O'Melveny's 2018-2019 Pro Bono Review

O’MELVENY PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2018- 2019 9 Fighting Against LGBTQ Discrimination O’Melveny filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign and two dozen businesses, urging affirmance of a Mississippi federal district court decision that invalidated a 2016 state statute authorizing religion-based discrimination against LGBTQ people. The anti-LGBTQ law allows public employees, businesses, and social workers to deny services to clients or customers based on beliefs that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman, that sexual relations are reserved for such a marriage, and that gender is determined at birth. O’Melveny’s brief argues that these provisions subvert the non-discrimination policies of Mississippi corporations, undermine their ability to do business, and inflict harm on LGBTQ people— including employees, employees’ families, and customers of those same corporations. Ensuring the Safety of LGBTQ Activists O’Melveny won asylum for O.W., a 28-year-old gay HIV/AIDS advocate from Jamaica, who had suffered harassment, abuse, and assault from the police, his family, and the community because of his sexual orientation. In his native Jamaica, he committed himself to HIV prevention and became a peer educator with the Ministry of Health while also working with LGBTQ advocacy groups. In these roles, he witnessed widespread violence against LGBTQ Jamaicans, harassment by the police, and the murder of several friends. In 2012 alone, he received more than 90 threatening phone calls. Fearing for his life, he fled to the United States. O’Melveny prepared his application, supporting affidavits, and a country-conditions report, and represented him at his asylum interview, after which he was granted asylum. He has continued his HIV/AIDS outreach and advocacy work in New York. Legal Name Changes for Transgender Clients O’Melveny has represented dozens of transgender people seeking to change their legal names in New York and California. For these clients, a name change is not only an important milestone toward living their true identities, but it also provides many practical benefits. When a person’s legal identification does not match his/her/their gender and appearance, the person may find it difficult to obtain benefits, travel, or even enter a building that has a security desk. They may be deterred from applying for jobs or from enrolling in school. They may also be more vulnerable to discrimination. Many jurisdictions require people to go to court to change their names—that very prospect is often enough to discourage transgender people from treading down the legal path. But appearing in court is less daunting with an O’Melveny lawyer by their side. Courts sometimes also require notice of a name change by publication. In several cases, our attorneys have been able to get the judge to waive the publication requirement, which makes the process easier for our clients. We also help clients navigate issues involving immigration, criminal history, and proper jurisdiction. We have collaborated with several of our commercial clients to represent transgender people at four name change clinics since 2017, including Bank of America, Chubb, and JP Morgan. Helping transgender clients secure legal name changes not only ensures that their legal identities match who they are, but it also helps them navigate their daily lives.