Christine Sung

2017-2018

Christine Sung received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis in 2013, and her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2017, graduating cum laude and as a member of the UC Hastings Honor Society. She also received a CALI award for excellent achievement in Advanced Legal Research. Since developing a passion for helping elders, Christine has dedicated most of her time to gaining experience in various areas of elder law both at UC Hastings and at elder law firms and organizations.

While at UC Hastings, Christine participated in the Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors (MLPS) clinic at her school, where she assisted elders in drafting and executing advanced planning documents, obtaining access to public benefits, and resolving housing issues. After her semester as a clinical law student in MLPS, she continued as a teaching assistant for the clinic where she assisted other clinical law students and continued representing clients. She was also a research assistant for the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science and Health Policy, researching issues and compiling data on end of life care. In 2016, Christine wrote and published her journal note, “Deciding with Dignity: The Terminally Ill Patient’s Right to Information About the End of Life Option Act,” which argued for the patients’ rights under the California Constitution’s right to privacy.

Outside of her work and activities at UC Hastings, Christine has interned for several organizations focused on elder law. Her first elder law internship was at Legal Assistance for Seniors (LAS), where she will be working as a Borchard Fellow. At LAS, Christine worked in areas of public benefits, conservatorships, and guardianships. She also interpreted meetings and interviews between the attorneys and their Mandarin-speaking clients. While working at Campbell Green LLP, a boutique trust and estate law firm, Christine represented clients in court on conservatorships, guardianships, and elder abuse matters. In her final year of law school, Christine interned at California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) and was an extern for the Honorable Peter J. Busch and the Honorable Andrew Y.S. Cheng in the Probate Department of the San Francisco Superior Court.

Christine comes from Mandarin-speaking family and has witnessed the difficulties that language barriers can impose on gaining access to information about one’s rights. As a Borchard Fellow, she will organize community presentations and create a mobile clinic to provide monolingual Chinese-speaking elders with assistance to improve their access to public benefits and health care.

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