51社区

Allyson Murphy, JD 2005, worked in several terrible jobs at the start of her career鈥攊n the areas of insurance defense and asbestos law. But all that changed the day she glimpsed a job announcement for a senior associate at聽, a full-service tenant rights law firm in San Francisco.

鈥淚 jumped at it immediately,鈥� recalled Allyson. 鈥淚 was a pivoter, trying to get to the other side and wear the good guy鈥檚 hat. That鈥檚 how I ended up at Tobener Ravenscroft and I鈥檝e been here now for 7 years.鈥�

Two years after Allyson joined the firm, Tobener Ravenscroft hired Allyson鈥檚 51社区 classmate Christina Collins, JD 2005, as a consultation attorney. Christina had also dabbled in various areas of law鈥攆rom entertainment to personal injury鈥攂ut her passion was housing.

鈥淚 had volunteered with nonprofit organizations and experienced housing insecurity myself as a young person,鈥� said Christina. 鈥淢y son and I had gone through a no-fault just cause owner move-in eviction that led me to Tobener and I鈥檝e been here ever since.鈥�

When Rebekah Didlake, JD 鈥�22, was seeking an internship for her last year at GGU Law, her professor contacted Allyson who got Rebekah鈥檚 resume in front of the bosses at Tobener.

鈥淚 interned here for my whole last year of law school,鈥� recalled Rebekah. 鈥淚 loved the work, loved being able to do affirmative housing law and give our clients a check at the end that hopefully they can use to get permanent housing.鈥�

Today, Rebekah is a litigation associate at Tobener who works directly with Allyson and the partners and litigates cases as well.

鈥淥ur partners are Hastings graduates, so we often get clerks through Hastings,鈥� commented Allyson. 鈥淲e said you need to give Rebekah a chance! You hired me, you hired Tina. We joke about it. We鈥檙e Team GGU!鈥�

Their experiences speak to the tremendous value of networking within the GGU alumni community, which today is 70,000 strong.

Rebekah credits GGU for preparing her for the practical realities of working in a law firm.

鈥淥ne of the reasons I was able to land here was the strength of the litigation program. A lot of the work that I was doing at the firm as an intern was not things I had seen for the first time. I think that impressed the partners and led them to offer me a job because not every intern that comes through our firm gets a job offer. I feel really lucky to be working in a field that I wanted to work in.鈥�

What Allyson, Christina, and Rebekah share in common鈥攁side from their alma mater鈥攊s a dedication to housing justice.

鈥淔or me it鈥檚 important to understand that people who come from inside San Francisco law schools are committed to keeping people housed and are in a good position when things are wrongly done to them by landlords,鈥� said Allyson. This is a hot area of law in San Francisco and there are a lot of firms that do it, but I think our firm is the best.鈥�

What makes Tobener Ravenscroft unique is its commitment to policy work and the hundreds of hours of free advice the firm provides clients, whether or not the firm takes their case.

As a consultation attorney, Christina issues advice to all those tenants who contact the firm.

鈥淲e get 300-400 calls per week from tenants seeking help and not every call is a full-blown case we can litigate,鈥� said Christina. 鈥淥ftentimes people are seeking empowerment about what their rights are and what steps they can take to resolve issues on their own. In five years, I鈥檝e counseled 4-5,000 tenants. The reason I got into law is to empower others who don鈥檛 feel they have a voice and I get to arm them with knowledge.鈥�

Tobener Ravenscroft is also unique for taking cases throughout California.

鈥淭hat expansion has allowed us to help more tenants and set good standards in areas that do not have strong tenant protection laws. Most recently, we have been harnessing the new strength of the recently revised Tenant Protection Act to serve these communities,鈥� said Allyson.

Allyson, Christina, and Rebekah hope their work continues to spread the word to prospective clients in need of housing advice and support.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for tenants to know that you shouldn鈥檛 be afraid to reach out to an attorney because you can鈥檛 afford one because money isn鈥檛 necessarily determinative of whether we can help you or not,鈥� said Allyson. 鈥淲e give free consultations to veterans. We have multiple Section 8 cases.鈥�

Added Christina, 鈥淕enerally, if there鈥檚 not a case we can help with we always offer advice or if it鈥檚 not in our wheelhouse we provide a referral. We get feedback from clients who say you are the first firm who answered the phone much less called back and followed up with me. That鈥檚 a unique aspect of what we do. We talk to every person who calls us. We answer every single phone call.鈥�