Roberta A. Kaplan, litigator in DOMA Defeat, Auditorium Speaker at 2015 Annual Conference

For Immediate Release
Thu, 02/12/2015

Contact:

Amy McGuigan

Conference Manager

Conference Services

American Library Association

amcguigan@ala.org

CHICAGO – Kicking off the 2015 Annual Conference Auditorium Speaker series from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, Roberta A. Kaplan will offer attendees a chance to hear how what she did--with the help of a band of supporters–extended equal rights and made America a more democratic nation. Kaplan will offer insights into how the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was defeated, how laws get overturned and how change is made legally.

“Robbie Kaplan has been involved in some of the most important legal developments of recent years,” notes The Financial Times. When Edie Windsor called Roberta Kaplan to take on the case that would bring down DOMA, Kaplan did not hesitate as gay advocates and other lawyers had.  In Windsor, the nation's highest court ruled that a key provision of DOMA violated the U.S. Constitution by barring legally married same-sex couples from enjoying the wide-ranging benefits of marriage conferred under federal law. Kaplan’s forthcoming book, “Then Comes Marriage: United States v. Windsor and the Fight for Gay Marriage” (Norton, Fall 2015), will offer a complete account of the success.

Described as a “litigation superstar,” a “powerhouse corporate litigator” and a “pressure junkie” who “thrives on looking at the big picture,” Kaplan is a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and an adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is currently litigating the case against Mississippi’s gay marriage ban.  Selected as one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers,” as well as a 2013 “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer, the 2013 “Lawyer of the Year” by Above The Law and the 2014 “Most Innovative Lawyer of The Year” by The Financial Times, she was ranked as number 5 in this year's "Politico 50." 

Kaplan’s appearance at ALA Annual Conference is sponsored by W. W. Norton & Company.

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