05/26/2026
Volunteering in their bloodline: Lillie and Thad Stephens
They’ve been committee members, on-campus interviewers, admissions callers, mentors, fundraisers, guest speakers, moot court panelists, and event hosts. Most of all, Thad Stephens, JD '96 and Lillie Stephens, JD '96, have prioritized gathering their classmates back on campus every five years for Stanford Law reunions.
They’re at it again this year, spreading the word for the 30th reunion of the class of ’96, convening on campus (along with other quinquennial classes) on October 16-17. The pair of devoted SLS volunteers—who met during law school and married soon after—have tallied a combined 37 years of service in various roles since graduation.
Add to their volunteer record that of Thad’s father, George Stephens, LLB '62, and you’ve got a family that’s served in 86 volunteer roles across 68 years, roughly half of the lifespan of the law school.
“We were approached for the fifth-year reunion, and then we’ve been helping with every reunion since,” says Thad.
“It’s given me a great reason to reach out to people I don’t get to talk to often," says Lillie, “and hear what they’ve been up to.”
What’s special about the class of '96, thirty years on?
Lillie points to the diversity of the inspiring work classmates do — from judges to specialists in education, environmental, cannabis, and tribal law, just to name a few. Others left the profession to pursue other passions as authors, pharmacists, jewelers, and entrepreneurs. Like many of their peers, Thad and Lillie followed their own interests: Thad co-founded Equilar, Inc., an executive compensation data company, and has held several business and legal roles in communications and media firms, while Lillie co-founded Helios School, a K-8 non-profit school for gifted learners, and has served in-house at a number of household-name companies.
Asked what else inspires their continued service, both are quick to shout-out classmates who also step up, like Maria Ginzberg, John Owens, Paul Huie, Curtis Kin, Roman Bejger and others. Thad credits classmates who have made an impact philanthropically to SLS.
“There are also many quiet contributors,” he says. “Ours was not an attention-seeking class. People were pretty low key, but there have been some really strong supporters of the school.”
“That's kind of a theme to our class,” Lillie says. “We tend to get more participation at intimate gatherings than at the big events. I want to see if there's a way we can arrange small regional gatherings just for our class for those who don't want to come to the big reunions but want to stay connected as alumni.”
Five years ago, COVID thwarted many reunion classes from gathering. Thad and Lillie led the charge to reconnect once it was safe enough to do so. One bonus for that 2022 gathering: hanging out with the class of ’95 in a co-celebration of their 25th reunion.
Of course, settling in Palo Alto has meant a strong lifelong relationship with the school through volunteerism. Lillie loves returning to speak to classes and counts her remarks at Professor Barbara Babcock’s memorial panel in 2020 as a personal highlight and honor. Thad loves judging moot court competitions when he is able.
“We both felt it was important to give back to SLS,” says Thad. “We know, at least at the time we were there, that tuition only covered about half of the total cost of putting a student through school. We felt an ethical obligation to give back in both our time and financially. But we also appreciate what the school does for the profession. It produces really thoughtful, ethical attorneys. Especially now, with the rule of law being challenged, it's attorneys who are on the front line against a descent into authoritarianism.”
Though housing and classroom space might be more luxurious at SLS than 30 years ago, Lillie says they recognize some of the unique challenges students face today.
“We’ve heard just how harder it is for students these days to talk freely in classes,” she says. “And I see that a lot with younger lawyers coming up. They’re more guarded and there’s more hesitation to take a point of view.”
As for their own children, Thad and Lillie admit that volunteering is in their blood too. As a law student in the UK, their daughter, Emerson-Jane, has started volunteering as a mentor for 1Ls. And their son (Atticus), a studio art major, volunteers at a local art collective.
- JM
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