FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 23, 2008

National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter Named among California’s Top 100 Lawyers

(San Francisco, CA, September 23, 2008)— The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) today announced that The Daily Journal has named NCLR Legal Director Shannon Price Minter to its annual list of California's Top 100 Lawyers, honoring those who are “shaping the future through their work.” Minter was recognized for his achievements in the fight for marriage equality in California. The list is featured in the September 17, 2008 issues of the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, and San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Therese M. Stewart were also honored for their role in the marriage case.

“I am deeply honored to be recognized,” said Minter. “Litigating the marriage case has been the most challenging and rewarding professional experience of my life. To work for what is right, to make a difference for so many, to have helped to change the law for the better in a way that truly serves people—I feel incredibly privileged to have played a role.”

Minter has guided NCLR’s litigation and program work for over 10 years. He has been lead counsel in dozens of groundbreaking legal victories, including the California marriage case and Sharon Smith’s unprecedented victory in her wrongful death lawsuit. In 2005, he was one of 18 people to receive the Ford Foundation’s “Leadership for a Changing World” award. In 2004, he was awarded an Honorary Degree from the City University of New York School of Law for his advocacy on behalf of same-sex couples and their families. Minter has also received the Anderson Prize Foundation’s Creating Change Award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Distinguished National Service Award from GAYLAW, the bar association for LGBT lawyers, Cornell Law School’s Exemplary Public Service Award, the Unity Award from Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom, the Advocacy Award from the San Francisco Bar Association, and the Justice Award from Equality California.

“Shannon Minter has changed the lives of every lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender person in California, and arguably the country,” said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. “We at NCLR have long understood the transformative contribution he has made to our community and the law, and we are tremendously grateful to see those contributions acknowledged on a wider stage.”

Minter has authored numerous articles and books on LGBT legal issues, including Transgender Rights (University of Minnesota Press, 2006) and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Family Law (West Publishing, 2008). He has taught as an adjunct or associate professor at Boalt, Stanford, Golden Gate, Santa Clara, and the University of San Francisco Schools of Law.

Minter received his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1993.

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