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Our work occasionally gains local and national media attention because of the importance of the subject matter or the impact of the decision on the development of law.

For example, in 2005, we brought a suit against the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, in a case in which our clients alleged that they were discriminated and retaliated against based on race. They accused their supervisor, Kristin Henrikson, of referring to them as “lazy” and as having no legal skills. They alleged that Ms. Henrikson referred to African-American parents as “baby mamas” and mimicked clients by saying, “who my baby daddy?” The suit was covered by the Washington Post here and here. The claim was settled in 2006.

In 2012, we were employed by a retired Superior Court judge when the U.S. Government was paying her only half of her earned retirement benefits and refused — for a year — to fix the problem. We advocated for the judge in court and out of court, and as a result of our actions, the government finally fixed the problem. Part of our work included the filing of a due process claim against the Government. The claim was dismissed by the federal court on the ground that we filed a “litigate first” strategy (see Retired D.C. Superior Court Judge Loses Lawsuit Over Benefits) — but the decision ignored the years that the judge spent trying to fix the problem, including a full year of retirement with only half pension. Ultimately, the government acknowledged its error and fixed the judge’s pension payment.

In November 2004, David Halpern and The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars announced an early settlement of Mr. Halpern’s claim of sexual orientation discrimination and retaliation. Mr. Halpern was a Program Supervisor for The Washington Center, where he placed college interns into positions which matched their interest. Hon. Barney Frank, a Member of Congress, was concerned about the case because Mr. Halpern alleged that a student was not placed with Mr. Frank’s office because of his sexual orientation. The details of the case appeared in the media attention that the case garnered, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Grand Rapids Press, Roll Call, 365Gay.com, and the Washington Blade, among others.

In addition, in February 2013, Micah Salb was a primary source for an article in the Washington Examiner about tax issues associated with real estate ownership by same-sex couples.

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