Brenda Feigen has been an outspoken proponent of same-sex marriage for years. In the process, she has guided many lesbians and gay men through the maze of domestic partnership arrangements, civil unions and, at last, marriage. (Since 1970, she has been admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts, since 1971 admitted in New York and since 2000 in California, three of the states that today sanction same-sex marriages.) Ms. Feigen helps couples whatever their marital status in this ever-changing and often bewildering landscape. When necessary, Ms. Feigen has facilitated the termination of those relationships as well, following her clients' wishes while at the same time aiming for fairness. Termination of a Domestic Partnership generally is similarly to obtaining a Divorce for a married couple. Again, Ms. Feigen works in concert with investigators whenever it makes sense to do so.

Brenda Feigen wrote a comprehensive article for the Harvard Women’s Law Journal on the subject of same-sex marriage. Not only is she an outspoken advocate for it, but she brings to the issues raised by same-sex relationships a passionate advocacy for what’s fair and possible. She is also in the forefront of analyzing what will – and should – happen when states like California fully convert from domestic partnerships to marriage, as California recently did. It now seems virtually certain that more states will adopt same-sex marriage for their residents but the immediate present is still cloaked in confusion as some same-sex couples still must enter into Domestic Partnerships rather than Marriage until their states treat all their citizens equally. As popular opinion grows rapidly for same-sex marriage, as it has in the past few years, Ms. Feigen remains optimistic that the laws across the country will change for the better. She also remains fully cognizant of what legal challenges will arise for lawyers who want to be sure, as Ms. Feigen does, that their clients are fully protected. Feigen also help couples who relocate from a marriage-recognition state to one that doesn't (yet) acknowledge same-sex marriage adjust to that change.

Finally, she anticipates taht Section 1 of DOMA (allowing states not to recognize valid marriages performed in other states) will be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, as Section 2 recently was.

To read Ms. Feigen's article, blogs and postss on the subject of Same Sex Marriage, please see the Articles page (Click here)