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Classes

Monday May 15
2017
 Representing LGBT and HIV+ Clients in the Trump Era

This session will explore how advocates can offer quality representation to LGBT and HIV+ clients in today’s changing and uncertain legal landscape. Our faculty will examine critical legal issues affecting LGBT and HIV+ clients including updates on anti-discrimination, healthcare, and family law. You’ll also learn about crucial professional responsibility issues when working with LGBT and HIV+ clients including intake and interview procedures, the importance of language, and other topics aimed at increasing participants’ cultural knowledge.

By the end of this program participants will:

  • Understand what gender identity and gender expression mean, and how these aspects of human identity intersect with and differ from sexual orientation and other aspects of human identity;
  • Learn proper terminology related to sexual identity, gender identity, and expression;
  • Clarify and assess assumptions, misperceptions, and cultural messages regarding LGBT people and the ways LGBT people encounter bias and discrimination in various aspects of life;
  • Understand how aspects of a person’s identity such as race, class, and immigration status intersect with LGBT status to put people living at these intersections at particular risk of discrimination and injustice; and
  • Understand how rules governing professional responsibility relate to the ethical representation of LGBT people of color.

The presentation format will allow for a Q&A session during which faculty and participants can engage in a dialogue about how advocates can ethically and effectively represent clients impacted by racism, poverty, homophobia, and transphobia.

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  • When
    Monday, May 15, 2017
    3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
  • Location
    Legal Services NYC - Central
    40 Worth St., 6th floor
    New York, NY 10013
  • CLE Credits
    Ethics and Professionalism: 1.00
    Areas of Professional Practice: 0.50
  • Format
    Traditional Live Classroom
  • Practice Area(s)
    Ethics
    HIV
    LGBT
  • Price: $150
  • Materials
    Contains 1 training item(s)

About the Faculty

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    Kimberly Forte (Speaker)

    Kimberly Forte is the Supervising Attorney for The Legal Aid Society's new LGBT Law and Policy Initiative. The goals of this initiative are to increase Legal Aid's cultural competency as it relates to LGBTQ civil rights and increase the Society's litigation, public policy and legislative efforts on behalf of low-income LGBTQ New Yorkers. She has been with the Society for over 12 years, where she has held various staff attorney positions in the Society's Juvenile Rights Practice, representing children who are the subject of neglect/abuse, PINS and juvenile delinquency proceedings. In addition to providing direct legal services for youth, Kimberly was part of a legal team that was responsible for investigating and filing impact litigation cases and commenting on proposed legislation and policies affecting youth in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. Kimberly regularly presents at local, state and national conferences on issues related to her current position. She received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida and a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo.
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    Richard Saenz (Speaker)

    Richard Saenz is a Staff Attorney and the Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct program strategist at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV. His work spans all aspects of Lambda Legal?s impact litigation, policy advocacy and public education efforts. Richard previously worked at Lambda Legal as a Help Desk specialist, where he assisted hundreds of LGBT and HIV-affected callers in the headquarters region. Prior to returning to Lambda Legal, Richard established the HIV/LGBT Advocacy Project at Queens Legal Services, Legal Services-NYC, to serve low-income LGBT and HIV-affected New Yorkers. His legal advocacy has included challenging discriminatory treatment and policies of the New York City welfare agency, and representing victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities in court and administrative hearings. For years he represented low-income HIV-affected clients on issues that included denial of Social Security benefits, public assistance, family law and discrimination. In addition to legal advocacy, Richard has trained hundreds of attorneys and law students on providing services to LGBT clients and cultural competency in representing the communities. He has presented at national conferences on criminalization of poverty and the intersectionality of race, poverty, and LGBT issues. Richard has over a decade of experience in community organizing and education on HIV, LGBT, anti-violence, anti-racism and poverty issues. Richard led the collaboration between Legal Services NYC and Lambda Legal to create a series of fact sheets on the Marriage Equality Act in New York State, and its implications for low-income people. Recently, he contributed to the groundbreaking report Poverty is an LGBT Issue: An Assessment of the Legal Needs of Low-Income LGBT People. Richard?s awards include the Michael B. Davis-Elyse Hilton Alumni Award from the Fordham Law School OutLaw, the Community Leadership Award from Queens Pride House, and the National LGBT Bar Association?s Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40. Richard received his law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Stein Scholar for Public Interest Law and Ethics. He earned his bachelor?s degree from Georgetown University.