Attorney Roberta Kaplan, who argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case that led to the downfall of part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), has received several recent accolades for her work. She says her most important job, however, is “raising my son.”
Kaplan, a partner at Paul Weiss, was named one of six 2013 “Litigators of the Year” by major legal magazine The American Lawyer, and “Lawyer of the Year” by legal blog Above the Law. The American Lawyer award was based on nominations from its Am Law 200 list of the top 200 firms in the country, plus analysis and interviews by the magazine’s staff. The Above the Law award was based on a readers’ poll.
Kaplan, who represented plaintiff Edie Windsor in the case that gained federal recognition for same-sex married couples, is also raising a seven-year-old son with her wife. She told Lawdragon last fall:
As a not-so-new mom, there is no question that raising my son is the single most important job I have ever had or will ever have. In fact, Edie and my son have formed their own special relationship — Edie made him a huge, life-size card on his last birthday and miraculously never tires of reading him his favorite Captain Underpants books. My son got to ride with Edie in the convertible at the front of New York’s gay pride parade this year, an experience that I’m sure he will never forget.
I love the image of Windsor, who comes across as always elegant, reading Captain Underpants.
Congratulations to Kaplan for well-deserved recognition!
Below is a photo of Kaplan, comedian Judy Gold (also a lesbian mom), Windsor, and Brendan Faye, a New York activist who helped Edie get married and find Kaplan, at a recent talk they gave at the 92nd St. Y in New York City. (Thanks to Cathy Renna of Target Cue for the photo.)
