FROM THEATER TO MORGAN LEWIS  Emily Walpole grew up in rural North Carolina, where she held several professional theater jobs over the course of a decade, including acting, directing, and carpentry. Over time, Walpole realized that being on stage was less fulfilling than the problem-solving and behind-the-scenes aspect of the profession. She decided it was […]

Preston Mitchum chose to study law to challenge the notion that all laws are morally right simply because they’re “the law.” Mitchum states, “If we just rested on the laurels of ‘well, that’s the law’ then nothing would change because no one would force it to change.” For Mitchum, the recognition that the law is […]

From Music to Law  Before becoming a lawyer and vital member of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Laura Maechtlen began her career in music. At college, she studied violin performance and education, working hard to excel in an extremely competitive field. After completing college, she decided to retire from her music career and pursue something a little […]

From Cabaret to Courtroom Deian McBryde has a long history of working in several different industries and companies before he became a lawyer focusing on family law and divorce. In the LGBTQ+ community, he served as the Executive Director of OutMusic, and he created the OutMusic Awards, a community-based international LGBTQ+ music award. He was […]

Jay Larry went to undergrad and later law school at Vanderbilt University, where he cast a wide net studying English and History Interdisciplinary Studies, Spanish, Film Studies, and Philosophy. It was his Philosophy of Law class together with his Securities Regulation class that made him “fall in love” with the work he’s doing now as […]

The Honorable Tiffany Palmer, a highly experienced LGBTQ+ family law specialist and now a Family Court Judge in Philadelphia, first interacted with the National LGBT Bar when she began attending Lavender Law® early in her legal career as a way to connect with other lawyers committed to LGBTQ+ civil rights. When the Lavender Law® Conference […]

Matthew Jannusch, an Assistant State Attorney with the Cook County State Attorney’s Office for the past 18 years, currently works in the Office’s Community Justice Unit. He works to reduce violence in Chicago neighborhoods through data-driven prosecution and is additionally tasked with reaching out to at-risk and marginalized populations, including but not limited to homeless […]

What does a lawyer look like?  Chris Czerwonka is an adjunct professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University and an advocate of LGBT and disability rights, but he doesn’t necessarily fit everyone’s image of a lawyer.  “I have a walker, I’m five feet, I move slowly,” he says. “Someone like […]

Michele Zavos has been an activist for LGBTQ+ rights for all of her professional life.  She has advocated for LGBTcouples and parents throughout her career as an attorney. She was recently given the William J. Brennan Jr. Award by the D.C. Bar for her commitment to pursuing equal justice and opportunity for all Americans. This […]

Danielle Healey, a member of the National LGBT Bar Association and the LGBT Bar’s Justice Council, who has been practicing law for over 30 years, is a Senior Principal at Fish & Richardson P.C. She specializes in mediation, patent and IP licensing and litigation and is also an arbitrator. She was recently named one of […]