Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Named One of Top Women Litigators in California

(LOS ANGELES, Monday, June 17, 2002) - Citing her legal achievements on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, the Daily Journal, California’s largest legal newspaper, has named Lambda Legal Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Pizer one of the top 30 women litigators in California.

Lambda Legal Director Ruth E. Harlow said, “Through her outstanding work, Jennifer has proven her tireless dedication to advancing civil rights for people in the LGBT community and people with HIV or AIDS.” She added, “Lambda Legal is honored to have her important work recognized by the Daily Journal.”

The Daily Journal singled Pizer out for her advocacy on behalf of lesbian and gay families and surviving partners of the 9/11 tragedy. In Sharon S. v. Superior Court of San Diego County, she is defending legal protections for the children of lesbian and gay parents by helping to challenge a California Court of Appeal ruling that cast doubt upon thousands of second-parent adoptions (these adoptions allow children of unmarried parents to have secure legal ties with both of their parents). Pizer represents Keith Bradkowski, who lost his life partner in the 9/11 tragedy and now must struggle for fair treatment by the federal government and private assistance programs. Since 1997, she has helped defend San Francisco’s path-breaking Equal Benefits Ordinance (EBO) when it came under legal attack. Upheld last year in two decisions by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the EBO was the first law in the country to require city contractors to offer comparable benefits to all employees with families, irrespective of marital status and sexual orientation. Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, Seattle, and other local governments have since followed San Francisco’s lead.

Pizer has helped strengthen family security in California by working with policy makers on both state and local legislation to protect domestic partners and their children. In addition to assisting with AB25 (California’s domestic partner law), which is one of the most comprehensive such laws in the country, she has worked on measures to provide inheritance rights, pension and survivor benefits, and comprehensive family protection through civil unions for same-sex couples.

Said Pizer, “I am deeply honored to be included in a group of such outstanding attorneys, and more importantly, I am grateful to be able to make a difference in people’s everyday lives through my work at Lambda Legal. The chance to be part of this extraordinary legal team is a great privilege, and this award is certainly as much for the organization’s ever-expanding legacy of achievements as it is for my own.”

The Daily Journal, published in Los Angeles and San Francisco, focuses on litigation practice with a regular section entitled, “Verdicts & Settlements.” This issue inaugurates a new tradition of recognizing “California’s most talented and influential female trial attorneys.” In addition to Pizer, the top 30 included a mix of plaintiff’s counsel and defense specialists, and one other public interest attorney. Among them were partners at major law firms, former San Francisco Supervisor Angela Alioto, American Trial Lawyers Association President Elect Mary Alexander, and women’s rights champion Gloria Allred.

Lambda Legal is the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization, dedicated to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and people with HIV or AIDS. Headquartered in New York, Lambda Legal has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and will be opening an office in Dallas on June 20.

Contact: Jennifer Pizer, 323/937-2728 ext. 223
Erik Wilson, 323/937-2728 ext. 221