National Lesbian and Gay Law Association

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The National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (NLGLA) is a national association of lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, law students, activists, and affiliated lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender legal organizations. It was formally founded in 1989 and became an official affiliate of the American Bar Association in 1992. The association is headquartered in Washington, DC and its current executive director is D’Arcy Kemnitz.

1 Mission and Vision Statement
2 History of the Association
3 Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference
4 Awards Given Out by the Association
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] Mission and Vision Statement

The National Lesbian and Gay Law Association promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBT community in all its diversity. The NLGLA aspires to improve the quality of life for LGBT legal practitioners until the time that LGBT legal professionals are recognized without discrimination, stigma or negative bias.

[edit] History of the Association

At the 1987 march on Washington, DC for lesbian and gay rights, the idea of creating a national lesbian and gay bar association was introduced and enthusiastically support by a core group of volunteers. The first Lavender Law conference was held in San Francisco, in November 1988, at the Golden Gate University. In 1989, at the American Bar Association (ABA) Midyear meeting, bylaws were presented, and a nonprofit board of directors was formalized. By the time of the second board meeting in 1989 in Boston, the NLGLA had 293 paid members and initiated a campaign to ask the ABA to include protection based upon on sexual orientation to its revision of the Model Code of Judicial Conduct for Judges, which has now been accepted by several states. In 1992, the NLGLA became an official affiliate of the American Bar Association and it now works closely with the ABA's Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities and its Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. In January 1995, the NLGLA became the first national organization to unanimously pass a board resolution calling for transgender inclusion in ENDA. As of May 2008, the association had over 1,000 members.

[edit] Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference

Lavender Law is the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association's annual conference and career fair. Hundreds of practicing attorneys, dozens of scholars, over 500 students and many leading members of the judiciary attend each year. Lavender Law is composed of a day long career fair followed by 2 days of workshops, plenary sessions, receptions for women and people of color, and other opportunities for attendees to earn continuing legal education (CLE) credits.

Year	Lavender Law Site
2010	New Orleans, LA (tentative)
2009	Brooklyn, NY
2008	San Francisco, CA
2007	Chicago, IL
2006	Washington, DC
2005	San Diego, CA
2004	Minneapolis, MN
2003	New York, NY
2002	Philadelphia, PA
2001	Dallas, TX
2000	Washington, DC
1999	Seattle, WA
1998	Boston, MA
1997	West Hollywood, CA
1996	New Orleans, LA
1994	Portland, OR
1992	Chicago, IL
1990	Atlanta, GA
1988	San Francisco, CA

[edit] Awards Given Out by the Association

The Dan Bradley Award

The Dan Bradley Award is NLGLA's highest honor. It recognizes the efforts of a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal community whose work, like Attorney Dan Bradley's, has led the way in our struggle for equality under the law. Dan Bradley was the first chair of the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibility's Committee on the Rights of Gay People, now known as the Committee for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Bradley saw the law as a powerful instrument of social justice, and he believed that lawyers had an obligation to place their skills as advocates at the service of the least powerful among us.

Previous Award Winners

Year	Winner
2007	Patricia M. Logue, Associate Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County
2006	Urvashi Vaid, Executive Director, Arcus Foundation
2005	Arthur S. Leonard, Professor of Law at New York Law School and author of Law Notes
2004	Ruth E. Harlow, former Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Lead Counsel in the landmark case, Lawrence v. Texas
2003	Matthew Coles, Director, ACLU National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project Leslie Cooper, Staff Attorney, ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project
2002	Kate Kendell, Executive Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights, San Francisco, CA
2001	Phyllis Randolph Frye, Transgender Activist and Civil Rights Leader, Houston, TX
2000	Mark D. Agrast, Legislative Director & Counsel to Rep. William H. Delahunt, Former NLGLA Co-Chair
1999	Hon. Stephen M. Lachs, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge
1998	John Ward, Founder & Former Executive Director of Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
1997	Abby Rubenfeld, Rubenfeld & Associates, Nashville, Tennessee; Former Legal Director of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund
1996	Suzanne Goldberg, Attorney for Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Tom Stoddard, Former Executive Director of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund Jeanne Winer, Trial Counsel for Plaintiffs in Evans v. Romer
1994	William E. Adams, Jr., Nova University School of Law, Fort Lauderdale, FL
1992	Sue Wilson, Attorney for Sharon Kowalski
1990	Nan Hunter, Professor, Brooklyn Law School; Former Head of Gay & Lesbian Rights Project, ACLU

Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition

Each year, the NLGLA hosts a writing competition challenging students enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school to submit papers on a cutting edge legal issue affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Intersex community.

Prizes

First Place:	$3,000 scholarship, Publication in the Journal of Law and Sexuality at Tulane University Law School, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference
First Runner-up:	$2,000 scholarship, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference
Second Runner-up:	$1,000 scholarship, Registration, airfare & lodging for Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference

NLGLA Student Leadership Awards

The NLGLA Student Leadership Awards are presented to graduating or recently graduated law students who have demonstrated a unique level of commitment to serving the LGBT community throughout their law school careers. The first such award will be handed in 2008 at the Law Student Celebration & Caucus event at the Lavender Law Career Fair and Conference.