![]() ![]() But if you’re assigned here by the federal government, you can’t just up and leave-not if you are on a military base, and you are part of that process.” “There had been some individuals who were against same-sex marriage,” remembers Holland, “who thought-if you don’t like what Tennessee has to offer in terms of marriage recognition, well then, just leave the state. The two had married in New York in 2011, but when DeKoe, a Sergeant First Class and full-time reservist in the Army Reserves, was stationed outside of Memphis, they were relocated to a state in which their marriage was not recognized. Holland worked closely with the Memphis plaintiffs, Ijpe DeKoe and Thomas Kostura. Haslam, made its way through the Sixth Circuit Court, was consolidated with three other cases from around the country, and set for review by the Supreme Court under the name Obergefell v. She came to the case in 2013 when she teamed up with fellow attorneys Abby Rubenfeld and Regina Lambert, and with the support of the National Center for Lesbian Rights undertook to challenge the lack of marriage equality in Tennessee. Hodges, the 2015 landmark civil rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Constitution. Holland is most well known for her work on Obergefell v. The work that has come out of that conference has begun to change the legal landscape of Memphis, through holistic practices like Holland & Associates PC and collaborative legal organizations like the Memphis Collaborative Alliance. ![]() Her enthusiasm for the good that holistic law practice can bring both attorneys and clients led her to spearhead a 2007 regional conference, titled Lawyers as Peacemakers, Lawyers as Problemsolvers, where members of the greater Memphis legal community spent three days exploring the possibilities of collaborative law, restorative justice, therapeutic jurisprudence, transformative mediation, holistic law, and problem- solving courts. And I feel like if I can do that every day, that’s a win.”įor Maureen, it was not enough to hold this philosophy alone. I’m very enthusiastic about that, and Memphis provides an opportunity to practice in the area of law that I really enjoy and yet also practice in the way I enjoy practicing law. I love using my education to help others advance social causes and social justice. I love helping the individuals that our law firm helps. I love being a civil rights employment lawyer. That is where she is able to apply her philosophy every day. Hodges, but her favorite area of law is civil rights employment law. Holland is most widely known for her work on Obergefell v. These days she works to bring respect, humanity, a sense of interconnectedness, healing, teaching, and service into every case. Holland has a deep respect for the power of naming things, and so she changed her business cards to read “Holistic Attorney”-an announcement of her intent to the world-and that title has been central to her practice ever since. She wanted to approach the practice of law in a manner that was focused on problem solving. She wanted to practice law with a focus on the way each decision and aspect of legal practice impacted the client and the community. Though she was a successful attorney in a thriving private practice, she was not content to address each of her cases as a mere legal dispute separate from the individuals and communities in which it arose. Holland was developing a philosophy of law. By Sarah Rutledge Fischer | photo by Joan Allison ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |