Lambda Legal Welcomes Shelbi Day as New Staff Attorney in Western Regional Office

(Los Angeles, CA, January 6, 2012) -- Lambda Legal announced today that it has hired Shelbi Day as staff attorney in its Western Regional Office in Los Angeles.

Day comes to Lambda Legal from Florida where most recently she was a staff attorney in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocacy Project. Before joining the ACLU of Florida, Day was staff attorney in the Southern Regional Office of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR).

"This is a wonderful opportunity for me to continue my advocacy on behalf of LGBT individuals and families in a new and exciting location," Day said. "I am honored to join Lambda Legal and I look forward to contributing my skills to this very distinguished and highly accomplished legal team."

Day began her civil rights career at Southern Legal Counsel, Inc., initially as an Equal Justice Works Fellow and later as a staff attorney, working on a diverse range of civil rights issues. She has litigated civil rights cases in state and federal court on issues including gay and lesbian rights, reproductive freedom, privacy rights, freedom of speech and expression, equal protection, and police misconduct. Most notably, while at the ACLU of Florida, Day served as co-counsel in the ACLU's landmark case in which a state appellate court rendered Florida's law prohibiting lesbians and gay men adopting children unconstitutional. As a result, that adoption ban is no longer enforceable.

"Shelbi has impressive legal experience and a powerful commitment to furthering civil rights. We are very excited to welcome her to Lambda Legal," said Jon W. Davidson, Legal Director of Lambda Legal. "Having such a talented civil rights litigator and advocate join our team with such a significant track record of accomplishment is sure to advance Lambda Legal's work securing full equality for all."

Over the last five years, Day has successfully represented several LGBT and allied students whose rights were violated by Florida school districts. Day helped secure students' right to form a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at Yulee High School in Northern Florida. She successfully addressed other school districts' policies that infringed on the rights of LGBT students, including filtering of LGBT websites on school computers and requiring a gender specific graduation dress code. she also worked with transgender elementary and high school students and their parents to change school district policies that failed to respect gender identity and expression.

From 2002 to 2003, Day served as a law clerk for the Hon. Charles R. Wilson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She graduated with high honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, and has a master's degree in Latin American Studies. While in law school and graduate school, Day focused her studies on human rights, gender, and sexual orientation, earning graduate certificates in International Law and Women's Studies.