost-effectively.

Our shared professional values are derived from a shared history: most of our partners have worked together for their entire careers, on average serving side-by-side for more than twenty-five years. Through this shared experience, we have established a culture that values the unique contributions of all members of our team – motivating attorneys and staff alike to build their careers at the firm. These enduring relationships help us serve clients more effectively. With such a low turnover rate, we are able to develop lasting relationships with our clients, allowing us to understand not just the narrow legal question at hand, but the client’s broader business challenges and objectives. Our shared history and close-knit environment also means we understand the particular areas of expertise of our colleagues, making it easy for us to bring together the best combination of talent to address the needs of our clients.

Aligned Interests

Consistent with our professional values, we have structured our firm to ensure that our interests are aligned with those of our clients.

We recognize that the common law firm practice of imposing minimum billable hour requirements on attorneys can offer the wrong incentives and may not serve the client’s interests. Because service is about quality, not quantity, we do not impose any billable hour target, which helps us create a community of professionals who devote as much time as is necessary – no more, no less – to deliver excellent client service.

Likewise, we know that the common practice of staffing matters with large numbers of associates but few experienced partners can lead to inefficiencies. We prefer to staff our matters leanly, with at least one experienced partner thoroughly integrated and actively engaged in the representation.

In short, the organization of our firm is designed to ensure that our interests are truly aligned with those of our clients.

PRO BONO SERVICES

Our commitment to our community is reflected through the importance we place on pro bono legal services. Every member of the firm is encouraged to help provide pro bono services, and our firm’s decision not to impose a minimum billable hour requirement helps facilitate pro bono work by all of our attorneys. Examples of recent pro bono work include:

• Providing pro bono representation to undocumented children seeking protection in the United States, working in collaboration with the non-profit KIND (Kids In Need of Defense).
• Representing PFLAG (formerly Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) in amicus briefing before the circuit courts and the Supreme Court in the cases that ultimately led to legalization of same sex marriage. PFLAG awarded Folger Levin its National “Flag Bearer Award” for this work.
• Working with Bay Area Legal Aid and Family Violence Appellate Project in successfully representing a survivor of domestic violence. Our work resulted in the reversal of a trial court order that had denied a restraining order to our client, a survivor of domestic violence.
• Serving as counsel for La Casa de Las Madres, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. We represent La Casa in a wide range of matters, opposing efforts to compel the production of records protected by the domestic violence counselor-victim privilege.

Pro bono clients receive the same level of service and care as our other clients, with partners and associates working together on each pro bono matter to advance our client’s goals.

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

Folger Levin attorneys are leaders in legal, civic, philanthropic, and educational organizations in the Bay Area.

We volunteer, or have volunteered, as members of the board of directors of the following organizations, among many others:

• Bay Area Discovery Museum
• Boalt Hall Alumni Association
• California Academy of Sciences
• Coaching Corps
• Dolores Street Community Services
• Family Violence Appellate Project
• Haas Center for Public Service
• Legal Aid at Work
• The Little School
• Neighbors for Justice
• San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
• Santa Catalina School
• Stanford Health Care
• Stanford University
• Star Academy
• State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (Commissioner)
• University of San Francisco School of Law

Our attorneys have deep ties to top schools in the Bay Area, and have been particularly involved in supporting Bay Area law schools. More than three-quarters of our attorneys received their undergraduate or legal education from the University of California, Berkeley or Stanford University, and our attorneys have served on the board of directors for Stanford University, the Boalt Hall Alumni Association, and the University of San Francisco School of Law. Further, in 2007, Stanford Law grad John Levin and his wife, Terry, founded the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School, which encourages students to pursue careers that advance the public good and achieve social justice.