Family Protection Project Director Cathy Sakimura Named as One of this Year’s Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40

(San Francisco, CA, July 18, 2012)—The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is proud to announce that Cathy Sakimura, NCLR’s Family Protection Project Director, was named one of this year’s Best Lawyers under 40 by the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Bar Association.

Since joining NCLR in 2006, Sakimura has worked to improve access to family law services for low-income LGBT parents and their children, with a focus on increasing comprehensive and culturally competent services to families of color. Sakimura’s recent victories include winning adoption rights for a lesbian mother whose petition to adopt was previously rejected by a Family Court in Hawaii, and co-counseling one of the first successful custody cases on behalf of the parent of a transgender child.

Sakimura’s recent precedent-setting court decisions include Chatterjee v. King, in which the New Mexico Supreme Court established crucial new protections for non-biological mothers raising children with a same-sex partner, and E.C. v. J.V., in which California’s 3rd District Court of Appeal affirmed that legal recognition of parentage is dependent upon the relationship between parent and child and not upon sexual orientation, gender, or marital status.

The LGBT Bar Association established the annual Best LGBT Lawyers under 40 award to recognize outstanding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender legal professionals under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves in their field and demonstrated a profound commitment to LGBT equality.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.
www.nclrights.org.