Roberta A. Kaplan

Last updated

Roberta Kaplan
Robbie Kaplan.jpg
Born1966 (age 54–55)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S
Education Harvard University (AB)
Columbia University (JD)
Known for United States v. Windsor
Spouse(s)
Rachel Lavine
​
(m. 2005)​
Children1

Roberta A. Kaplan (born 1966) is an American lawyer focusing on commercial litigation and public interest matters. She co-founded the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund and is an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University Law School. [1] She was a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison before starting her own firm in 2017.

Contents

Kaplan successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of LGBT rights activist Edith Windsor, in United States v. Windsor , a landmark decision that invalidated a section of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages.

On September 24, 2020, Kaplan's firm filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, on behalf of plaintiff Mary L. Trump, accusing President Donald J. Trump and his siblings, Maryanne Trump Barry and Robert Trump, of decades of financial fraud and civil conspiracy. [2]

Early life and education

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Roberta Kaplan grew up in a Jewish household. [3] She graduated from Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio, in 1984. LGBT scholar and activist Aaron Belkin was Kaplan's high school friend and prom date. [4] She earned an A.B. in Russian history and literature from Harvard University in 1988. While in college she spent a semester abroad in Moscow and "discovered a passion for political activism when she became active in the movement to free Soviet Jewry". [5] She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1991. [6]

Career

Kaplan served as a law clerk for Mark L. Wolf of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. While clerking for Judith Kaye, of the New York Court of Appeals, she assisted Kaye with a number of academic articles. Kaplan's scholarly articles include "Proof versus Prejudice" (2013). [7]

Kaplan joined Paul Weiss in 1996 and was made partner in 1999. [8]

In July 2017, Kaplan founded Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, a law firm dedicated to commercial litigation and public interest matters. [9]

In 2018, Kaplan teamed up with Tina Tchen to found the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund. The fund has raised more than $24 million to provide legal defense for sexual violence victims, especially those who experienced misconduct in the workplace and led 780 attorneys and 50 cases under way. [10] [11] The pair later teamed up in 2019 to form HABIT, an anti-sexual harassment advisory. [10]

United States v. Windsor

In 2009, Kaplan agreed to represent Edith Windsor pro bono. Windsor's wife, Thea Spyer, had died two years after they wed in Canada, leaving Windsor her sole heir. [12] Because their marriage was not recognized under existing U. S. federal law, Windsor received an estate tax bill of $363,053. [13] [14] Windsor went to gay rights advocates seeking redress, but could find no one to take her case. She was referred to Kaplan, who later recalled, "When I heard her story, it took me about five seconds, maybe less, to agree to represent her." [15] Kaplan had been co-counsel on the unsuccessful bid for marriage equality in New York state in 2006. [16]

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision declaring Section 3 of DOMA to be unconstitutional. [17] Subsequent to Windsor, the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) struck down all remaining state and federal laws against same-sex marriage across the United States. Kaplan wrote about United States v. Windsor in the book Then Comes Marriage. [4]

E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit

Kaplan represents writer E. Jean Carroll, who filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump on November 4, 2019. According to the Washington Post, Kaplan "said she intends to prove that Trump acted with 'malice,' meaning that he knew his statements were false or showed reckless disregard for the truth." [18]

The lawsuit was moved from state to federal court when the US Department of Justice moved to take over Trump's defense (a motion that was denied in October 2020.) [19] Kaplan said she welcomed pursuing the lawsuit in federal court. [19] Although the Department of Justice appealed that decision, Kaplan told reporters, "we are confident that the Second Circuit will affirm the District Court’s comprehensive and well-reasoned opinion." [20]

Awards and recognition

Personal life

In September 2005, Kaplan married her partner, lawyer and Democratic Party activist Rachel Lavine, in Toronto, Canada. The couple live in New York City with their son. [28]

Kaplan is active in her synagogue and is chair of the board of the Gay Men's Health Crisis. [29]

Related Research Articles

Defense of Marriage Act Unconstitutional US law defining marriage for federal purposes

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It defines marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. The act's provisions were ruled unconstitutional or left effectively unenforceable by Supreme Court decisions in the cases of United States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).

Same-sex marriage in the United States Marriage between members of the same gender within the United States of America

In the United States, the availability of legally recognized same-sex marriage expanded from one state in 2004 to all fifty states in 2015 through various state and federal court rulings, state legislation, and direct popular votes. The fifty states each have separate marriage laws, which must adhere to rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States that recognize marriage as a fundamental right that is guaranteed by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as first established in the 1967 landmark civil rights case of Loving v. Virginia.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is a non-profit legal rights organization in the United States. The organization works to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status, and gender identity and expression. The organization primarily achieves this goal through litigation, advocacy, and education work in all areas of LGBT rights and the rights of people living with HIV. In addition, GLAD operates a legal information line, GLAD Answers, where LGBTQ & HIV+ residents of New England can receive attorney referrals and information about their rights. The organization changed its name to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders in February 2016.

LGBT rights in the United States Rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the US

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States have evolved in recent decades. However, LGBT Americans may still face some legal and many social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, particularly in states with large conservative populations, such as in the Deep South; in rural areas; and in some Native American tribal nations.

In response to court action in a number of states, the United States federal government and a number of state legislatures passed or attempted to pass legislation either prohibiting or allowing same-sex marriage or other types of same-sex unions.

Barbara Sue Jones is a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement is a 2009 American documentary film directed and produced by Susan Muska and Gréta Ólafsdóttir for their company Bless Bless Productions, in association with Sundance Channel. The film tells the story of the long-term lesbian relationship between Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer, including their respective childhoods, their meeting in 1963, their lives and careers in New York City, Thea's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and Edie's care for her partner, and their wedding in Toronto, Canada, in May 2007, because gay marriage was not then legal in their home state of New York.

The Respect for Marriage Act, abbreviated as RFMA, was a proposed bill in the United States Congress that would have repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and required the U.S. federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. It was supported by former U.S. Representative Bob Barr, original sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA in 1996. The administration of President Barack Obama also supported RFMA.

Mary L. Bonauto is an American lawyer and civil rights advocate who has worked to eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and has been referred to by US Representative Barney Frank as "our Thurgood Marshall." She began working with the Massachusetts-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, now named GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) organization in 1990. A resident of Portland, Maine, Bonauto was one of the leaders who both worked with the Maine legislature to pass a same-sex marriage law and to defend it at the ballot in a narrow loss during the 2009 election campaign. These efforts were successful when, in the 2012 election, Maine voters approved the measure, making it the first state to allow same-sex marriage licenses via ballot vote. Bonauto is best known for being lead counsel in the case Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which made Massachusetts the first state in which same-sex couples could marry in 2004. She is also responsible for leading the first strategic challenges to section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

<i>Gill v. Office of Personnel Management</i>

Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management, 682 F.3d 1 is a United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision that affirmed the judgment of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the section that defines the term "marriage" as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."

Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management is a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, Section 3, which defined the federal definition of marriage to be a union of a man and a woman, entirely excluding legally married same-sex couples. The District Court that originally heard the case ruled Section 3 unconstitutional. On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional, and denied appeal of Pedersen the next day.

United States v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 744 (2013), is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case concerning same-sex marriage. The Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, was a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) has been a standing body of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993 that directs the activities of the House Office of General Counsel. BLAG can direct the General Counsel to participate in litigation or file an amicus curiae brief in cases involving the interests of the House or BLAG can call for legislation or a House resolution authorizing the General Counsel to represent the House itself. BLAG comprises five members of House leadership:

LGBT history in the United States

LGBT history in the United States spans the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals as well as the coalitions they've built. States like California, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, and Illinois have public school curricula that legally require LGBT history lessons, including prominent gay people and LGBT-rights milestones, in history classes.

<i>Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management</i>

Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management, 824 F. Supp. 2d 968, was a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff, Karen Golinski, challenged the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined, for the purposes of federal law, marriage as being between one man and one woman, and spouse as a husband or wife of the opposite sex.

Edith Windsor American LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM

Edith "Edie" Windsor was an American LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States. The Obama Administration and federal agencies extended rights, privileges and benefits to married same-sex couples because of the decision.

Same-sex immigration policy in the United States denied couples in same-sex relationships the same rights and privileges afforded different-sex couples based on several court decisions and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional in United States v. Windsor on June 26, 2013.

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References

  1. ↑ Walters, Joanna (October 21, 2018). "#MeToo a revolution that can't be stopped, says Time's Up co-founder". the Guardian. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Read Mary Trump's Lawsuit". The New York Times. September 24, 2020. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  3. ↑ Josephs, Susan. "Roberta Kaplan". Jewish Women International. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Kaplan, Roberta A., with Lisa Dickey (2015). Then Comes Marriage: United States V. Windsor and the Defeat of DOMA. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN   9780393248678.
  5. ↑ Josephs, Susan. "Roberta Kaplan". Jewish Women International. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  6. ↑ Brown, Conor W.K. (April 1, 2019). "Roberta A. Kaplan to Speak at Harvard Law School Class Day". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Proof vs. Prejudice" (PDF). NYU Review of Law & Social Change. 37. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Pasquini, Nina (May 29, 2019). ""If You Believe That It Is Possible to Break, Believe That It Is Possible to Repair"". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Roberta Kaplan, Champion of DOMA Fight, Leaves Paul Weiss to Start New Firm". Litigation Daily. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Roberta Kaplan and Tina Tchen Launch a New Inclusion Advisory". Fortune. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  11. ↑ Walters, Joanna (October 21, 2018). "#MeToo a revolution that can't be stopped, says Time's Up co-founder". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  12. ↑ Gray, Eliza (December 11, 2013). "Runner-Up: Edith Windsor The Unlikely Activist". Time. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Levy, Ariel. "Ariel Levy: How Edith Windsor Won a Landmark Case for Gay Marriage". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ Jim, Dwyer (June 7, 2012). "She Waited 40 Years to Marry, Then When Her Wife Died, the Tax Bill Came". New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  15. ↑ Applebome, Peter (December 10, 2012). "Reveling in Her Supreme Court Moment". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  16. ↑ Hartocollis, Anemona (July 7, 2006). "New York Judges Reject Any Right to Gay Marriage". New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  17. ↑ Liptak, Adam (June 26, 2013). "Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage With Two Major Rulings". New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  18. ↑ Reinhard, Bet (November 4, 2019). "New York writer who accused Trump of sexual assault sues him for defamation". Washington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2021. Trump said Carroll was 'totally lying' and 'not my type' when she made her accusation this summer. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said she intends to prove that Trump acted with 'malice,' meaning that he knew his statements were false or showed reckless disregard for the truth.
  19. 1 2 Gerstein, Josh; Cheney, Kyle (October 27, 2020). "Federal judge rebuffs Justice Department's bid to aid Trump in defamation case". Politico. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  20. ↑ Mangan, Dan (November 25, 2020). "DOJ appeals ruling that kept Trump as defendant in E. Jean Carroll rape claim case". CNBC. Retrieved January 18, 2021. It remains to be seen whether the new Attorney General will agree that Trump was acting within the scope of his employment as President when he defamed our client. In any event, we are confident that the Second Circuit will affirm the District Court’s comprehensive and well-reasoned opinion.
  21. ↑ "Roberta Kaplan, 38". National Law Journal. May 9, 2005. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Above the Law's 2013 Lawyer of the Year Competition". Abovethelaw.com. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Litigator of the Year: Roberta Kaplan". The American Lawyer. January 2, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  24. ↑ "2013 Recipients | Stanford Law School". Law.stanford.edu. October 29, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  25. ↑ Rector, Kevin (May 22, 2014). "DOMA plaintiff, attorney receive honorary degrees, applause at Hopkins commencement". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
  26. ↑ Baker, Rebecca. "Lifetime Achievement: Roberta Kaplan". New York Law Journal. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Queerty Pride50 2019 Honorees". Queerty. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  28. ↑ Wolfe, Anna. "'Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue': The JFP Interview with Roberta Kaplan".
  29. ↑ Hoffman, Allison (March 24, 2013). "Gay Marriage's Legal Crusader". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved August 16, 2014.

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