FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ariella Greenbaum (212) 267-6646 x212, [email protected]

Roberta Kaplan and Other Key Players in the Marriage Equality Fight To Speak at NYCLA on September 19

New York, NY—September 9, 2013—NYCLA is pleased to welcome many of the key players involved in seeking marriage equality and overturning DOMA and California’s Proposition 8 on Thursday, September 19 at 6 p.m. at its Continuing Legal Education course, Road to Victory: U.S. v. Windsor, Proposition 8 and Their Aftermaths. The program will feature:

 Hon. Doris Ling‐Cohan, Supreme Court, NY County, who made national headlines when she handed down the decision in Hernandez v. Robles, ruling that the State of New York violated same sex couples’ constitutional rights by denying them marriage equality. Although Judge Ling‐Cohan was reversed on appeal, her position was endorsed when Governor Cuomo signed marriage equality into law in 2011. Judge Ling‐Cohan will provide historical perspective of where we were and how far we have come.

 Jeffrey S. Trachtman, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, co‐counsel with Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund in Hernandez v. Robles, a suit seeking recognition of marriage rights for same‐sex couples. Mr. Trachtman will provide his insights on the significance of the Hernandez case and its aftermath.

 Roberta A. Kaplan, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, who, as lead counsel, successfully argued on behalf of in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court case that may be the most significant civil rights decisions of our time, where the Court ruled that a key provision of the (DOMA) violated the U.S. Constitution by barring legally married same‐sex couples from enjoying the wide‐ranging benefits of marriage conferred under federal law. Ms. Kaplan will discuss the Windsor case and its implications for the future.

 Richard Bettan, Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, part of a trial team that persuaded the federal district court for the Northern District of California to invalidate Proposition 8 (California's state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality for same‐sex couples) as unconstitutional under the United States Constitution. An appeal of this decision was dismissed by the Supreme Court. Mr. Bettan will discuss the issues in the Proposition 8 case, and its implications for the future.

 Professor Gloria Brown‐Marshall, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Director of the Law and Policy Group, author of Race, Law and American Society and a journalist credentialed to cover the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Browne‐Marshall will discuss the relevance of the recent Supreme Court cases with regard to other civil rights cases decided by the Supreme Court.

The program will be moderated by Hon. Barbara S. Jones, Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, who wrote the initial district court opinion in Windsor holding DOMA unconstitutional.

About the New York County Lawyers’ Association The New York County Lawyers' Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far‐reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

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