Daily Journal Names Lambda Legal's Tara Borelli One of the Top Women Lawyers for 2012

(Los Angeles, May 9, 2012) -- The Daily Journal has named Lambda Legal Western Regional Office Staff Attorney Tara Borelli to its annual list of California's top female attorneys. The list features 75 litigators and 25 corporate or transactional lawyers who have played a significant role in California's legal market over the past year.

The Daily Journal recognized Borelli for her work in two of the many cases she has litigated and currently is handling: Diaz v. Brewer, the Arizona case where Lambda Legal is representing seven lesbian and gay state employees challenging a move by the Arizona Legislature to eliminate the equal health care benefits that they rely on to safeguard their families' health; and Golinski v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where Lambda Legal is challenging the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on behalf of federal district court employee who was rebuffed when she sought to enroll wife on her federal employee health plan. The Daily Journal also named to its list Lambda Legal's pro-bono co-counsel in Golinski v. OPM, Rita Lin of Morrison & Foerster LLP.

"This is well-deserved recognition for Tara and her exceptional work securing and preserving equal benefits and family protections for same-sex couples and their children," said Jon Davidson, Legal Director for Lambda Legal.  "In Arizona, Tara's tireless advocacy has preserved benefits for lesbian and gay state employees against the increasingly desperate efforts of state officials to strip them of that coverage. And, with her co-counsel Rita Lin, Tara argued successfully in Golinski that a key section of DOMA, forbidding federal recognition of valid marriages of same-sex couples, violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equality. Kudos to Tara and to our colleague Rita Lin for earning this important recognition."

The list appeared in the Daily Journal's May 9, 2012, edition.