Summer Associates Successfully Assist
Transgender Clients

New York-based summer associates Sam Feldman, Tyler Fink, Rob Fuchs, Megan Melbourne and Michael Sapiro successfully obtained name changes for their transgender clients, who were referred by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund's (TLDEF) Name Change Project.

For many transgender people, a legal name change is a first step toward conforming their legal identities to the way they identify and live their lives. But securing a legal name change can be an intimidating experience, involving interaction with the court system and judges. We assist clients referred by TLDEF who are seeking a legal name change in preparing and presenting their applications, and in navigating the system generally.

"The hearing was quick and easy. The court granted the order and waived our client's fees and publication requirement," Feldman said. "[Our client] was thrilled to get the order. We met our goal of changing his name before his birthday!"

The summer associates were supervised by New York-based associates Zach Ainsztein, Paul Andrews, Ada Anon, Ricardo Doriott, Jane He, Kara Neaton, Maria Reda and Danielle Rosato, as well as by New York-based partners Ben Mintz and Derek Stoldt.

New York-based summer associates Jessie Gong, Sarah Prather and Andrew Tepper are also assisting clients seeking name changes.

To date, Kaye Scholer has assisted with almost 40 name changes; the project is managed by New York-based associates Paul Andrews and Katy Benitez.