This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Read our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWe\u2019re handling all the things that come with people making families and breaking families up,\u201d said Meredith Nicholson, a co-founder and partner in Durham-based family law firm NicholsonPham Law. These matters include marriage, divorce, equitable distribution, and all aspects of parentage for gay and straight couples. The 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cBefore 2015, when marriage equality became a reality, LGBTQ families used contract law to secure rights the law didn\u2019t otherwise provide,\u201d said Milan Pham, a co-founder and partner in the firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used contract law and stitched together rights the community didn\u2019t have using agreements on parenting, partnerships, property and support. We were relying heavily on the goodwill of the community to protect one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protecting Ourselves<\/strong><\/h2>\nDonald Trump has stated his desire to repeal protections for the LGBTQ community, especially transgender people. The blueprint outlined in Project 2025 and advocated by Trump supporters has sent waves of concern and uncertainty rolling through the gay community.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, I remind our same-sex clients that the history of our having rights in this country is relatively short. Ten to 11 years is not long; for the vast majority of the time that we\u2019ve been a community in the United States, we\u2019ve been bootstrapping ourselves,\u201d said Pham. \u201cWe have the tools to protect the community, which we\u2019ve developed from years of having few protections, and we\u2019ll resurrect them as needed. Now, with nearly 40 potential challenges to marriage equality being pipelined to the Supreme Court, we\u2019re looking back in order to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the cultural, political, and legal uncertainties, we are committed to using a combination of legal creativity and zealous client advocacy,\u201d said Nicholson. \u201cThe skills used in representing gay clients are the same skills used in representing straight clients, which we have acquired through years of representing outsiders to the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cClients come to us and say, \u2018Hey, my marriage is dissolving. I need some help making this work. I don\u2019t want to spend thousands of dollars in court or fighting, but we need to get our affairs in order,\u201d Nicholson added.<\/p>\n
Parentage Issues<\/strong><\/h2>\nLGBTQ families continue to face challenges in the arena of parentage. While legal issues resulting from the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) are equally applicable to same and different sex partners, those issues are more evident in LGBTQ families where one person is likely to be unrelated to a child born into their marriage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn North Carolina, a parent is either genetically related to a child or they are a parent by order of the court. The laws of parentage are based on a presumption that two people have had sex, and they had a genetically related child, or if not, that they have adopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s often not true for same sex couples or different sex couples dealing with infertility. The law is slow to change [to accommodate ART]. We\u2019ve always had to secure legal parentage for same-sex couples in order to make it portable across all states. And technically straight folks using surrogacy or donor gametes or donor embryos require the same protections whether they know it or not. The path to securing parentage isn\u2019t always known or clear and the dangers of failing to secure parentage are increasing in the age of 23andMe\u201d says Pham.<\/p>\n
At the Forefront<\/strong><\/h2>\nNicholson and Pham met during their first year at UNC School of Law. Both came from entrepreneurial families and had been encouraged to own their own businesses. They launched the firm in 2009 and quickly began making a name for themselves working with the LGBTQ community. \u201cWe found ourselves at the forefront of rapidly changing law since our inception.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholson is an adoption fellow in the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. Pham serves on the National Family Law Advisory Council of the National Center for LGBT Rights and is an adoption and assisted reproductive technology fellow with the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys.<\/p>\n
Sharon Thompson became of counsel to the firm in 2012. She is considered a pioneer in the LGBTQ legal community, having started her practice in 1976, long before many of the laws on the books today were enacted. \u201cSharon\u2019s advice and guidance have been invaluable, particularly now when days seem darkest as a reminder of the incredible strides we have made in LGBTQ rights in such a short amount of time and a reassurance that within the community we are developing the resources we need to reach a future where equality is real,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
Collectively, the firm has become a resource on the legal issues of emerging family structures for NC families and the NC judicial system. While the law continues to evolve slowly, NC family structures are shifting in pace with the times. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in requests for assistance not only to protect LGBTQ families but multi \u201cparent\u201d families and multi partner households,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had judges call us to say, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ve received this petition, can you help us understand what the law says in this area,\u2019\u201d said Pham. \u201cAnd before we submit any novel legal issue to a judge which they may never have seen, I\u2019ll have a meeting with the judge and ask, \u2018Your Honor, hypothetically, if this kind of issue were to come before you, what would you require in order to grant such a request?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Comfort and Reassurance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cThere isn\u2019t a day that goes by that I\u2019m not receiving an email or a call from someone who just needs a bit of reassurance, who doesn\u2019t understand or remember [that we\u2019ve seen these problems before] because they are younger or they weren\u2019t in the movement [before 2015],\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
\u201cI provide clients with comfort in addition to legal advice,\u201d Pham continued. \u201cThey come in, and I can just feel their fear dissolve when I say, \u2018Everything\u2019s not going to disappear. Your marriage will continue to be respected.\u2019 A lot of my job these days, in addition to being a lawyer, is to be a counselor at law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work with a lot of folks in their 40s and 50s who are getting to a point where they are unable to be married to a different sex person anymore, and they are no longer able to live in a closet,\u201d said Nicholson. \u201cAnd when we find a way for somebody to begin a new life with dignity and remain amicable and remain a parent, that\u2019s pretty satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the road for client success has yet to be paved, or the path isn\u2019t clear, we get to do something extraordinary,\u201d said Pham. \u201cWe lay the path upon which our community walks every day. There\u2019s a lot of love in that kind of law practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post NicholsonPham Law: \u2018We Have the Tools to Protect the LGBTQ Community\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/attorneyatlawmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/black%400.5x.png?resize=172%2C63&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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LGBTQ families continue to face challenges in the arena of parentage. While legal issues resulting from the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) are equally applicable to same and different sex partners, those issues are more evident in LGBTQ families where one person is likely to be unrelated to a child born into their marriage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn North Carolina, a parent is either genetically related to a child or they are a parent by order of the court. The laws of parentage are based on a presumption that two people have had sex, and they had a genetically related child, or if not, that they have adopted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s often not true for same sex couples or different sex couples dealing with infertility. The law is slow to change [to accommodate ART]. We\u2019ve always had to secure legal parentage for same-sex couples in order to make it portable across all states. And technically straight folks using surrogacy or donor gametes or donor embryos require the same protections whether they know it or not. The path to securing parentage isn\u2019t always known or clear and the dangers of failing to secure parentage are increasing in the age of 23andMe\u201d says Pham.<\/p>\n
At the Forefront<\/strong><\/h2>\nNicholson and Pham met during their first year at UNC School of Law. Both came from entrepreneurial families and had been encouraged to own their own businesses. They launched the firm in 2009 and quickly began making a name for themselves working with the LGBTQ community. \u201cWe found ourselves at the forefront of rapidly changing law since our inception.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicholson is an adoption fellow in the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys. Pham serves on the National Family Law Advisory Council of the National Center for LGBT Rights and is an adoption and assisted reproductive technology fellow with the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys.<\/p>\n
Sharon Thompson became of counsel to the firm in 2012. She is considered a pioneer in the LGBTQ legal community, having started her practice in 1976, long before many of the laws on the books today were enacted. \u201cSharon\u2019s advice and guidance have been invaluable, particularly now when days seem darkest as a reminder of the incredible strides we have made in LGBTQ rights in such a short amount of time and a reassurance that within the community we are developing the resources we need to reach a future where equality is real,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
Collectively, the firm has become a resource on the legal issues of emerging family structures for NC families and the NC judicial system. While the law continues to evolve slowly, NC family structures are shifting in pace with the times. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in requests for assistance not only to protect LGBTQ families but multi \u201cparent\u201d families and multi partner households,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had judges call us to say, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ve received this petition, can you help us understand what the law says in this area,\u2019\u201d said Pham. \u201cAnd before we submit any novel legal issue to a judge which they may never have seen, I\u2019ll have a meeting with the judge and ask, \u2018Your Honor, hypothetically, if this kind of issue were to come before you, what would you require in order to grant such a request?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Comfort and Reassurance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cThere isn\u2019t a day that goes by that I\u2019m not receiving an email or a call from someone who just needs a bit of reassurance, who doesn\u2019t understand or remember [that we\u2019ve seen these problems before] because they are younger or they weren\u2019t in the movement [before 2015],\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
\u201cI provide clients with comfort in addition to legal advice,\u201d Pham continued. \u201cThey come in, and I can just feel their fear dissolve when I say, \u2018Everything\u2019s not going to disappear. Your marriage will continue to be respected.\u2019 A lot of my job these days, in addition to being a lawyer, is to be a counselor at law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work with a lot of folks in their 40s and 50s who are getting to a point where they are unable to be married to a different sex person anymore, and they are no longer able to live in a closet,\u201d said Nicholson. \u201cAnd when we find a way for somebody to begin a new life with dignity and remain amicable and remain a parent, that\u2019s pretty satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the road for client success has yet to be paved, or the path isn\u2019t clear, we get to do something extraordinary,\u201d said Pham. \u201cWe lay the path upon which our community walks every day. There\u2019s a lot of love in that kind of law practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post NicholsonPham Law: \u2018We Have the Tools to Protect the LGBTQ Community\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t a day that goes by that I\u2019m not receiving an email or a call from someone who just needs a bit of reassurance, who doesn\u2019t understand or remember [that we\u2019ve seen these problems before] because they are younger or they weren\u2019t in the movement [before 2015],\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
\u201cI provide clients with comfort in addition to legal advice,\u201d Pham continued. \u201cThey come in, and I can just feel their fear dissolve when I say, \u2018Everything\u2019s not going to disappear. Your marriage will continue to be respected.\u2019 A lot of my job these days, in addition to being a lawyer, is to be a counselor at law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe work with a lot of folks in their 40s and 50s who are getting to a point where they are unable to be married to a different sex person anymore, and they are no longer able to live in a closet,\u201d said Nicholson. \u201cAnd when we find a way for somebody to begin a new life with dignity and remain amicable and remain a parent, that\u2019s pretty satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the road for client success has yet to be paved, or the path isn\u2019t clear, we get to do something extraordinary,\u201d said Pham. \u201cWe lay the path upon which our community walks every day. There\u2019s a lot of love in that kind of law practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post NicholsonPham Law: \u2018We Have the Tools to Protect the LGBTQ Community\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n