Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek Launch New Scholarships to Support Future Leaders in Tech and Innovation Law 

Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek are creating scholarships that give aspiring tech lawyers the freedom to pursue bold opportunities in AI, startups, and emerging technology.

• Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek donate $125,000 to create new scholarships for UC Law SF students with financial need and an interest in technology and innovation law.
• The scholarships create opportunities for students from a wide range of backgrounds to explore careers in AI, startups, and emerging technology. 
• The gift advances UC Law SF’s Into the Future campaign and builds on the College’s leadership in AI and innovation-focused legal education. 

Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek are investing $125,000 in the future of tech law at UC Law San Francisco, creating new opportunities for students with financial need and a passion for innovation. 

The Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek Technology Scholarship and the Kristin ’07 and Tom Sverchek Technology Endowed Scholarship will support 2L and 3L students with financial need and a demonstrated interest in tech and innovation law. 

Their gift strengthens the College’s leadership in AI and technology law, builds on its innovation-focused curriculum and startup partnerships, and advances UC Law SF’s Into the Future campaign, which aims to raise $100 million to support student success, faculty excellence, and transformative initiatives. With the Svercheks’ contribution, the College has now raised $77.2 million toward that goal. 

Kristin went from law student to senior leader of Lyft, where she helped the company grow for over a decade as general counsel, president of business affairs, and ultimately, president of the company. Now a member of Kodiak’s board of directors, she shares what inspired this donation and what it will make possible for the future generations of legal professionals. 

Q: What inspired you and Tom to establish this scholarship? 

A: When I attended UC Law SF in the early 2000s, I wasn’t aware of tech as a possible career path for attorneys, but was lucky enough to take a Law & Venture Capital class in my third year of law school. That class, and my time at UC Law SF, gave me the foundation to build a career at the intersection of law and technology. That looked different through the years – first as a corporate lawyer at a law firm, next as an in-house attorney, and much later as a tech executive. The trajectory of my life and career was different than I had imagined it in my early years of law school, and in the best way possible. Tom and I wanted to create something lasting — a way to pay that forward and ensure the next generation of tech-minded lawyers has a chance to develop their skills at a school that shaped mine. UC Law SF has always punched above its weight in preparing practice-ready lawyers, and we believe in what it’s building now more than ever. 

Q: What do you hope this scholarship makes possible for the students who receive it? 

 A: We hope it creates breathing room — the kind that allows a student to say yes to the internship, the clinic, the conference, or the conversation that opens an unexpected door. Financial pressure can force talented people to make narrow choices, and we want scholarship recipients to be free to think boldly about where law and technology are heading and to position themselves at the frontier of that work, whether in AI or the next disruptive technology. More than anything, we hope it signals to them early in their careers that someone believes in their potential. 

Q: Why was it important to support students with both financial need and an interest in innovation? 

A: The legal profession that shapes technology policy, startup ecosystems, and emerging industries should reflect the full breadth of our society — not just those who could afford to take chances. Some of the most creative legal thinkers are those who come to the field with the most to prove and the most to contribute. By combining financial need with a passion for innovation, we hope to help build a more diverse, more dynamic tech law community. The best ideas don’t come from a single background, and neither should the lawyers who help bring them to life. 

Q: What’s most important in preparing law students to succeed in this rapidly evolving field?  

A: Intellectual curiosity, above almost everything else. Technology moves faster than any curriculum can, so what matters most is developing the habit of learning — staying genuinely engaged with how industries are changing and what that means for the law. Beyond that, I’d encourage students to get comfortable with ambiguity. In tech law, you’re often advising clients on questions that don’t yet have clear answers, which means your judgment, creativity, and ability to reason from first principles matter enormously. Build those muscles early. 

Q: If you could offer one piece of advice to scholarship recipients, what would it be? 

A: Dive deep — learn how the products your clients are building actually work and how they make money and (hopefully) contribute to society. The lawyers who will lead this field are the ones who understand not just the legal landscape but the business and technological ones, as well. The law will always need great legal minds, but the tech economy needs lawyers who are genuinely excited about what’s being built. Be one of those people.