2023 Annual Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40 Overview and Criteria
Each year, the National LGBTQ+ Bar recognizes LGBTQ+ legal professionals (practicing lawyers, law professors, corporate counsel, members of the judiciary, politicians, etc.) under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves in their field and have demonstrated a profound commitment to LGBTQ+ equality. Awardees will be celebrated and recognized at a ceremony during the National LGBTQ+ Bar’s 2023 Lavender Law® Conference and Career Fair in July. If you have any questions, please contact Patrick O’Brien at patrick@lgbtqbar.org.
Congratulations to our 2023 class!
Barrett J. Anderson, Associate, Cooley LLP
K.M. Bell, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Arizona
Bernardo Bessa, Litigation Counsel, Uber Technologies, Inc.
Ryan Bravata, US Immigration Attorney-Manager, Vialto Partners, LLP
Alletta Brenner, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
Kaila D. Clark, Associate, ArentFox Schiff LLP
Wil R. Comer II, General Counsel, Arizona Education Association
Lucia Damerau, Fragomen Fellow, New York City Bar Justice Center
Jess Davis-Ricci, Staff Attorney, Whitman-Walker Health
Nneka Ewulonu, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Georgia
Ren Gaffney, General Counsel, Convergent Energy & Power 2021-2023
Amanda Hainsworth, Senior Legal Advisor to the Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Steven Jamal Hanton, Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
Amira Hasenbush, Attorney, Founder, All Family Legal
Yashreeka Huq, Counsel, Perkins Coie LLP
Christopher Jensen, Associate General Counsel, Labor & Employment, City Colleges of Chicago
Ari Mariah Krause Jones, Residency & Naturalization Programs Director, Oasis Legal Services
Lauren Lofton, Founder, Transform Belonging Collective Care Solutions; Senior Attorney, Legal Link
Carla Lopez, Legal Director, LGBTQ+ Program, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
Anya A. Marino, Director of LGBTQI Equality, National Women’s Law Center
Jill Martin Diaz, Lead Attorney and Assistant Professor, Vermont Immigrant Assistance at Vermont Law and Graduate School
Eli McCann, Senior Corporate Counsel, Oracle
Kate Mozynski, Northeast Ohio Senior Attorney, Equality Ohio
Cathryn Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel, Human Rights Campaign
Nico Ikal Quintana, Lead Attorney, Lavender Rights Project
Adam Reinke, Partner, King & Spalding LLP
Christopher M. Repole, Principal, Jackson Lewis, P.C.
Michael J. Ritter, Senior Counsel, Schmoyer Reinhard LLP
Jake Rodriguez, Counsel, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Annette L. Rose, Senior Counsel, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP
Amalia Sax-Bolder, Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
David A. Silva, Counsel, White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations, Sidley Austin LLP
David L. Simons, Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
Paul Sousa, Associate General Counsel, Brands and Marketing Legal, Meta Platforms, Inc.
Sruti Swaminathan, Staff Attorney, Lambda Legal
Emily C. Walpole, Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Jeffrey D. Watters, Jr., Partner, Gray Reed & McGraw LLP
Geoffrey T. Witherspoon, II, Associate Attorney, Cipriani & Werner, P.C.
Margaret (Meg) York, Senior Policy Counsel & Director of LGBTQ+ Family Law and Policy, Family Equality;
Professor of Law & Former Lead Clinical Attorney, Vermont Law and Graduate School
Jamie M. Zug, Associate, McCarter & English, LLP