Lambda Legal Hires New Staff Attorney for Midwest Regional Office in Chicago

(Chicago, April 19, 2006) — Today, Lambda Legal announces that attorney James P. Madigan has joined its Midwest Regional Office in Chicago as Staff Attorney.

Prior to joining Lambda Legal, Madigan was an associate in the law firm of Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz, Ltd. in Chicago, Illinois where he worked extensively on class action defense and complex civil litigation matters. He also previously was a lecturer in law and held a teaching fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School.

“I have long admired the work Lambda Legal does for the LGBT and HIV communities and I am honored to be able to be a part of that work,” said Madigan who is currently working on Noble Street Gay Straight Alliance v. Noble Network of Charter Schools, a case where the students at the Noble Street Charter School who tried to create a gay straight alliance (GSA) student group were barred from having an official gay straight alliance at Noble Street Charter School in Chicago.

Madigan’s article, Questioning the Coercive Effect of Self-Identifying Speech, 87 Iowa L. Rev. 75, offers a critique of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. Jim’s article traced the Court’s compelled speech jurisprudence and concluded that the decision in Dale was error because it improperly attributed a conflict between someone acknowledging, outside of Scouting, that he is gay, and any message that might be attributed to the Boy Scouts regarding morality.

“We are very pleased to welcome James P. Madigan to our team in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office and look forward to the exciting work ahead” said Jon W. Davidson, Legal Director of Lambda Legal. “Jim brings a fresh perspective to our work and we welcome his commitment and dedication to our work.”

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Contact: Jackie Yodashkin 212-809-8585 ext.229