Transgender Family Law
A Guide to Effective Advocacy
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Representing transgender clients presents attorneys with work that is often unique, challenging, and rewarding. A bit of preparation and a few changes to office policies and procedures can go a long way toward providing representation that is effective and makes the experience as comfortable as possible for transgender clients.
An important first step is for the attorney to establish a welcoming and respectful environment at the firm or legal services office before the client’s initial contact. To be an effective advocate the attorney may have to educate herself/himself about transgender people’s lives as well as about some new legal issues in the area of domestic relations. The attorney must also be prepared, where a client’s transgender status is relevant, to educate the court, opposing counsel, and other interested parties about transgender issues and, where the client’s transgender status is not relevant, to shield the client from attacks or bias based on it. Finally, in the emerging and constantly changing area of transgender law, the attorney must be mindful that particular legal positions and tactics may impact not only the transgender client, but also the larger community.
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About the Book
Transgender people have unique needs and vulnerabilities in the family law context. Any family law attorney engaged in representing transgender clients must know the ins and outs of this rapidly developing area of law. Transgender Family Law: A Guide to Effective Advocacy is the first book to comprehensively address legal issues facing transgender people in the family law context and provide practitioners the tools to effectively represent transgender clients. The chapters address a broad range of topics, including: Culturally Competent Representation, Recognition of Name and Sex, Relationship Recognition and Protections, Protecting Parental Rights, Relationship Dissolution, Parental Rights after Relationship Dissolution, Custody Disputes Involving Transgender Children, Protections for Transgender Youth, Intimate Partner Violence, Estate Planning and Elder Law. Written by attorneys with expertise in both family law and advocacy for transgender clients, including: Kylar W. Broadus, Patience Crozier, Benjamin L. Jerner, Michelle B. LaPointe, Jennifer L. Levi, Morgan Lynn, Shannon Price Minter, Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder, Zack M. Paakkonen, Terra Slavin, Wayne A. Thomas Jr., Deborah H. Wald, and Janson Wu, Transgender Family Law is a must-have, practical guide for attorneys interested in becoming effective advocates for their clients. It is also a valuable resource to consult for any transgender person who is forming, expanding, or dissolving a family relationship.
About the Author
Edited by Jennifer L. Levi and Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder
Jennifer L. Levi is the director of the Transgender Rights Project at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, where she has served as lead counsel in a number of precedent setting cases establishing basic rights for transgender people. Jennifer was also co-counsel in the case of Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which established the right of same-sex couples to marry in Massachusetts. Jennifer is a law professor at Western New England University. She serves on the Legal Committee of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and is a founding member of both the Transgender Law & Policy Institute and the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
Elizabeth E. Monnin-Browder was a staff attorney at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and is now a litigation associate in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray LLP. While at GLAD, Elizabeth contributed to litigation challenging the Defense of Marriage Act and worked with GLAD’s Transgender Rights Project. Elizabeth is the co-chair of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association’s Committee on Transgender Inclusion. She is a member of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and a founding member of Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates, which provides free legal services to poor transgender Massachusetts residents.