Emory Law offers LGBTQ Legal Services
"I see Emory's involvement as an important step in providing necessary legal services for some of the most disenfranchised in our community." - Brittany Garner, Lost-N-Found Youth
Photo by Cynthia Varkey
Atlanta is home to one of the largest LGBTQ communities in the US, exceeding that in New York City, with 4.2 percent of residents self-identifying. When attention turns to the city’s runaway and homeless youth population, that figure climbs even higher - to 28.2 percent self-identifying. Moreover, Georgia’s transgender population is the fourthhighest in the nation.
Despite the community of LGBTQ individuals and organizations here, there isn’t a robust enough network of LGBTQ-focused legal services in the area. Georgia Equality, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, currently directs LGBTQ individuals with legal needs toward the Stonewall Bar Association, Lambda Legal, or the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Project. Yet given the primary missions of these groups - for Lambda Legal and the ACLU, for example, it is impact litigation - none is able to provide either legal services or the bandwidth necessary to fully maintain attorney directories. Little points of light emerge - the Atlanta Legal Aid Society recently opened up a trans name-change project - but more is needed.
Emory Law’s niche
Emory LGBTQ Legal Services (ELLS), launched January 20, will do its part to answer the regional need, trading on the school’s excellent reputation, including that of its existing legal clinics. The launch date coincided with OUTLaw’s (see sidebar) second-annual conference, “Transforming Advocacy: Using the Law to Protect Our Community.” Providing LGBTQ legal services answers President Clarie E. Sterk’s call for Emory to build a more inclusive community and engage more fully with the city of Atlanta. This is the first university-sponsored effort devoted to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in the region.
Nicole Schladt 18L and Faris Mohammed 18L, who led the effort to establish this service, used the school’s successful Volunteer Clinic for Veterans as a model, with the aim of providing direct legal services to low-income LGBTQ individuals in the Atlanta area who are unable to access meaningful assistance through existing community programs. Mohammed credits Schladt with the original idea and goes on to say, “I gained a lot of practical experience in the Turner Environmental Law Clinic and thought the idea of LGBTQ legal services was not only a great idea for the LGBTQ community but also something that students would gain a lot from as well. Researching what has been done in clinics at Emory Law and elsewhere helped guide us as to how this service should function and, even more important, sustain itself in the years to come.”
Students who participate will work on a volunteer basis under the supervision of outside attorneys who, in turn, will have full responsibility for the cases and clients they take on pro bono. Students’ contributions will be enhanced through bimonthly training sessions led by the legal director and guidance from the outside attorneys as they prepare cases. The scope of cases in the first year will include filing insurance denial appeals for trans individuals, completing advanced directives for the LGBTQ community, and compiling a database of community resources for LGBTQ individuals needing legal assistance.
Students apply to be included as volunteers, with 1Ls participating in a limited capacity. An interest in LGBTQ-rights law is preferred. In the first year of operation, students will not receive academic credit, though that possibility will be explored in the future. Skills students can expect to sharpen include client intake and interviewing, as well as legal research and writing. Eight students have been chosen for work in the inaugural semester.
Danielle Bruce-Steele from Emory’s LGBT Life office has been chosen as director for the first year and will oversee day-to-day activities, while an administrator, Schladt, will supervise the students. In the future, the administrator’s role will go to a high-performing Emory Law student through an application process. Beth Littrell of the Lambda Legal Southern Regional Office will serve as the legal strategist. An advisory board composed of Emory Law faculty members, students, university affiliates, and outside community members is currently forming that will provide strategic support and advice.
A warm welcome from partners
Bruce-Steele attests to the degree to which, “as a leader in LGBT equality in Georgia, Emory is what individuals from across the Southeast think of when encountering a problem.” And that point of view is corroborated by staff at LGBTQ organizations across the region - including Brittany Garner, deputy director of programs for Lost-N-Found Youth, who says, “This would fill a large need for LGBTQ youth of Atlanta and would help change the trajectory of young queer and trans people who are in need. I see Emory’s involvement as an important step in providing necessary legal services for some of the most disenfranchised in our community.”
Other support has come from Lambda Legal and the Stonewall Bar Association, whose immediate past president, Kat Schuller, indicates, “We look forward to working side-by-side with Emory Law’s LGBTQ Legal Services for years to come.” Already, there is a high level of support inside Emory, including Emory’s Office of LGBT Life and GALA, the LGBTQ organization for Emory alumni.
Schladt says that beyond the insufficiencies of the exist- ing legal options for the Atlanta-area LGBTQ population, “the change of presidential administration last year at this time made us realize that a lot of people desperately needed access to LGBTQ-focused basic legal services. Our belief is that Emory Law’s LGBTQ Legal Services is a means to start addressing those needs.”
OUTLaw’s silver anniversary: 25
Under its current name, OUTLaw has existed for a quarter century; however, according to past-president Nicole Schladt 18L, even before that - as the Lavender Law Association - there was a group at the law school serving LGBTQ-identified individuals. Though the organization’s names have varied, the mission has not. Says Schladt, “The idea always has been to provide a home where people can find mentors, ask about exams or professors, learn more about employment, and find fellowship and friends.”
Each year, OUTLaw serves its community by providing education about LGBTQ rights both in general and in the context of an Emory Law education. With regard to the former, last January Schladt established the first conference sponsored by the group. “State of the Union” was a look at the current state of LGBTQ rights following the election of President Trump.
This year’s conference, just completed, titled “Transforming Advocacy: Using the Law to Protect Our Community,” was all about trans rights and consisted of a name-change workshop, a keynote speech by activist Dee Dee Chamblee, and a prisoner rights panel. Says Schladt, “We thought it important to do this because the trans population is the most marginalized among our community, especially when it comes to getting legal help and recognition.”
Last year, OUTLaw made quite a splash partnering with the Stonewall Bar Association to sponsor a panel that included Jim Obergefell (the plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges) and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Debbie Cenziper; the pair had recently collaborated on the book Love Wins, detailing Obergefell’s involvement in the landmark 2015 Supreme Court case that granted same-sex couples the right to marry.
Mark your calendars
OUTLaw puts on a mentorship event in the fall semester. The month of March brings an “Out in Law” event to which Atlanta firms and organizations come, allowing students to conduct mock-interviews. In April, during Preview Day, OUTLaw does its part to welcome LGBTQ-identified students considering Emory Law. OUTLaw also goes big for Pride Week, hosting a keg and being, says Schladt, a “big, bright” part of the Emory Pride Parade.
Current OUTLaw president Meghan Aubry 19L perhaps captures the spirit of the group best, saying, “OUTLaw is committed to fostering LGBTQ+ visibility and support in the legal field and ensuring that Emory Law is a place where LGBTQ+ individuals thrive. As we move forward, we honor those who have worked tirelessly to further these goals, and we recognize the many ways in which their hard work has changed the world around us. We will continually work toward building environments where no one must face fear, harassment, discrimination, or violence.”
