Harold Stanley Dobbs (December 8, 1918 – August 14, 1994) was an influential civic leader in San Francisco, California. He was a lawyer, businessman, politician, and leader in the Jewish community, founding Mel's Drive-In and serving as president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. Early life and education Dobbs was born in 1918 in Roselle, New Jersey, to George Dobbs and Mary Dobbs (née Wolin), both Russian Jews who had emigrated to the United States in the early twentieth century. He attended Roselle's Jefferson High School for one year before his family moved to San Diego in 1934, in search of work for Dobbs' father George, who was a carpenter. Dobbs finished high school at San Diego High School and then attended San Diego State College for two years, becoming the first member of his family to attend college. In 1939, the Dobbs family moved once more to San Francisco, where George Dobbs hoped to find work at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. Despite not having graduated from college, Harold Dobbs enrolled at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, which at the time did not require its students to have college degrees. Dobbs graduated from Hastings and passed the California Bar Examination in 1942. Asthma kept Dobbs out of the military during World War II, but he worked as a clerk at his local Selective Service office during the war. Career Dobbs had a long and distinguished career that included multiple professions. Time Magazine recognized his potential early when they recognized Dobbs as one of the "100 Young Leaders of Tomorrow" in 1952. Law After graduating law school in 1942, Dobbs was hired by the law firm Lillick, Geary, Olson, Adams, & Charles, becoming the firm's first Jewish lawyer and first Hastings graduate. He remained there until 1956, when he left to establish his own firm with William Ferdon, called Dobbs & Ferdon. After the death of Ferdon, the firm became Dobbs & Doty, then Dobbs & Nielsen, and eventually Dobbs, Berger, Molinari, Vannelli, Nadel & Links. Dobbs specialized in business law. Business Throughout his five decades practicing law, Dobbs was also an entrepreneur and businessman. In 1947, Dobbs and Mel Weiss co-founded Mel's Drive-In –– the first drive-in restaurant in San Francisco –– at 140 South Van Ness Avenue. After their initial success, Dobbs and Weiss built Mel's into a successful chain with locations