Greeting from the Public Relations Committee! We have been keeping busy getting the word out about all the amazing work BALIF members are doing. Last week was an exciting and busy week for BALIF. First, the Judiciary Committee held a kickoff reception for the LGBT Judges Council and Advisors Council. The LGBT Judges Council includes Bay Area active and retired judges who will serve as informal mentors to LGBT attorneys who aspire to join the bench and the Advisors Council includes senior and well-connected LGBT attorneys to build a pipeline for the bench. Several judges spoke at the reception, held at Keker & Van Nest LLP. Kudos to Andrew Vu and Elizabeth Pritzker, Judiciary Committee Co-chairs for a wonderful kickoff event and great work in increasing the LGBT presence on the bench.

The Amicus Committee was also busy, filing amicus curiae briefs Friday in the Hawaii and Nevada Ninth Circuit challenges to those states' marriage bans. A copy of the press release can be found here. Kudos to Nick Kacprowski, Amicus Committee Chair, for leading the charge.

The Social Action Committee helped beautify Glen Park Elementary Sunday and is taking a leadership role in a coalition of organizations mobilizing to help the LGBT crisis in Russia. Kudos to Social Action Committee Co-chairs Jessica Bogo and Dmitri Pikman.

The Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) Committee led by Julie Wilensky is working with the CCBA to pursue legislation guaranteeing inmates in California access to prescribed medicines, including hormone maintenance therapy for transgender inmates. A copy of the press release can be found here.

Here on the Public Relations Committee, we are gearing up to expand our social media presence. Email PR@balif.org if you are interested in getting involved in this effort. We are also creating a directory of BALIF members who are experts in their fields to provide to our media contacts. It's a great way to get your name out there, so if you are an expert in your field and want to be included, email PR@balif.org.


Denise Bergin
Public Relations Committee Chair