News

BALIF is proud to announce that Kaplan & Partners will be positing job opportunities to the BALIF job site.

Kaplan & Partners is a privately held professional staffing firm located in the heart of San Francisco. We assist law firms, corporations, and in-house legal departments to find top-notch talent for legal and administrative positions. Our experience includes everything from litigation secretary placements to partners and firm acquisitions - and we pride ourselves on taking the same exceptional level of care with each placement we make.

Our services include temporary staffing, project staffing, contract and document review attorneys, and direct hire placements. We take the time to sit down with all of our candidates and clients so that we can truly understand your needs - and accurately identify your ideal solution.

We are a great team of three people with diverse backgrounds and skills, and we love working together in this industry.

Naomi Kaplan, our founder, received her law degree from Boston College and was a litigator here in San Francisco before finding her vocation as a recruiter. Prior to law school, Naomi was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, Africa for two years.

Zack Lyons, a BALIF member, was a litigation secretary and executive assistant in San Francisco for ten years before jumping into the recruiting world. Zack is riding in his first AIDS Lifecycle this year, so if he's not at the office, he's probably on his bike or in a spin class somewhere.

Sandra Cholico brings a wealth of recruiting and administrative experience to the company. Her clients and candidates love her energy. Sandra has successfully placed happy candidates in top 10 firms and in boutique practices. She is very excited to run the Paris Marathon next month!

For the first time, BALIF and LGLA are teaming up to facilitate a summer law student mentorship program. We know that many of our law student members often spend their summers in each other's fair cities, and we want to help make their experiences constructive, valuable, and connected to the respective local LGBT legal communities. Thus, LGLA is providing mentors for San Francisco area law students spending their summer in the Los Angeles area, and BALIF is providing mentors for Los Angeles area law students spending their summer in the San Francisco area.

Mentors provide advice, counsel, and guidance to law students and contribute to the development of a strong LGBT legal community. Mentors can provide invaluable advice and encouragement as law students work toward a career in the law. This can be a great networking and learning opportunity for law students. And a great opportunity for LGBT lawyers to give back to the community.

If you are a law student in the Los Angeles area seeking a summer mentor in the San Francisco area, or an attorney in the San Francisco area interested in serving as a mentor, please contact David Tsai dtsai@perkinscoie.com. If you are a law student in the San Francisco area seeking a summer mentor in the Los Angeles area, or an attorney in the Los Angeles area interested in serving as a mentor please contact David Perkiss perkiss2012@lawnet.ucla.edu. Law students will be required to submit an application; the deadline for applications is May 1, 2012. We will contact you with your matches shortly following the deadline. To learn more about LGLA, please visit www.lgla.net.

Have you noticed some quirk in a law, or a problem with procedures? Each year, BALIF submits resolutions to the California Conference of Bar Associations (formerly the Conference of Delegates) for proposed changes to laws and procedure. The deadline is fast approaching to submit resolutions for the 2012 Conference, so if you have an idea you'd like to see submitted and potentially sent to Sacramento to become a law, email statebar@balif.org with your idea.

The ABA Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division invites you to submit a nomination for its 2012 National Awards. The 2012 Dorsey, Hodson and Nelson Awards will be presented at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago on August 3.  More information about all of the awards and the nominations process can be found here.  All nominations are due by April 3. 

Please email statebar@balif.org if you have experience with internet privacy matters and are willing to sit on a panel about the interplay of internet privacy and the First Amendment.

Several of BALIF's sister minority bar groups are also hosting their annual dinners this month and we'd love to show them our support!   We have a small number of available tickets for the following events, which will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. If interested, email Spencer Jones by the date indicated at outreach@balif.org.

*FRI, MARCH 23, 6PM: The Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area (AABA-BayArea) will host a cocktail reception and dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. More info at: http://aaba-bay.com/aaba/showpage.asp?code=home [TO ATTEND, YOU MUST EMAIL REQUEST BY THE END OF TOMORROW, TUESDAY, MARCH 13TH.]

*FRI, MARCH 30, 6PM: The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC) will host a cocktail reception, dinner, and award ceremony at The Regency Center in San Francisco. More info at: http://www.southasianbar.org/gala [TO ATTEND, PLEASE EMAIL REQUEST BY FRIDAY, MARCH 16th.]

BALIF's amicus efforts have impacted successful outcomes in the Prop 8 litigation, such as:

• The N.D. California decision that a gay judge may decide gay rights cases without having to recuse himself.
• The Ninth Circuit and N.D. California decisions that voter initiatives may not single out same-sex couples in California and deny them a right to marry.

Additionally, past amicus briefs have lead to:

• The Ninth Circuit decision that the United States Army could not bar a soldier's reenlistment solely on the basis of his or her sexual orientation, before Don't Ask Don't Tell.
• The Supreme Court of California decision that it was unconstitutional for California to prohibit same-sex marriage.
• The Supreme Court of the United States decision that the federal government's blanket prohibition on "indecent" speech on the internet violated the First Amendment.

Help shape LGBT rights by getting involved with BALIF's Amicus Committee. Contact amicus@balif.org to get started.