Dorothy Fernandez is a partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP. She has defended numerous issuers and related parties in shareholder lawsuits, and also represents clients in derivative actions, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, and complex civil litigation. She has represented companies, officers, and directors in a broad range of fields, including manufacturing, telecommunications, and consumer products. Dorothy is committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession and serves on her firm’s diversity strategy committee, as well as acting as a mentor to more junior attorneys.

Dorothy has a long-standing commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights. While attending Harvard Law School, she served as a co-chair of HLS Lambda and she also worked with Lambda Legal and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. After law school, she served as a board member of the Pride Law Fund. In her practice, she has dedicated pro bono time to LGBT litigation efforts, including work on an amicus brief filed in the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on behalf of a Chilean lesbian who had lost custody of her children because of her sexual orientation, as well as work on an amicus brief in Strauss v. Horton, the case that challenged Proposition 8 in California’s Supreme Court.

Dorothy joined NCLR’s board in June 2009. She is drawn to NCLR because of its focus on ensuring that all members of the LGBT community have an advocate. She also appreciates that NCLR has often been on the cutting-edge of many legal issues, including with its family law work, but also in areas such as tackling homophobia in women’s sports.