Can you be an active parent and run a private practice? Read Christina Coleman’s article on “Active parenting and managing a private practice are not mutually exclusive” published in The Advocate!
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Spree DeSha was one of 25 people killed in a 2008 commuter train crash in the Chatsworth district of the city. Surviving DeSha was her domestic partner, fellow LAPD Officer Laura Gerritsen. The two had never formally registered as domestic partners with the state, fearing that could lead to discrimination within the police department if it were to become public. However, DeSha had filled out partnership benefit forms to submit to the City, but they were on her desk when she died. Gerritsen was then denied survivorship pension benefits because the City Administrative Code purportedly required the paperwork to be submitted during the lifetime of the person whose benefits are at issue, a requirement it does not make for other classes of people entitled to survivorship benefits, such as children and spouses. Attorneys Lisa Maki and Christina M. Coleman filed a Civil Rights Action against the City of Los Angeles for declaratory judgment, to require the City to recognize the Domestic Partnership. Representing Officer Gerritsen on a pro bono basis in this particular matter, Ms. Coleman argued Gerritsen had never been informed the paperwork had to be filed prior to the death of a partner, and after a two-day bench trial a judge ruled, in a lengthy written ruling that adopted Ms. Coleman’s proposed statement of decision almost verbatim as to the first legal grounds for relief, that Gerritsen was the Domestic Partner of Officer DeSha and entitled to receive her pension.
This ruling, which came at a time when same sex unions needed a victory after the passage the year before of Prop 8 in November 2008, banning same sex marriage, was reported and applauded throughout the state, and resulted in Ms. Maki and Ms. Coleman being nominated and selected as finalists for “Streetfighter of the Year” by the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC). CAOC’s Streetfighter of the Year Award is given to a plaintiff’s lawyer who has litigated a case that creates a more just society, regardless of personal benefit or financial gain. Pro-bono work and landmark cases that may not have produced a substantial financial verdict are given special consideration.
Following this ruling, Ms. Maki and Ms. Coleman parlayed this ruling to obtain standing for Officer Gerritsen in a separate Wrongful Death Action, and obtained Officer Gerritsen a $4.2 Million share of the settlement.
Read the News Articles about this landmark win below, and the write-up for Streetfighter of the Year:
Judge: LAPD Officer’s Domestic Partner Can Collect Pension
Metropolitan-News: September 18, 2009
Same-Sex Partner Wins LAPD Pension
Daily Journal: September 18, 2009
LAPD officer Laura Gerritsen entitled to survivorship pension benefit from the death of her partner, LAPD officer Spree DeSha,
Proposition 8 and the Right to Marry: September 18, 2009
http://prop8legalcommentary.blogspot.com/2009/09/lapd-officer-laura-gerritsen-entitled.html
Finalist: CAOC Streetfighter of the Year: Gerritsen v. City of Los Angeles
http://christinacolemanlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/10caocAwards-Dinner-Book.pdf
https://www.caoc.org/index.cfm?pg=10AwardFinalists#Maki
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