In 1971, four young attorneys – Bob Gnaizda, Tony Klein, Sid Wolinsky, and Peter Sitkin – envisioned a law firm that would serve the public interest, not the agendas of deep-pocketed individuals and corporations. With significant funding from the Ford Foundation, they launched Public Advocates, the first law firm on the west coast devoted to the concerns of working people, people of color, seniors, children, women, and other groups whose rights were not routinely represented in courtrooms.
Before co-founding Public Advocates in 1971, Gnaizda founded California Rural Legal Assistance, where he represented low-income farm workers in California’s Salinas Valley during the era of Cesar Chavez. Gnaizda led Public Advocates until he joined the first administration of Governor Jerry Brown.
After co-founding Public Advocates Inc. in 1971, Kline was named Legal Affairs Secretary to Governor Jerry Brown in 1975, and in 1980 was appointed a judge at the San Francisco Superior Court. Two years later, he was elevated to presiding justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Two where he served for nearly 40 years. Justice Kline announced his retirement in December of 2021.
After founding Public Advocates in 1971 with Bob Gnaizda, Anthony Kline and Peter Sitkin, Wolinsky co-founded the Disability Rights Advocates and served as its Director of Litigation.
Before co-founding Public Advocates, Sitkin worked for the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation, a predecessor to Bay Area Legal Aid, serving people who couldn’t afford legal assistance, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His early specialty was welfare rights, and he worked to expand those rights throughout the U.S.
