9th Annual Minnesota Lavender Bar Association Conference a Success!
On January 30th, the MLBA successfully hosted its 9th Annual Conference at William Mitchell College of Law. The Conference featured keynote speaker Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of Lambda Legal. Representatives from Outfront Minnesota, MN Aids Project and Project 515 lead discussions regarding current trends in GLBT public policy. The conference schedule included nine separate breakout sessions covering topics such as Immigration, Trial Skills, Tax Planning for Same Sex Couples, HIV/Aids Litigation just to name a few.

Original MLBA Board Members Honored at the MLBA Pre-Conference Happy Hour Event at Club Jäger

From left to right: Anthony Winer, Robert Sykora, Lindsay Flint, Joni Thome, Jonathan Burris, Phil Duran, & Amy Johnson.

Thanks to all who attended the MLBA Happy Hour event at Club Jäger to celebrate the upcoming conference and to honor the original MLBA Board of Directors. Phil Duran received a Distinguished Service Award for 10 years of service to the Board of Directors. Anthony Winer, Robert Sykora, Lindsay Flint, Joni Thome, Jonathan Burris, and Amy Johnson all received Founding Member Awards for their dedication and hard work in establishing covering topics such as Immigration, Trial Skills, Tax Planning for Same Sex Couples, HIV/Aids Litigation just to name a few.

MLBA Seeks Board Members
The Minnesota Lavender Bar Association is seeking to fill a set number of Board vacancies. All interested parties should submit a letter of interest and resume to Jenny Ryan at info@mnlavbar.org.

The Benefits of MLBA Membership
Thank you to everyone who renewed your MLBA membership this past month. For those of you who are new to the MLBA – welcome! Your membership provides critical support for the organization’s efforts to have a positive impact on Minnesota’s legal profession and legal system. To make sure that you get the most out of your membership, here is a reminder of the benefits currently available to paid members:

* Free Subscription to Lesbian and Gay Law Notes, a comprehensive national digest published ten times annually. Law Notes are attached to the MLBA monthly Newsletter.

* Monthly Newsletter and Special Events Email Alerts

* MLBA Annual Conference Registration Discount

* NLGLA Membership Discount

In addition to the above, paid members have the opportunity to be listed on the MLBA Online Directory. For more information on how to be listed, please visit http://www.mnlavbar.org/directory.htm

Just Like Everyone "Inclusiveness efforts seek to make GLBT lawyers—and all others—feel at home"
By G.M. Filisko, ABA Journal

Like many in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, Liza Barry-Kessler has never been sure of the reaction she’ll get when potential employers, supervisors, co-workers and clients learn she’s a lesbian. In the early 2000s, while working at a small lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., on issues of education, technology and the Internet, many of Barry-Kessler’s colleagues knew she was gay. But the issue was never discussed, and she sensed it was best not to mention it to clients.

“This was during the big debates about blocking Internet materials harmful to minors, and the big concerns were child pornography and sexual predation,” Barry-Kessler says. “I felt like I couldn’t be as out, not so much in my day-to-day job but in terms of the clients we worked with.

“That wasn’t something anyone ever said—the people I worked with weren’t homophobic. But there was an additional level of hypersensitivity to the possibility that it would look somehow off-putting to the clients.”

In 2003 with new employer AOL, then based in Dulles, Va., Barry-Kessler got an entirely different reception when she returned from her honeymoon after a non-state-sanctioned wedding.

“It blew my mind,” Barry-Kessler says. “My co-workers did whatever they’d have done for anybody else getting married. They decorated my cubicle, everybody contributed to a gift, and they had a cake for me. It was better than I’d hoped for. I was treated as normal.”

That simple, thoughtful response reflects a growing movement among legal employers that strives not just for diversity, but for the inclusion of GLBT and other minority employees in everyday office life.

To read the entire article visit http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/just_like_everyone/

UPCOMING EVENTS- Mark Your Calendars!

The Minnesota State Bar Association Diversity Committee invites you to attend: "Advancing Diversity within the Legal Community: A Gathering”

February 19th, 5:00 – 7:00 pm at Windows on Minnesota

Featured Speakers: The Honorable Lorie Skjerven Gildea Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court and Leo I. Brisbois President, Minnesota State Bar Association.

The MSBA Diversity Committee would like to extend an invitation to all who are interested in collaborating and building relationships for ongoing and future diversity initiatives. This is an excellent opportunity for individuals, organizations, firms, and corporations to gather together to meet one another.

In addition, this reception will be an opportunity to welcome law students attending the National Black Law Students Association Midwest Regional Convention being held in Minneapolis. Justice Gildea and MSBA President Brisbois will present brief remarks on current efforts to reinforce and expand diversity within the Minnesota legal system and profession. Hors d'oeuvres will be served and a cash bar will be available.

The MSBA Diversity Committee sincerely thanks the Midwest Region of the National Black Law Students Association (MWBLSA) for their in-kind support as well as the following corporations, firms and organizations for sponsoring this special event:

Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Faegre & Benson LLP
Fredrikson & Byron P.A.
Gray Plant Mooty
Kagan Binder
Kennedy & Graven
Lindquist & Vennum PLLP
Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand LLP
Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers
Minnesota Lavender Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Minnesota Chapter
(NAPABA-MN)
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.
Twin Cities Diversity in Practice
Xcel Energy
Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP

Additional sponsors are welcome and encouraged. Please contact Sitso Bediako for more information on sponsorship. To register online or for more information visit http://www2.mnbar.org/committees/diversity/

Announcing the 9th Annual Update & Gala Reception
Sexuality and Gender Law: Assessing the Field, Envisioning the Future

February 19-20, 2010 at UCLA School of Law

Both in scholarship and in judicial opinions, issues related to sexuality and gender constitute one of the most dynamic and vibrant fields in American law. Yet there has been no sustained examination of the field itself and of its importance to constitutional theory more generally. This conference will bring together leading scholars from both inside and outside the field to reflect on how sexuality and gender has changed the law, and how the field itself is likely to change.

For more information or questions, email williamsinstitute@law.ucla.edu or call (310) 267-4382 or visit http://www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/programs/

Legal Issues Confronting Transgender People in the Minnesota Legal Profession

Friday, March 19 7:00 – 10:00 pm at William Mitchell College of Law

“The Naked I” a play written by Tobias Davis will be performed by 20% Theatre Company at William Mitchell College of Law as part of a CLE course. A panel presentation and discussion will follow led by Phil Duran, Joni Thome, Karen Clark, and Kris Maul.

Co-Sponsored by William Mitchell College of Law and the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association (Ethics credit applied for).

Beyond the Boxes: Emerging Trends in LGBTQ Mental Health Conference

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 25th at 6:30 pm
All Day Conference: Friday, March 26th

A comprehensive, culturally diverse, and practical one-day conference aimed at informing & engaging mental health providers, health care professionals, educators, and the general public about mental health issues as they relate to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. This cutting-edge conference will explore changing paradigms in research, clinical practice and our understandings of diverse sexual and gender identities.

This conference is open to all interested people, including those who are allies to LGBTQ communities. This conference will be of particular interest to mental health practitioners, researchers in health-related fields, professional educators, and undergraduate & graduate students. CEUs will be available: see below for more information.

This conference is likely to reach capacity so register soon at http://register.cce.umn.edu/Course.pl?sect_key=183927

For Resource Table and Program Ad information contact: 2010conf.marketing@gmail.com. For more conference details, visit www.glbta.umn.edu/beyondtheboxes.

ATTENTION LAW STUDENTS!!!
Announcing the 2010 Midwest LGBT Law Student Conference: Queer in the Midwest

April 2-4 at Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO
Register by February 22nd!

This year’s conference offers a unique forum for law students, practitioners, and scholars from across the region to learn about current LGBT legal issues and to share information about LGBT diversity, advocacy, litigation and public education in their communities. Events include a law student panel where selected students will have the opportunity to present their work on an LGBT-related topic as well as our annual drag show happy hour in Crowder Courtyard.

Current Washington University OUTLaw members will be able to house a limited number of students. Please contact Allison Jones at aejones@wulaw.wustl.edu for more information regarding the conference and also your plans to attend by February 22nd.

2010 Lavender Law Annual Career Fair and Conference

August 26-28, 2010 – Loews Miami Beach Hotel

The National LGBT Bar Association, through its annual conference, provides a challenging and rewarding learning experience for our attendees and presenters. This year’s conference will feature workshops on cutting edge legal issues affecting LGBT individuals, families and the community. Topics covered in recent years have included: same-sex marriage, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), diversity on the bench, HIV/AIDS, immigration, the first amendment, intimate partner violence and seminars designed to guide those interested in pursuing a career as a solo practitioner, legal scholar, law firm attorney or member of the judiciary.

The LGBT Bar is deeply committed to providing workshops that include diverse perspectives on each panel. Workshop proposal submissions that include a combination of practitioners, legal scholars, and members of the judiciary, as well as women and racial or ethnic minorities, will be given heightened consideration.

For more information concerning the Conference, visit http://www.lgbtbar.org/annual/schedule.php.

For more information regarding the Annual Career Fair, visit http://www.lgbtbar.org/annual/careerfair.php

EMPLOYMENT AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:

Employment Opportunity with the Minnesota Department of Revenue

Closing date is February 19th!

Minnesota Department of Revenue seeks a summer law clerk to provide legal research and legal writing, with an emphasis on tax and administrative law. Please see https://statejobs.doer.state.mn.us/JobPosting/ for more information.

The American Mock Trial Association Call for Judges

Event Scheduled March 18-20th at the Ramsey County Courthouse

The American Mock Trial Association has returned the National Intercollegiate Opening Round Championship Mock Trial Tournament to the Twin Cities under the sponsorship of Hamline University. The National Tournament brings the best and brightest undergraduate students who have a passion for law and work of trial attorneys here to compete for national honors. In each round, students present a trial from opening statements to closing arguments. Competition is intense; student performances are outstanding.

As in the past, we will offer a free CLE seminar for those who volunteer to judge two or more rounds the morning of March 19, 2010 at Hamline University.

The rounds for the 2010 National Opening Round Championship Site Tournament will be held at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown St. Paul. The rounds will be on Friday, March 18, 6:00-9:30 p.m.; Saturday March 19, 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:00-5:30 p.m.; and Sunday March 20, 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.. The Minnesota national tournament has been recognized as the best run and best judged tournament in the country.

Please go online to www.hamline.edu/tournaments to let us know how many rounds you are able to judge and the times you are available. If you do not have online access, please call the mock trial hotline at 651-523-2005.

If you have questions about mock trial or prefer to respond by email, write to Jacelyn Palmer at mocktrial@hamline.edu

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Job Opportunities posted
on MLBA website

MLBA receives a number of notices from employers seeking candidates for open positions. We try to post these on our web site regularly, and in fact have now created a specific page dedicated to sharing these opportunities.
Please click here for more information. http://www.mnlavbar.org/