About

DeWitt Lacy Early Childhood | Professional Career | Education | Memberships and Other Experience

Early Childhood

DeWitt grew up in a working class family of eight here in Northern California. Hard work was a staple in the Lacy household. His father worked in an Adidas warehouse until he was injured on the job, and his mother worked as a secretary in Atari’s corporate office, but was laid off after two years. In hopes of making a better life for their six children, DeWitt’s parents opened their own janitorial business.  While cleaning homes alongside his mother in the suburbs surrounding San Jose, DeWitt began to recognize the need for working class improvement and growth. At a young age, DeWitt developed a passion for speech, debate, and political argument, even qualifying for national tournaments after only one year on the Lincoln High School Speech and Debate team.  In 1995, his ambitions brought him to a city whose history was forged by hardworking visionaries, San Francisco.

Professional Career

DeWitt’s broad experience illustrates his continued commitment to enhancing the quality of life for communities of color, homeless teens, and struggling tenants across the Bay Area. Today, he practices civil rights law in San Francisco, to ensure that our rights and individual freedoms are assured. DeWitt’s experience includes:

    Legal Advocacy

    • Been on the side of both prosecution and defense in criminal court. (San Francisco District Attorney’s Office & Law Offices of DeWitt Lacy)
    • Assisted the prosecution of violent gun crime, rape, and child molestation. (San Francisco District Attorney’s Office)
    • Lobbied at California’s state capital to include DNA and fingerprint evidence as a means to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. (Northern California Innocence Project)
    • Served as a legal advocate for the wrongfully convicted. (Northern California Innocence Project)
    • Prevented a young developer from evicting senior tenants in Oakland’s Chinatown. (East Bay Community Law Center)
    • Legal action against landowners who had ignored neighborhood interests and polluted a local environment. (Basi, Martini, Edlin & Blum)
    • Defended local police departments from fraudulent claims of misconduct and prevented a local school district from losing crucial funding in an embezzlement action. (Basi, Martini, Edlin & Blum)
    • Helped working class people receive benefits advocacy (SSI, SSDI, SDI, MediCal, Medicare), health care access, immigration, family law issues (guardianships, child support), debt relief, and other basic civil legal services. (East Bay Community Law Center)
    • Advocated for San Francisco fire fighters’ privacy rights and protected them from unfair labor practices. (Law Offices of DeWitt Lacy)
    • Represented women and LGBT persons in discrimination suits against local municipalities and businesses. (Law Offices of DeWitt Lacy)
    • Represented clients who were victims of undue police dog attacks and malicious prosecution. (Law Offices of DeWitt Lacy)
    • Represented several clients in criminal defense actions. (Law Offices of DeWitt Lacy)

    Community Advocacy

    • Worked with an early childhood development center to provide early education and child care to working class families and single mothers in San Francisco. (Children’s Village)
    • Helped found the Bay Area Urban Debate League, a program that brought critical thinking after school activities to our inner city schools.
    • Researched and wrote grants for St. Joseph’s Family Center which found San Franciscans employment and housing.
    • Built a coalition of opposition against lay-offs at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) which would have certainly affected the accessibility of quality health care to San Franciscans who depend on SFGH as a safety net of last resort for their health care needs.
    • Worked to support community gardens in San Francisco (Alemany Farms)

    Legislative

    • Lobbied at California’s state capital to develop legislation that included DNA and fingerprint evidence as a means to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. (Northern California Innocence Project)
    • Lead a grass roots effort to support President Barack Obama’s agenda and spread the word to friends and neighbors about the President’s approach on big issues like health care reform. (Organizing for America, South East San Francisco Team)
    • Fought against “Care Not Cash” as an administrator for an emergency housing shelter for San Francisco families. (St. Joseph’s Family Center)

Education

  • San Francisco State University – Bachelors of Arts Intracultural Communications focused on social justice policy / Minor Crimimal Justice 1999
  • Golden Gate University – Juris Doctorate – 2005

Memberships and Other Experience

Contact DeWitt Lacy