Weekly Newsletter        |        August 9, 2016
In This Issue
Message from the BALIF Board 


It was great to see so many BALIF members at this year's Lavender Law conference in DC! And while some of us were in DC, BALIF members also represented our community at the ABA Annual Meeting in SF and related events.

The last few weeks have brought a bunch of developments in LGBT rights. In the good news category, Judge Carlton Reeves in Mississippi, who recently issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the state's new anti-LGBT religious exemption law, refused to stay his order while the state appeals the injunction to the Fifth Circuit. As the judge  put it , "issuing a marriage license to a gay couple is not like being forced into armed combat or to assist with an abortion. Matters of life and death are sui generis. If movants truly believe that providing services to LGBT citizens forces them to 'tinker with the machinery of death,' their animus exceeds anything seen in Romer, Windsor, or the marriage equality cases." On the not-good news front, the Seventh Circuit held on July 28 that Title VII's prohibition on employment discrimination because of sex does not protect from discrimination based on sexual orientation. As Greg Nevins from Lambda Legal, who represents the employee, said in a  statement , "the Court acknowledges that this is the wrong outcome . . . but felt bound by prior Seventh Circuit case law."

Speaking of rights, make sure not to miss the lunch panel  on Wednesday  BALIF is jointly sponsoring with American Constitution Society on "The Next LGBT Rights Battleground: Transgender Rights in Court and Public Policy." Details are below!


Sincerely, 


Julie Wilensky
BALIF Board Secretary & Amicus Chair 
The Next LGBT Rights Battleground:
Transgender Rights in Court and 
Public Policy
The Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and Bay Area Lawyers for  Individual Freedom present:


Following the Supreme Court's historic marriage equality ruling last year in Obergefell v. Hodges, reactionary forces at the  state level are scrambling to rebuild the crumbling edifice of discrimination by passing hateful "religious freedom" laws. In a  revealing and disturbing twist they are now targeting transgender Americans in their push to enshrine hate in the law. This  panel discussion will focus on the efforts of those groups to support LGBT rights, particularly those of transgender people  who are being targeted. We will hear from transgender advocates on their cutting edge litigation, a representative from the  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on what the agency and the administration are doing to stamp out  discrimination, and a representative from Salesforce to talk about how the business community is putting its weight (and
money) behind LGBT equality.

Wednesday August 10, 2016
12:00 p.m.
Morrison Foerster
425 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-2482

Halloween Extravaganza Committee
The Social Action Committee is looking for help with this year's Halloween Extravaganza.  The Halloween Extravaganza is Social Action's main annual event where we throw a party to benefit an amazing local LGBT community organization.  In the past, our beneficiaries have included El/La Para Translatinas and LYRIC.  In you are interested in being on this year's Halloween Extravaganza Committee, please email  socialaction@balif.org .
Please Donate Today!
LavLaw Conference Scholarship 
The Lavender Law Conference is just around the corner! This year, the annual conference hosted by the National LGBT Bar Association is in DC from August 4-6. We hope to see you there!
 
We are still seeking additional donations for our Lavender Law scholarship! If your company has not already done so, please make a contribution to help Bay Area LGBT law students attend Lavender Law.  Please send your check to BALIF with "Lavender Law" in the memo line, at BALIF, P.O. Box 193383, San Francisco, CA 94119.

BALIF Law Students- 
LavLaw Scholarships  Available 
Funds are available to assist BALIF Student Members who are attending the Lavender Law Conference this year. If you are attending the conference and would like to apply for a limited amount of reimbursement for your travels, please notify us by  Friday, August 12 and include the following documents: 

  • Your registration receipt for the Lavender Law Conference
  • Receipts for flights to and/or lodging in DC
  • A copy of your BALIF membership card
 
To be eligible for reimbursement, you must be a current Northern California law student and a current BALIF member. The amount available for reimbursement depends on how many applicants send us their information. No late applications will be accepted. Bay Area law schools may also provide funding to students attending Lavender Law. Please check with your respective institutions. 
 
Please send all the required documents in .doc or .pdf format by Friday, August 12 to  balif@balif.org and to  lawstudentrep@balif.org. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us.

Pride Law Fund Bay Cruise

Join us for a cruise in the San Francisco Bay on FDR's historic presidential yacht.  We're raising a toast to the  Pride Law Fund, a BALIF partner supporting attorneys and law students dedicated to promoting equality for the LGBT community.  All aboard on Sunday, August 14, 2016, 3:00-6:00 p.m.  All proceeds benefit Pride Law Fund's fellowship programs.

Annual Minority Bar Coalition Mixer!
 
Thursday, August 25, 2016
5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
at Everett & Jones
126 Broadway near Jack London Square
Oakland, California
 
Join MBC organizations on August 25, 2016 for great barbeque, heavy appetizers, and drinks. 
 
Free admission for members of co-sponsoring organizations - catch up with your mentors, mentees, and meet members of the sponsoring bar organizations.

To have your organization co-sponsor, email  lauren.young.epstein@gmail.com  , dwei@axlaw.com or 


Women & Wealth Event
Women & Wealth Event
Thursday, September 8th 5:30-7:30
Greenberg Traurig
4 Embarcadero Center, Suite 3000
San Francisco, CA 94111
 
Calling all LGBT professional women! Come out for an educational discussion on money management, followed by wine and networking with other LGBT professional women in the Bay Area. Laura Jarrell, a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley, long-term BALIF supporter, lesbian and mom, will be speaking on strategies for handling money issues and investments, college savings, retirement, long term care considerations (for you and your parents), short and long term investment strategies, and overall wealth management issues. Laura primarily works with woman, and she will share some of the most common financial mistakes she sees women make so that you can avoid them.  This will be a joint BALIF event with BAPHR and Lesbians Who Tech, so come to network, mix and mingle, as well as learn some key financial lessons.
 
Food and drinks will be served!
 
This is an RSVP only event, as there is a maximum capacity.

Congratulations from BALIF!
BALIF sends congratulations to the following BALIF members selected by the National LGBT Bar Association as Best LGBT Attorneys Under the age of 40: Jessica Bogo, Felicia Medina, and Daniel Redman.  Congrats!
Jessica Bogo
Felicia Medina
Daniel Redman

Joint Picnic / BBQ 
with AABA, FBANC & KABANC

Saturday, August 20, 2016
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Crissy Fields (Tables near Warming Huts *look for the AABA Banner/49ers Flag, San Francisco CA 94129)

Please join AABA, FBANC & KABANC for a family-friendly picnic and BBQ. There will be great company, games, foods, drinks, and hopefully the radiant sun under the Golden Gate Bridge. While the sponsoring organizations will bring the big food and drink items such as hot dogs, hamburgers, and beers, we ask all attendees to bring a side dish or appetizer to share with the group. 
 
Parking is available but public transportation is encouraged. 
 
For any questions, please email  elvin.vu@gmail.comginastsai@gmail.com, or yunah.rha@blackletterdiscovery.com
Please RSVP here: http://jointpicnic.eventbrite.com.

Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative Application- Open Until September  9
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is currently seeking applicants to serve as Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives. Lawyer Representatives serve three-year terms and are responsible for planning the Northern District Judicial Conference, attending the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and otherwise engaging with judges and lawyers at the district and circuit levels to improve the administration of justice.
Applicants should:
  • be admitted to practice in the Northern District of California and be active in federal practice;
  • be interested in the purposes and work of the annual Northern District of California Judicial Conference;
  • be willing and able to contribute actively to the Conference;
  • be willing to assist in implementing the Northern District of California's programs with the local bar; and
  • constitute a fair cross-section of practitioners before the Northern District of California.
For more information,  please read the full announcement on the court's website and download the application. The deadline to submit applications is  5 p.m. on Friday,  September 9, 2016.

ALRP from the Heart 
33rd Annual Reception & Auction

PLEASE JOIN US on OCTOBER 19, 2016

The AIDS Legal Referral Panel, formed in the early 1980s by a group of BALIF attorneys, is holding its ALRP From the Heart 33rd Annual Reception & Auction on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 from 6:00-9:00pm in the Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange in San Francisco (465 California Street, near Montgomery Street).

ALRP's reception features gourmet catered hors d'oeuvres,
wine and beverages, a silent & live auction, and great networking.

During this special evening, we will honor those who have made a lasting difference in the lives of people with HIV/AIDS and recognize ALRP's 33 years of achievement. ALRP will be presenting its 2016 Clint Hockenberry Leadership Award to Jerome Fishkin, Esq., the ALRP 2016 Attorney of the Year Award to Okan Sengun, Esq., and the ALRP 2016 Firm of the Year Award to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Tickets start at just $100 and can be purchased by contacting Jim McBride at (415) 701-1200 ext. 301,  jim@alrp.org, or simply pay at the door on October 19th.

SPARK! Transgender Law Center's 
14th Anniversary Celebration
SPARK! 2016: A 14th Anniversary Celebration of Transgender Law Center

October 20, 2016 
6 p.m.  Reception
7 p.m.  Awards Ceremony and Program 

Julia Morgan Ballroom
465 California St
San Francisco, CA 94104

In 2016, Transgender Law Center will celebrate 14 years of igniting changes to law, policy, and attitudes so that everyone can live safely, authentically, and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression. For the last several years, we have held a widely popular anniversary celebration, called SPARK! This year, we anticipate over 400 of our most generous supporters, corporate partners, organizational allies, and elected officials to participate as we come together and recognize outstanding community leaders and businesses making huge strides in advancing transgender rights.
BALIF Amicus Brief Archive Now Online
For more than thirty years, BALIF has been participating as amicus - a friend of the court - in major cases raising issues of concern to the LGBT community and our allies. Check out the new archive on BALIF's website, where you can learn more about BALIF's amicus participation and read BALIF's briefs on a wide range of issues, including: the rights of same-sex parents and partners; the unconstitutionality of state sodomy statutes; the interpretation of disability civil rights laws to people with HIV/AIDS; Don't Ask, Don't Tell; the scope of Title VII and other workplace protections for LGBTs under federal and California law; the asserted First Amendment rights of organizations that explicitly exclude LGBTs; marriage equality; medical care for transgender prisoners; and more.
 
Please contact BALIF's Amicus Committee Chair, Julie Wilensky, amicus@balif.org, with any questions about or additions to the archive.
Follow BALIF on Twitter!

Follow @BALIFSF on Twitter
 
Stay looped in on the latest BALIF events, LGBT news, scholarship opportunities and #ThrowbackThursday post.  Connect by clicking the Twitter button in the right hand column of the  newsletter or here .

Join the BALIF Listserv!

 

Have a job or need one? Civil procedure question? Need a

referral? Have something important to ask ... or news to tell? Want to get to our members quickly? Join our Listserv!

 

BALIF members should have received our invitation to join our newly-created Listserv. You must proactively respond to the request in order to be added to our Listserv. If you didn't get a request, please let us know by emailing technology@balif.org or balif@balif.org.

We Want Your BALIFBuzz

We all love that section in our alumni newsletters that talks about who's doing what.

 

Well, we're introducing the BALIFBuzz to show-off all the great things that our members are doing.  BALIFBuzz will be appearing in the weekly BALIF newsletter.   

 

New job?

New client?

Promotion?

Court victory?

Significant settlement?

Baby on the way?

Recently married or engaged?

Speaking engagement?

Award, recognition, certification, or degree?  

Or anything else you're excited about...

 

Keep it to one or two lines.  Please send to membership@balif.org.

 

Can't wait to hear your great news!

 

Alex Touma

BALIF Membership Co-Chair

 

Job Postings Now on BALIF Website

All job postings can be found here!  

 

BALIF membership must be current to view the job postings. Simply log into the BALIF website with your membership ID and password, and select JOBS from the menu on the left.

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August 10 - The Next LGBT Rights Battleground
August 14 - Pride Law Fund Bay Cruise
August 24 - BALIF Partner Exchange
September 8 - BALIF Women & Wealth Event
Our 2016-2017 Sponsors
Partner Level

 
Counsel Level

A&P

Fenwick
HB Logo

 

Mofo
Sedgwick2
Seyfarth


Wilson

Advocate Level


Benefactor Level


Individual Sponsors

BALIF Board of Directors
Jessica Bogo & Peter Catalanotti
  
Julie Wilensky
Secretary & Amicus Chair

Mario Choi
Treasurer

Nick Clements
Judiciary Chair

Sarah Nicole Davis & 
John Unruh
Gala Co-Chairs  

 

Shauna Madison & Alex Touma
Shauna Madison

CCBA Chair

 
Stan Sarkisov
Communications Chair 

Jamie Dupree
Programs Chair

Ashley Pellouchoud & David Sims
Young Lawyers & Law Students Co-Chairs  

Daniel Faessler
Social Action Chair

Jennifer Orthwein
 
Lauren Pietsch
Lindsey Rosellini
Community Ambassador Chair  

Sam Potts & Stephan Ferris
Katie Carlson
BALIF Administrator 
Follow BALIF

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BALIF Foundation


BALIF | | info@balif.org | http://www.balif.org
P.O. Box 193383
San Francisco, CA 94119