Friday, August 12, 2011
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National LGBT Bar Group Honors Two From Los Angeles
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The National LGBT Bar Association yesterday announced that two Los Angeles attorneys have been selected to receive its Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 Award.
Tara Borelli of the Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund Inc. and Matthew P. Krupnick of Krupnick & Krupnick are scheduled to be presented with their awards during a dinner ceremony on the final night of the association’s annual conference, set for September 8-10 at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel.
The award, which is in its second year of existence, was established to recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender legal professionals under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves in their field and demonstrated a profound commitment to LGBT equality, a spokesperson for the association said.
Krupnick said he was “truly touched” to have been selected by the association. He said he devotes much of his work to civil rights cases for gays, and that he “takes cases other attorneys won’t touch with a 10-foot pole,” so it “feels good to know that what I’m doing is appreciated.”
Borelli said yesterday that she was “humbled and honored to be recognized as one of the National LGBT Bar Association’s Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40.”
She added that it was “a privilege to be in the company of such distinguished lawyers working to advance equality for LGBT people, including my fellow Lambda Legal colleague, Dru Levasseur,” who is based out of the group’s national headquarters in New York.
Borelli, 34, is a staff attorney in the western regional office of Lambda Legal, which bills itself as the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV.
She focuses her work on litigation for greater relationship recognition for same-sex couples, and strengthening antidiscrimination protections for LGBT people and those living with HIV, according to the Lamba Legal website.
The attorney served as co-counsel in Golinski v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of a federal employee denied family health coverage for her spouse, and in Young v. Lingle, a case seeking civil unions for same-sex couples in Hawaii.
Borelli also participated in Ellis v. Arriaga, which resulted in a decision from California’s Fourth District Court of Appeals confirming that domestic partners have the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual spouses.
She attended UC Davis before going to law school at UC Berkeley and joining the State Bar in 2001. Borelli is also licensed to practice in Washington.
Krupnick, 32, is the principal of Krupnick & Krupnick, a civil litigation law firm he established with his mother, Vivian Krupnick.
According to his firm biography, he holds a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, a business degree from CSU Northridge, and a law degree from Pepperdine University. Krupnick joined the State Bar in 2004.
He is also a member of the Consumers Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, the American Bar Association, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
The other honorees are Paul Ainsworth of Covington & Burling LLP; Laura Maechtlen of Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Tico Almeida of Freedom to Work; Thomas A. Magnani of Howard Rice; Neal Minahan and Jonathan J. Boyles of McDermott Will & Emery LLP; Benjamin C. Mizer and David Knight of the U.S. Department of Justice; Mark W. Brennan of Hogan Lovells US LLP; Enrique Monagas of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Dena M. Castricone of Murtha Cullina LLP; Lisa Mottet of the Transgender Civil Rights Project; Patience Crozier of the Law Office of Joyce Kauffman; Matthew B. Murphy of the Equality Employment Opportunity Commission; William T. Eveland of Arnstein & Lehr LLP; Amie Needham of Thompson Coburn LLP; Deborah M. Golden of Washington Lawyers; Tiffany Palmer of Jerner & Palmer P.C.; Jordan Heinz, Joseph A. Loy, and Sarah Piepmeier of Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Elizabeth Hodges-Williams of Hodges-Williams LLC; Mark Purpura of Richards, Layton & Finger P.A.; Lousene M. Hoppe of Fredrikson & Byron; Joshua Rafsky of Jenner & Block LLP; Donald P. Howerton of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Aimee E. Saginaw of McLaughlin & Stern LLP; Courtney Joslin of the UC Davis law school; Rose Saxe of the American Civil Liberties Union LGBT & AIDS Project; Eva N. Juncker of Zavos Juncker Law Group PLLC; David Tsai of Perkins Coie LLP; Jennifer K.T. Warner of Con-Way Enterprise Services; Brian Winterfeldt of Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Daniel Winterfeldt of CMS Cameron McKenna LLP; John L. Litchfield of Foley & Lardner LLP; Samuel Wolfe of the Southern Poverty Law Center; and Janson Wu of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.
Copyright 2011, Metropolitan News Company