| 2751 Hennepin Ave. S. #257 Minneapolis, MN 55408 800.800.0350, ext. 530 612.822.0127, ext. 530
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| Welcome! |
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| MLBA builds community between members through quality educational programs, networking opportunities, and social events. MLBA proudly supports similarly-focused student groups at all of Minnesota’s law schools, as well as efforts to assure that Minnesota is a community where legal professionals can thrive, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. MLBA is a recognized and respected affiliate of the Minnesota State Bar Association, and of the Hennepin and Ramsey County Bar Associations, and of the National LGBT Bar Association. | |
ABA Takes Official Position In Favor of Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples The American Bar Association held its annual conference this past weekend in San Francisco, California. One of the key purposes to the Annual conference is allowing the various Divisions, Sections, and ABA House of Delegates to meet to hold their annual meetings and address important member issues. This year was no different. This Annual conference included the culmination of a year's worth of work to present Resolution 111 to the ABA House of Delegates to take an affirmative position in favor of same-sex marriage. Two of MLBA's members were involved in the success of Resolution 111. Lousene Hoppe, the National LGBT Bar Association's liaison to the ABA's Young Lawyer Division, did a significant amount of work behind-the-scenes to make sure Resolution 111 passed through the Young Lawyers Division. David Ahlvers, MLBA Co-Chair, presented the resolution to the Young Lawyers Division, and argued in favor of the Resolution. The Young Lawyers Division passed the Resolution with limited dissent, and the ABA House of Delegates passed it with overwhelming favor. The passage of this Resolution is yet another step toward Marriage Equality. |
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MLBA's Annual Conference Quickly Approaching - Request For Proposals The MLBA's 10th Annual Conference is on January 29, 2011. Please mark your calendars. The greatest success of the conference is the diverse and interesting programming that is presented throughout the day. Now you can be a part of that programming. The MLBA Education Committee is seeking Proposals to present CLE programming at the 10th Annual Conference. Similar to last year, the programming will be divided into three separate tracks: Lawyer Development; "Gay" Law; and "Non-Gay" Law. We encourage members and non-members alike to prepare Proposals for interesting, innovative, and interactive CLEs that will benefit conference attendees both intellectually and practically. Click here for the Request for Proposals form. Please return completed RFPs to info@mnlavbar.org or to Attn: David Ahlvers, 800 Washington Avenue North, Suite 503, Minneapolis, MN 55401, by no later than September 30, 2010. Proposals will be reviewed and selected programs will be notified by November 15, 2010. We look forward to your participation in MLBA's 10th Annual Conference. |
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MLBA Newsletter Seeking Members for “Membership Highlights” Article MLBA is thankful for the individual members that have helped to make the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association the thriving and successful organization that it is today. To better assist members with getting to know one another these last few years, MLBA has created the Online Membership Directory and facilitated numerous happy hour events. To continue to assist our membership with getting to know one another, MLBA is announcing a new article called “Membership Highlights” to be featured in our monthly Newsletter. This article will include a summary of an MLBA Member and their practice/career. If you are interested in being part of the “Membership Highlights” series, please contact Julie Plumitis at Julie.plumitis@gmail.com. |
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| Three MLBA Members Selected as Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40! MLBA Congratulates Christopher Dolan, David Ahlvers, and Eric Sjoding for Being Selected as Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40! In 2010, the National LGBT Bar Association created the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 Award 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. The first recipients of the award were announced on July 22, 2010. Three Minnesota LGBT Lawyers were selected: Christopher Dolan, Associate at Faegre & Benson; David Ahlvers, Attorney and Co-Founder of Family Solutions Law Group; and Eric Sjoding, Senior Counsel, Target Corporation Employee & Labor Relations. The MLBA wants to congratulate these three fantastic LGBT lawyers on their selection into this inaugral class of Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40. Their work and accomplishments as openly gay lawyers and commitment to LGBT equality in Minnesota is much deserving of this recognition. |
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 Good News for Marriage Equality at the Minnesota State Bar Association
June 2010 brought with it the usual excitement surrounding the Pride festival and all the ensuing activities. However, this year the LGBT community had reason to celebrate further because the hope for a more equal tomorrow became even more tangible after the occurrence of two key events: 1) the MSBA endorsed the ABA resolution calling for the removal of legal barriers to civil marriage, and 2) the MSBA unanimously voted in its first openly gay Officer. |
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The MSBA Endorses Marriage Equality: On June 25th, the Assembly of the Minnesota State Bar Association voted to support of the American Bar Association resolution calling for the removal of legal barriers to civil marriage at the state, territorial, and tribal level, including Minnesota. The ABA’s resolution has been endorsed by the bars of New York City and San Francisco, as well as the state bar associations of New York, Washington state, Vermont and Massachusetts. To read the ABA resolution, click here. |
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Phil Duran Elected as MSBA Secretary:  Phil Duran, former MLBA Board Member and member of the MLBA, was elected unanimously to the Minnesota State Bar Association's Secretary Position on June 25, 2010. This is the first step on the leadership track to the MSBA presidency. Historically, Phil played an integral role in advancing the MLBA's presence in the MSBA, including helping obtain seats on the MSBA's General Assembly, being included as part of the minority bar associations' rotating seats on the MSBA's council, and identifying and successfully ushering significant policy changes within the MSBA that support the LGBT Community. Most recently, Phil played a key role in the MSBA voting to support a resolution currently before the American Bar Association that calls for marriage equality throughout the United States. The MSBA is the first Midwest state bar association to support the resolution.
Phil is also integrally involved with the Judiciary to ensure that our bench is respectful of the issues facing LGBT litigants, lawyers, and judiciary employees alike. In his role as Legal Director at OutFront Minnesota, he brought transgender legal needs to the forefront of the legal community to provide resources to lawyers representing our transgender community. Finally, Phil's work on a national level with the National LGBT Bar Association also helped bring the national conference to Minneapolis, and increase presence of the MLBA within the National LGBT Bar. The MLBA is proud of Phil for all of his accomplishments for the LGBT legal community and our clients. His election as the MSBA Secretary is well-deserved. We congratulate him on this amazing accomplishment. |
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AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD To learn more about transgender rights concerning 1) criminal law, 2) housing law, 3) tax law and 4) health care directives, please download the information below: |
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| Pride Handout: Legal Resources for the Transgender Community (.pdf) | |
| Transgender Criminal Law (.pdf) | Transgender Housing Law (.pdf) |
| Transgender Health Care Directive Information (.pdf) | Transgender Tax Information (.pdf) |
 To help MLBA maintain successful representation of our community in the Minnesota legal system, we ask that you renew your membership today. |
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