Lambda Legal Welcomes Nancy Marcus as New Senior Staff Attorney in Western Regional Office

(Los Angeles, CA, August 23, 2016) – Lambda Legal announced today Nancy Marcus has joined the organization as Law and Policy Project Senior Staff Attorney, working out of its Western Regional Office in Los Angeles. Marcus comes to Lambda Legal from Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne, IN, where she was the founding constitutional law professor and also taught administrative law, appellate advocacy, and voting rights. She worked closely with Lambda Legal and other LGBT advocates in Indiana during last year’s statehouse battles around religious exemption legislation, providing an authoritative public voice about the misuse of religion for discrimination.

"Nancy brings a wealth of relevant experience from her 19 years as an attorney, has published widely on LGBT rights, religious exemptions, police misconduct, bisexuality, and other issues, and we have cited her work in our briefs. We are tremendously excited about the passion and perspective she will bring to her work here,” said Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel and Director, Law and Policy Project. “Our colleagues in the Midwest greatly appreciated her quick mind, clarity and collegiality during the religious exemption legislative fights in Indiana, and we are delighted that she now will be devoting her impressive talents full-time to the fight for equality and inclusion of LGBT people and people living with HIV.”

Marcus received her B.A. in 1994 from Michigan State, her J.D. from Case Western Reserve School of Law in 1997, and master of laws and doctor of juridical science degrees from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Before becoming a law professor, Marcus had diverse law practice and policy advocacy experience.  She was a staff attorney with Southeastern Ohio Legal Services Association; practiced constitutional and civil rights law in Cleveland; and clerked for judges on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.  She did public policy work at the Alliance for Justice, the American Association of Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association), and the National Abortion Federation, and also served as the mediation director of the Tenant Resource Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Marcus was a co-founder and is still an active member of BiLaw, the first national organization for bisexual lawyers, law professors, law students and allies.  She also serves as the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Civil Rights Litigation LGBT Subcommittee, and her past volunteer service to the LGBT community has included serving on the board of directors of a number of LGBT rights and AIDS task force organizations.

“I am so delighted to join Lambda Legal, an organization I’ve known and respected for many years, but one whose dedication to justice and willingness to fight the good fight no matter the odds I witnessed firsthand during the struggle in Indiana,” Marcus said. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to push back against continuing efforts to legislate discrimination, and to continued advocacy on behalf of LGBT people and  people living with HIV and their families."