Donor Impact Report 2024-2025

it their family’s mission to philanthropically support USD School of Law.

His career has always been about the people facing hardship, loss, and moments when they most need someone to stand up for them. Since earning his JD, he has spent more than four decades fighting for victims of corporate negligence and those harmed by unsafe practices, bringing empathy and determination to every case. Schenk achieved the largest San Diego verdict to date against asbestos manufacturer Owens Corning Fiberglass, securing the county’s highest-ever punitive damages and economic loss verdict in an asbestos case. He also represented Governor Gray Davis in winning the nation’s largest settlement against the tobacco industry, totaling more than $12 billion. In 2023, he was appointed by Judge Carolyn Kuhl of the Los Angeles Superior Court to the plaintiffs’ steering committee in coordinated litigation against major social media companies including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok. In 2025, Schenk, along with his sister, Lynn, and son, Benjamin, founded the Schenk Law Firm, specializing in personal injury, civil rights, business, environmental, and mass tort law. Through every case, Schenk remains guided by compassion and a deep sense of justice. His pro bono representation of a 9/11 victim’s family at no cost reflects his belief that the law is not only a profession but a calling to serve. Whether in the courtroom, mentoring young lawyers, or contributing to legal scholarship, he continues to embody USD’s mission to use the law as a force for the common good—and to make a difference where it matters most.

Individually, and as a partner at Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield, LLP, where he practiced for more than 41 years, Schenk has cultivated a legacy of financial contributions. Starting in 1981 and continuing through the Schenks’ present-day pledge of $500,000 in support of the law school’s facilities improvement campaign, they have demonstrated an enduring commitment to USD Law and its future. The family’s first gift to the law school was dedicated to the “More Hall Raising” Campaign. Coupled with their current interest in renovating Warren Hall, their contributions are meaningful bookends highlighting a desire to enhance the facility, reputation, and character of the law school that means so much to the entire Schenk family. Schenk continues to give back to his alma mater as a long-time member on the law school’s Board of Visitors, the Board’s Steering Committee, and the law school’s “Lighting the Way Forward” Law School Campaign Committee. In 2024, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA), the highest recognition bestowed on law school graduates who have achieved exceptional success in the legal profession and exemplify the ethical values and dedication to community service that the School of Law aims to instill in its students. The following year, Schenk was awarded the University of San Diego’s Author E. Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award—the University’s highest Alumni Honor.

IMPACT STORIES

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UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW