Cozen O’Connor is pleased to announce that Pittsburgh and New York-based Commercial Litigator Jesse Ryan Loffler has been named president of the National LGBT Bar Association’s Foundation board of directors. The LGBT Bar is a national association of lawyers, law students, judges, and other legal professionals that promotes justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity. The LGBT Bar was founded more than 30 years ago by a small group of family law practitioners at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. For the past year Jesse has served as president-elect, and for the two years prior was treasurer of the foundation.
The LGBT Bar is America's largest network of LGBTQ+ legal professionals. Its goals include advocating and educating for the LGBTQ+ community, raising awareness regarding the gay/trans panic defense to criminal liability, making law schools more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students, and to spark conversation about LGBTQ+ legal issues at its annual Lavender Law conference. The organization also effects change by petitioning other organizations, including businesses and the American Bar Association, to adopt LGBTQ+-friendly resolutions and policies that can serve as a template for federal, state, and local governments looking to update their laws.
Loffler focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and has handled a diverse range of matters relating to securities law, shareholder litigation, contract, governmental and internal investigations, insurance, real estate, bankruptcy and employment disputes at the trial and appellate levels of the state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Loffler also maintains an extensive pro bono practice serving a diverse range of clients in impact litigation, including matters relating to LGBTQ+ and political asylum, voting rights, women’s access to health care, and transgender rights. He was the recipient of the E. Nathaniel Gates Award in 2018, awarded by the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, as a result of his extensive pro bono service. Loffler also sits on the Diversity Committee and the LGBTQ Attorney Resource Group at the firm, where he promotes diversity and inclusion.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has more than 925 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle market companies, Cozen O’Connor services its clients’ needs through 33 offices across two continents.