Opinion: To Paul Weiss, thanks for everything

I am writing this letter to publicly express my shock at Paul Weiss’s decision to capitulate to the demands of the President of the United States as well as to the far right. As a former client and lead plaintiff in a landmark case on behalf of LGBT+ kids filed in the late 1990’s, and now myself a voice in the fight for trans rights, the decision to end the firm’s dedication to diversity and inclusion – as well as its reputation as one of the most influential firms in the country, one always on the side of putting up a fight in favor of the law and justice – left me speechless. 

I am also writing this to share my story with the world, and that of countless unnamed others who were forced to endure the broken child welfare system of old New York, and how attorneys with Paul Weiss helped directly and indirectly spark a number of legal, political and social justice movements that have shaped the public discourse over the past several election cycles – issues relating to marriage equality, LGBT+ youth, and trans rights, through their commitment to groundbreaking pro bono litigation. 

In the summer of 1998, I was 13 years old and residing in New York City foster care, after being raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. My grandmother, who raised me, had passed away, leaving me dependent on the foster care system where I was relentlessly abused. At this young age I was already “out” and identified as LGBT+. As a result of this unspeakable abuse I was eventually introduced the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison where attorneys asked me if I would be willing to become the lead plaintiff in a groundbreaking class action lawsuit against the City of New York on behalf of all LGBT+ kids in foster care. 

A large number of my LGBT+ peers had also suffered the same or similar abuse and neglect while in foster care.

At the time the case was filed in January 1999, the idea of a white shoe firm fighting for the rights of openly LGBT+ youth wasn’t taboo, it was inconceivable. Only a firm with the legal might and resources such as Paul Weiss could take on such a case … and they did. The firm, fueled by the work and dedication of child welfare advocates from organizations such as Urban Justice Center and Lawyers For Children literally wrote the blueprint for fighting for LGBT+ youth in court. 

In the summer-fall of 1998 only a matter of weeks before the brutal slaying of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay man from Wyoming, I became a client of Paul Weiss (as lead plaintiff and given a pseudonym because of my age). With my Sony Walkman in hand, playing the Spice Girls, I remember the first time visiting Paul Weiss’s impressive, well furnished offices off Avenue of the Americas in the lead up to Pride Celebration in 1998. I can vividly remember being served chocolate chip cookies and popcorn, as the attorneys – with their expensive suits and gentle voices – worked on the case. 

When I returned months later, after Matthew had been murdered, I remember the attorneys working on my case (many of whom were out as LGBT+ within the firm) discussing Matthew’s brutal torture, and comparing this violence to the violence many of the plaintiffs in this case experienced. New York City foster care was utterly brutal for queer kids back then. These attorneys at Paul Weiss seemed more determined than ever to take on the banner of defending and protecting us kids. 

Known as Joel A v. Giuliani, the case became an outlet of sorts where the firm and its attorneys could channel their outrage over what had happened to Matthew Shepherd. 

Child welfare officials with the City of New York eventually agreed to settle the case, likely because it was backed by such a well known firm, and agreed to implement sweeping policy reforms and allocate millions of dollars towards creating new policies and brick and mortar infrastructure, i.e., new facilities, to house and protect queer kids who are in foster care or are homeless, runways who find themselves in need of social services. These policies and this funding is still in place to this day. 

It is possible that the case, combined with what happened to Matthew Sheppard, helped motivate some of the attorneys from Paul Weiss who were out within the firm to organize for the very LGBT+ specific diversity and inclusion policies for employees there, which the firm just agreed to kill at the behest of the president of the United States. 

Paul Weiss did not blaze a trail for LGBT+ youth a quarter century ago, they helped to shift the entire national discourse on gay and later trans rights. Joel A, with its focus on children, helped refocus society's attention away from “sex” when it came to debating the rights of queer folk. With the nation’s outrage of hearing the plight of how hard it is to be an LGBT+ youth in this country – from New York to Wyoming – the firm’s work making a safer foster care system here helped redirect the public conversation towards decency and fairness. 

The firm's work on Joel A was replicated across the country and inspired a whole new generation of legal advocates. Finally, it can and should be argued that Joel A was a key stepping stone for the modern day trans rights movement. I was empowered by these attorneys in their fancy suits and thought “I’d love to do that.” 

Being represented by such a powerful firm at such an early age has an impact on you, and seeing the real life reform that came from it inspired me to dedicate my life to using the law as both sword and shield to fight on behalf of those without a voice. 

While being represented by Paul Weiss, I was embraced by trans icon Sylvia Rivera. It is in part due to advocates like those at Paul Weiss, and my mentor and trans mom Sylvia Rivera that I have dedicated my life to advocacy and the law. I, a “homeless runaway,” watched how everyone from court staff, opposing counsel to judges all responded to the presence of attorneys from Paul Weiss. It inspired me. The firm treated me like any other client, not like some child, and not differently because I was a pro bono client. The LGBT+ attorneys at the firm especially, stood as an example to me, proving that the law was something that could be used to protect all Americans who were abused at the hands of the government. 

It’s a dark time in America right now, even darker with the light of Paul Weiss no longer shining as brightly as before. 

I hope that other firms will continue to hold the line against the encroachment of facism into our daily lives and now it appears in the legal and judicial systems of this country. It is my sincerest hope that Paul Weiss and all those who have already bent a knee will one day return to the front lines of the fight for a just and fair society. To the decision makers at Paul Weiss, I have this to say: Have the same courage exemplified by the queer and trans kids who you represented in Joel A., as well as those who are living out, proud and free today across in 2025 because of your work a quarter century ago. 

I look forward to the day your firm joins us on the front lines – in the light – once again. For now, thanks for everything.