Leaving a Legacy: How planned gifts are shaping the future of UC Law SF
- Planned gifts are one of UC Law SF’s most important sources of philanthropic support, accounting for one quarter of the $80 million raised in the College’s $100 million Into the Future campaign.
- Also known as legacy or estate gifts, they help fund scholarships, faculty excellence, student success initiatives, bar preparation, post-graduate fellowships, and other priorities that strengthen the College for future generations.
- Susan Chung ’84, Brad Kane ’84, and Mario Ernesto Lopez ’15 are using planned gifts to carry their values forward and give back to the law school that helped launch their careers.
More than 40 years after UC Law San Francisco changed the course of her life, Susan Chung ’84 is making sure it can do the same for future students.
Through her estate plan, Chung has committed more than $2 million to UC Law San Francisco, supporting bar preparation, public-interest fellowships, and the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP) that helped launch her own legal career.
After four decades as a lawyer, Susan Chung ’84 is using her estate plan to support future generations of legal professionals.
“Without this law school giving me the opportunity through the LEOP Program, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Chung said. “I can’t think of a better institution to give to, to encourage, and to nurture.”
Chung is one of a growing number of alumni and friends who have chosen to include UC Law SF in their estate plans. For donors, making a planned gift is a way to extend the values that shaped their own careers and create opportunities for future lawyers. It can also create tax benefits and financial flexibility.
“Planned gifts allow donors to make a lasting investment in the College while planning for their own futures,” said Chief Advancement Officer Julia Jordan. “For many alumni, it’s a way to honor the role UC Law SF played in their lives while helping shape what comes next.”
Planned giving has become an increasingly important source of support for UC Law SF, making up a quarter of the $80 million raised thus far in the $100 million Into the Future campaign, the College’s first comprehensive fundraising effort. The campaign supports student success, faculty excellence, innovative initiatives, and continued growth of the Academic Village, which brings together graduate students and programs from multiple colleges and universities to UC Law SF’s urban campus.
Associate Director of Planned Giving Tessa Haden said many of the College’s most enduring investments are made possible through planned giving.
“Scholarships, faculty support, and experiential learning are just some of the areas where thoughtful estate planning gifts make a substantial and long-lasting impact,” Haden said, pointing to the endowed professorship and faculty awards created by a planned gift from the late Chancellor & Dean Emerita Mary Kay Kane.
Membership in UC Law SF’s Legacy Society has given Chung new ways to stay connected to the College and its students.
A legacy of opportunity
Chung credits LEOP with helping open the door to a legal career she didn’t know was possible when she first immigrated from South Korea at age 12, speaking no English. She earned a master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA before deciding to pursue a career in law and enrolling in what was then UC Hastings.
After graduating and passing the bar while balancing family responsibilities, she co-founded a successful law firm in San Jose and built a distinguished career specializing in family law. She was one of the few Korean American women practicing law in the area, serving many members of the local Korean American community while also representing entrepreneurs involved in the early growth of major tech companies such as Cisco, YouTube, Facebook, and Google.
She views her planned gift as a way to open doors for future lawyers like herself.
“I decided that all my sweat, blood, and energy I spent earning what I own today will go to a place where I did sweat, bleed, and work my butt off,” she said.
Her estate plan designates support for three programs that help students who have overcome life obstacles pursue their dreams: LEOP, bar preparation, and bridge fellowships, which provide fully funded positions for graduates working in government and nonprofit organizations as they start their legal careers.
But her legacy extends beyond financial gifts. Those who include UC Law SF in their estate plans are welcomed into the College’s Legacy Society, a special group of planned gift donors who are invited to exclusive gatherings with students, faculty, fellow donors, and the chancellor & dean.
After joining the Legacy Society, Chung met Ina Na, a third-year law student and fellow Korean American who was working as a student IT technician at a Legacy Society event. Since then, Chung has mentored Na and met other law students with whom she shares lessons from her decades in practice.
“My social life has exploded since I joined the Legacy Society,” Chung said. “I feel like I’m paying back not only with my money, but with my time.”
Brad Kane ’84 is using his estate plan to support students committed to racial equity and justice.
Extending a lifetime of public service
For Chung’s former classmate Brad Kane ’84, creating a legacy gift was a natural extension of a career devoted to public service.
Kane spent most of his career working in the government and nonprofit sectors, including in the administration of former California Gov. Gray Davis and as a staff member for five different members of Congress, all of whom have been members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
His estate plan establishes a Racial Equity & Justice Scholarship, which will annually support a UC Law SF student who has demonstrated a commitment to advancing racial equity or racial justice and is an HBCU graduate or a member of LEOP or the Black Law Student Association.
Kane said conversations with Chancellor & Dean David Faigman about the College’s future inspired his planned gift. He was particularly encouraged by Faigman’s vision for a more diverse student body, expanding partnerships with institutions such as UC San Francisco, initiatives like the Center for Racial and Economic Justice, and preparing students for emerging fields of law.
“Hopefully it adds to the fabric of what UC Law SF is and has become under David Faigman’s leadership,” Kane said. “I hope it reinforces his message that racial justice and racial equity are important priorities for UC Law SF and its community.”
Kane said planned giving also offered a practical way to make a meaningful impact.
Because he spent most of his career in public service, Kane said he is not in a position to make a substantial gift today without accounting for the financial resources he may need later in life. An estate gift allows him to support causes he cares about while maintaining future viability.
“A legacy gift is an ideal way to express my appreciation for the legal education I received and help students who aim to do good works for decades to come” he said. “To pay it forward to future leaders who plan to advance these vital issues is a matter of social responsibility.”
Mario E. Lopez ’15, who helped launch UC Law SF’s First Generation Program, is now supporting its future through his estate plan.
Building a legacy early
Younger graduates, including Mario Ernesto Lopez ’15, are also choosing to include UC Law SF in their estate plans.
As a LEOP alum and the first in his family to attend college and law school, Lopez said he understands how community-building and support programs can help students succeed in law school and beyond.
After graduating from UC Law SF, Lopez returned to work for the College in several leadership roles, including as its first chief diversity officer. He also designed and launched the First Generation Program in 2022, creating new opportunities for students who are the first in their families to attend both college and law school.
Now a community advocate at the Marin Community Foundation, Lopez has included support for the First Generation Program in his estate plan, helping ensure it will continue providing mentorship, professional development, workshops, and community-building opportunities for future students.
“When I’m no longer here one day, I still want to do something to make society better,” Lopez said. “To know that I’m a small part of a future student achieving their dream is very meaningful.”
Learn more
Alumni and friends interested in including UC Law SF in their estate plans can contact Associate Director of Planned Giving Tessa Haden for complimentary estate planning resources, including an estate planning kit with guidance on the process, tax considerations and strategies for organizing important financial and estate documents.