Lexi Howard didn’t plan on becoming a lawyer. “I began working in title insurance and escrow right out of high school,” she explains. “I wanted to go to college, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I just began working.” Throughout her career in real estate, Howard often heard that she should […]

Melissa Gohlke always knew she wanted to be a litigator. As early as elementary school, she proudly proclaimed that she would become an attorney one day. Despite that certainty, she took some time after graduating from college to explore other fields before attending Georgetown Law School. “I tried public relations, but I just kept being […]

National LGBTQ+ Bar member Evelyn Clark serves as a fourth-year Associate at Thompson Coburn LLP in the firm’s International Trade & Transportation Regulatory practice. In her work, she advocates for clients in their interactions and relationships with the federal government when importing, exporting, and navigating U.S. regulations. She also helps provide proactive support to help […]

Julie Rooney, a member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Deputy General Counsel & Head of U.S. Privacy at OpenX, became a lawyer because she views the legal profession as the perfect way to make ethics and philosophy practical and applicable to the real world. A former philosophy major, Rooney is particularly fascinated by […]

Leslie Richards-Yellen serves as Chief Diversity Officer at Sidley Austin LLP and is a proud member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association. Before joining Sidley in 2023, Richards-Yellen served in DEI leadership roles at several other large law firms. She is also a longtime ally of the LGBTQ+ legal community and played a critical role […]

LGBTQ+ Bar member Bryanna Jenkins has never forgotten her roots as community organizer in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. She currently serves as Policy Director at the Lavender Rights Project where her dedication to her community remains as strong as ever. “My organizing background informs my work,” Jenkins explains. “I find value in people and […]

August Naston (he/they) is a law student at Fordham University School of Law and a board member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar’s Law Student Congress. He is the first openly trans member of Fordham Law’s SBA and a co-founder of Advocates for Trans* Law Students (ATLS), a student organization on Fordham Law’s campus that provides […]

Omar J. Alaniz, Managing Partner at Reed Smith LLP’s Dallas office and a board member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, pursued a legal career to create a better life for himself and others. “I come from humble beginnings,” he explains. “My parents were young when they had me and worked multiple jobs to support […]

Maxime Matthew, an Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, has a dynamic portfolio encompassing antitrust matters, intellectual property cases, and complex multidistrict litigation. They also are involved in extensive pro bono work, including challenging Arkansas’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Their work on that case, Brandt v. Rutledge, helps prevent Matthew, who is trans […]