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, Associate, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy LLP
Alletta Brenner, Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
Kaila D. Clark, Associate, ArentFox Schiff LLP
Wil Comer, Assistant General Counsel, U-Haul International, Inc.
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
Amanda Hainsworth, Senior Legal Advisor to the Attorney General, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
Steven Jamal Hanton, Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
Amira Hasenbush, Attorney, Founder, All Family Legal
Yashreeka Huq, Associate, Fenwick & West 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
Carla Lopez, Legal Director, LGBTQ+ Program, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
Anya A. Marino, Clinical Instructor & Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic
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 Staff 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, Professor of Law & South Royalton Legal Clinic Lead Attorney, Vermont Law and Graduate School
Jamie M. Zug, Associate, McCarter & English, LLP