Judge Linda H. Colfax, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge since 2011, currently sits in the criminal division of the court, and presides over trials. Judge Colfax has also served as a supervising judge of preliminary hearings, a juvenile court judge in both dependency and youth justice, a family court judge, and has presided over both civil and criminal trials. She also sat on her court’s Appellate Division for 3 years and served on the Executive Committee for 4 years. Judge Colfax, a former Vice President of the California Judges Association (CJA), currently co-chairs the Committee on the Elimination of Bias and Inequality. Judge Colfax, a former Vice president of the International Association of LGBTQ Judges, has served on its board for over a decade. Prior to her election to the bench in 2010, Judge Colfax worked as a San Francisco deputy public defender. She was privileged to win her seat during a primary election against 3 other candidates. Judge Colfax, a native of the Midwest, earned her A.B. from Harvard and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Judge Colfax and her wife, Kristin, who met playing ultimate frisbee in 1995, have been married since 1999*, 2004 and 2008. They have 2 children, 2 dogs and spend their free time outdoors biking, hiking, jogging, climbing, SUPing, Pickleballing, gardening, or just ambling with the dogs.

Judge Mike Jacobs has served since June 2015 on the State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia. Prior to his judicial service, he served ten and a half years in the Georgia House of Representatives. His legislative service included five years as chairman of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Oversight Committee (MARTOC), the joint House and Senate committee that oversees the management, budget, and fiscal affairs of metro Atlanta’s transit system. In 2010, he received the Allen Thornell Political Advancement Award from Georgia Equality for sponsoring a stronger anti-bullying law for public schools which passed the Georgia General Assembly that year. He received his law degree in 2003, magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was the executive articles editor of the Georgia Law Review. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1997 from Georgetown University. He serves as secretary of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges, on the board of directors of the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, and as incoming board chair of Leadership DeKalb. He was recognized by the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia in 2019 with its award for Outstanding Service to the Stonewall Community. He also was recognized by the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges in 2020 with one of its president’s awards. He is the proud parent of three children, Jonah, Eli, and Samantha, and enjoys singing as a baritone in the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus.

Jill Rose Quinn has an extensive legal background in the private sector. She has a lifelong dedication to community service. After graduating from The John Marshall Law School in 1983, she worked for small law firms including one in which she represented local government units. Throughout her career, she handled over 4,000 cases. Jill started her own practice in 1997 and focused on helping neighborhood residents with financial challenges, family law matters, small business operations, probate and criminal law. Throughout her life Jill has believed in giving back to others. Before moving to Chicago, she was a community organizer in disadvantaged areas in Houston and Des Moines and helped form neighborhood action groups dedicated to solving problems such as lack of zoning and dangerous traffic; at the statewide level, she helped organize on utility and taxation issues. Her compassion for others and sense of fairness is what helped inspire Jill to practice law. As a child, she realized that many people were not treated equally under the law because of their race, religion or nationality. Jill decided then that she wanted to be a lawyer to fight for all people’s rights and equality. Being transgender has taught Jill firsthand what it is like to be marginalized and the vital importance of treating all people with fairness, decency and compassion. In November of 2020, Jill was elected to the office of Cook County Circuit Court Judge. She is the first openly transgender circuit court judge in the State of Illinois and the first openly transgender elected official in the State of Illinois. She is currently serving in the Domestic Relations Division, County Department. Her perspective as a member of the transgender community and as a sole practitioner bring a unique dimension to the Cook County Bench.

The Honorable Javier E. Vargas was nominated by Governor Kathy Hochul and confirmed by the Senate for the NYS Court of Claims on June 3, 2022. With that appointment, he became the first openly gay man and Latino LGBTQ+ judge in the Court of Claims. Previously, Judge Vargas served as a Judge in the Family Court of the State of New York, Kings County, appointed in 2015. Between 2013 and 2015, Judge Vargas began his judicial career as a Civil Court Judge assigned to the Housing Part in Bronx County. Prior thereto, Judge Vargas served with distinction for the New York State Unified Court System in various capacities since 1993, including Senior Court Attorney in the New York State Court of Appeals; Principal Law Clerk in Supreme Court and the Appellate Division, Second Department; and Chief Court Attorney for the NYS Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department. Judge Vargas received his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, law degree from SUNY Buffalo School of Law, and a Master of Law degree from New York University School of Law in 1993.

Judge Vargas has moderated and lectured on numerous panels of Continuing Legal Education courses in the areas of Domestic Relations, Housing and Family Laws, Domestic Violence, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, diversity/intersectionality and virtual courtroom protocols and evidence presentation. He mentors attorneys and encourages judicial service by presenting and moderating yearly Pathways to the Judiciary programs. Judge Vargas is actively involved with several professional associations and currently holds positions at the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) and its Judicial Division, as secretary, as well as the Latino Judges Association and the International Association of LGBTQ Judges, where he sits as a board member. Among the previous positions he has held are HNBA Regional Deputy President for several years, HNBA Secretary of National Elections; President-Elect of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA); Chair of the PRBA Scholarship Fund Selection Committee and Committee Member of the LGBT Bar Association Judicial Internship Committee, selecting hundreds of law students scholarship recipients; and Chair of the HNBA-NY Law School-Sin Limites Program, working with a team of HNBA members to mentor dozens of high school and college students on their path to law school. With the HNBA Judicial Division, Judge Vargas has helped organize and chaired the Dispute Settlement Body of the HNBA Uvaldo Herrera Moot Court Competition for the last seven years.

Judge Vargas has received several accolades, including the 2022 President’s Award from the International Association of LGBTQ Judges, 2020 SUNY Law School OutLaw Award, 2018 Spirit Award by the Cervantes Society, 2017 HNBA Latino Judge of the Year and the 2016 Special Recognition Award by the National Hispanic Pre-Law Conference. He is dedicated to a number of other charitable and cultural organizations, such as the Holy Cross Church, Volunteer Lawyers Project, as well as professional bar associations, like the New York City Bar Association, the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York and the NYS Family Court Judges Association.

On March 6, 2023, Jamar K. Walker was sworn in as a United States District Judge in the Norfolk Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Judge Walker received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Following graduation, he began his legal career by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond A. Jackson, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Upon completion of his clerkship, Judge Walker became a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Covington & Burling LLP, where his practice focused primarily on products liability and insurance litigation. In 2015, Judge Walker joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and was assigned to the Alexandria Division’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit. He subsequently served as the unit’s Deputy Chief and Acting Chief. While at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Walker sat on the officewide Diversity Committee; co-founded the Committee on Race, Policing, and Prosecution; and worked as the Alexandria Division’s Hate Crimes Coordinator.

During his time as a prosecutor, Judge Walker received five FBI Service Awards for work in public corruption, wire fraud, and bank fraud cases. In 2020, he was among the National LGBT+ Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 and the National Association of Black Lawyers’ 40 Under 40.

Judge Walker is the 2023 recipient of the University of Virginia School of Law Lambda Law Alliance’s Alvarez-Coughlin Award, which recognizes extraordinary efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community. He is the first openly LGBTQ+ federal judge in Virginia and the second openly gay Black male Article III judge in the United States.

Joe Charlet (he/him/his) is Senior Counsel to Chair Richard J. Durbin on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Under the Chair’s leadership, Joe has led the confirmation process for over 30 executive and judicial nominees throughout the 117th and 118th Congresses. He has also supported the confirmation process for several other nominations before the Committee, including the nomination of now-Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Prior to serving the Chair, Joe was previously Counsel to then-Ranking Member Feinstein. Under her leadership in the 116th Congress, Joe led the minority process for several judicial nominees and supported the minority process for the nomination of now-Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. In addition to his nominations portfolio, Joe conducts oversight of the Department of Justice and its components, with a primary focus on efforts to address domestic terrorism and hate crimes. Notably, Joe co-led the Committee’s Subverting Justice investigation into former President Trump’s efforts to enlist the Department of Justice in his election subversion scheme. Before coming to the Hill, Joe worked at a law firm where he maintained an extensive pro bono practice devoted to preserving voting rights, defending protected lands, affirming the constitutional rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and representing individuals seeking civil protective orders, veterans benefits, and adjustment of their immigration status.