Bryan Hawkins SCBA President for 2022

Bryan Hawkins

SCBA President for 2022

By Judge Sean P. Dabel

Hon. Sean P. Dabel, Judge, Superior Court of San Mateo County, assigned to the Criminal and Appellate Divisions.

Iam happy to write an introduction for Bryan Hawkins, your incoming President of the SCBA for 2022 - someone I have been proud to call a classmate, roommate and longtime friend.

Bryan grew up in Dallas, Texas and remembers developing a love of reading at a young age, with a particular fondness for comic books and Stephen King novels. His mother, a public school teacher, and his father, an electrician, instilled in Bryan a deep respect for education, service, and hard work and supported his love of reading. He attended Jesuit College Preparatory School from 1994 until 1998. It was at this point that Bryan developed a new passion – B rate horror movies. After knowing Bryan for twenty years and being dragged to countless terrible horror movies, I can personally attest to the long-standing nature of this passion.

Bryan’s grades at Jesuit led one of his teachers to recommend that he take a look at Santa Clara

Bryan and Judge Dabel in Washington in 2008

University. That recommendation, along with yet another typical Texas Summer (100+ degree temperatures for dozens of consecutive days) led Bryan to make the move to California and attend Santa Clara University sight unseen.

In 2002, Bryan graduated from Santa Clara and, with his Political Science degree in hand, decided to attend law school at the University of California, Davis King Hall School of Law.

Bryan and I first crossed paths as first year students in 2002. At the end of our first year, Bryan was selected for Law Review where he became an Articles Editor. Bryan always possessed a quiet self confidence that served him well through the emotional whirlwind of the law school experience.

Bryan and I became roommates midway through our law school experience.

After graduation in 2005, Bryan moved to San Francisco where he worked as an associate at Allen Matkins. During that time, he also served as a Deputy District Attorney for San Francisco County for several months. In 2011, Bryan transitioned to Stoel Rives in Sacramento where he became a partner in 2018. Bryan has been fortunate to have a wide range of litigation experience handling criminal and civil matters through motion practice, as well as both bench and jury trials. His current practice focuses on Labor and Employment where he represents various California employers.

Bryan is also engaged in a num-

Bryan and Elizabeth at UC Davis Law School Graduation 2005

ber of civic activities outside of the SCBA. He frequently speaks on employment issues, including with the Davis Chamber of Commerce, which recently recognized Bryan as the recipient of its Member of the Year Award for 2021. Bryan also contributes his time and expertise to the Sacramento Ballet, where he is a member of its Advisory Committee. Bryan was also recently asked to join the Judicial Advisory Committee of the Eastern District of California.

Another classmate, Elizabeth, started dating Bryan during law school. They were married in 2009 and are raising three amazing young women. Similar to most, the ongoing pandemic has made parenting more difficult than it already is, but Bryan is blessed to have an amazing partner in Elizabeth and was never more impressed than watching her homeschool their two oldest children during the heart of the pandemic in the 2020-2021 school year. With normalcy slowly returning, Bryan is happy to drop them back off at school and head into the office after working from home for more than a year.

Bryan and Elizabeth at School Auction 2019

Bryan has been active and involved with SCBA since 2011. His first position in SCBA was as a Member in Large. Following that, he became Secretary/Treasurer. He then served as the Second Vice President and then First Vice President.

With the anything but massive amount of free time he has, Bryan tries to read as much as he can (including a few comic books here and there) and is wholeheartedly enjoying the current glut of Marvel movies. He also loves watching his children grow and is constantly amazed at how much can change in a matter of years.

Bryan said that he is ready to get to work for SCBA and he has a number of areas that he would like to focus on. First, he indicated that he would like to assist in providing increased benefits to the members to thank them for all of their support during the past few difficult years. Also, he would like to strengthen the connection between the attorneys in the various bar sections with the bench officers serving in the county. He hopes that this increased engagement can help the members and judges work together to better serve the community. Finally, Bryan wants to emphasize ways in which SCBA members can give back to the community by providing efficient and meaningful opportunities for philanthropic engagement. He would like to recommit to SCBA’s legacy of being a leader in both the civic and legal community. Bryan hopes that 2022 will provide an opportunity for SCBA members to reconnect as well as establish new relationships. I wish him well in these endeavors and believe from my personal experience and knowledge of Bryan’s diligence and commitment to service, SCBA will be on a bright path for 2022.