Leslie I. Jennings-Lax

Leslie I. Jennings-Lax

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Biography

Leslie has always been impassioned by the concepts of justice and equity. Prior to attending law school, Leslie obtained her Master of Arts in teaching from Johns Hopkins University and taught high school English in the Bridgeport CT alternative schools. Leslie left teaching high school upon receiving a full scholarship to Quinnipiac University School of Law. There she pursued her interests in constitutional law and civil rights, particularly with respect to LGBTQ+ equality. After law school and while clerking at the Connecticut Appellate Court, Leslie started teaching Law and Gender at QUSL and also commenced writing and lecturing in areas concerning LGBTQ+ rights, specifically marriage equality and parentage recognition. As a result of these interests, when Leslie entered the private practice of law, she pursued a career in family law, where she could continue advocating on these legal issues. Although Leslie’s practice touches upon many areas of family law, including more traditional areas of custody, support, divorce, prenuptial agreements, and appellate law, Leslie also continues to include in her practice those areas of particular interest to the LGBTQ+ community, such as surrogacy, step and coparent adoption, and parentage recognition.

Leslie is active in the legal community, sitting on the board of editors of the CT Bar Journal, engaged as a fellow of the CT Bar Foundation and on the executive board of the LGBTQ section of the Connecticut Bar Association. Leslie also continues to teach at Quinnipiac University School of Law and remains an active author and lecturer in family law issues.

Leslie and her wife, Stephanie, have three human children and three fur babies and reside in Trumbull, CT. They enjoy traveling, reading and regularly completing the daily NYT word games.

Bar Admissions

• Connecticut, 2004
• Supreme Court of the United States of America, 2010

Education

Quinnipiac University School of Law, Connecticut

• Juris Doctorate – 2004
• Honors: magna cum laude

Trinity College

• B.A., Bachelor of Arts – 1998

Johns Hopkins University

• Master of Arts in Teaching – 2000

Published Works

• Earning Capacity in Light of Tanzman v. Meurer,3 Connecticut Family Lawyer 1 (2013)
• Lexis Nexis Connecticut Family Law Practice Guide, authored chapters on Marriage, Paternity, Adoption, Surrogacy, and Same Sex Dissolution Issues (2013)
• Issue Edition Connecticut Family Lawyer, Premarital Agreements Issue, Summer 2012
• Navigating Issues in Same Sex Marriages, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships, created for and distributed by the American Bar Association for August 5, 2011
• Successfully Representing Non-Traditional Families: Where the Courts and the Legislature Stand, created for and distributed by the National Business Institute for March 24,2010
• Kerrigan v. Department of Public Health: A Synopsis, Connecticut Lawyer, Volume 19,/Ìllumber 6, February 2009
• Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health: A Synopsis and Effects, New Haven County Bar Association Marble Columns, Vol XIV, No. 2 January/February 2009
• Parentage in a Post-Civil Union State, T Connecticut Family Lawyer 3 (2006)
• Co-Editor, Connecticut Family Lawyer, Issue l, December, 2006
• Surrogacy: The Law in Connecticut,T9 Connecticut Bar journal 59 (2005)
• Extraterritorial Effect of Civil Unions and the Dissolution of Them, co-authored by Louise Truax, created for and distributed in conjunction with Civil Unions: Making and Breaking Them, sponsored by the Family Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association. September 30, 2005
• Is the United States Falling Behind?: The Legal Recognition of Post-Operative Transsexual’ Acquired Sex in the United States and Abroad, T Quinnipiac Health LJ. 123 (2003) (published as Leslie I. Lax)
• Together But Not As The Internal Revenue Code Envisions” Part II: Tux and Estate Planning.for Same Sex and Transgender Couples ìn the Age of DOMA, Sponsored by the Domestic Relations Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation. October 1,2004, Panelist on Constitutional Implication of the Defense of Marriage Act
• Recognizing Same Sex Couples: Should Connecticut Change the Law?, Co-sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Association and UNITY, Quinnipiac University School of Law’s Gay/Straight Alliance. March 16, 2004, Moderator and Planning Committee Member

Classes / Seminars

• Speaker, Crossing State Lines With A Same Sex Marriage Post-Windsor (Webinar), sponsored by the American Bar Association, January 21, 201 5
• Speaker, Crossing State Lines with A Same Sex Marriage Post-Windsor, sponsored by the American Bar Association, October 16, 2014
• Panelist, Nuts & Bolts: Family law, sponsored by the New Haven Country Bar Association, April 16, 2013
• Panelist, Tux Implications of Divorce, sponsored by Quinnipiac University Family and Juvenile Law Society , April 2, 2012
• Speaker, Navigating Issues in Same Sex Marriages, Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships, sponsored by the American Bar Association, August 5, 2011
• Panelist on the issues of legislative advances and case law, as well as the issues of adoption and surrogacy, Successfully Representing Non-Traditional Families, sponsored by the National Business Institute, March 24, 2010,
• Panelist, Representing Families in Pro Bono Custody Cases, Connecticut Pro Bono Network, Connecticut Bar Association, October 20, 2009
• Invited speaker, Civil Unions in Connecticut, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Connecticut Chapter, October 17, 2005
• Panelist on Adoption, Surrogacy and In Vitro Fertilization/Artificial Insemination; Panelist on Custody and Visitation, Civil Anions: Making and Breaking Them, Sponsored by Family Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, September 30, 2005
• Adjunct professor, Quinnipiac University School of Law, Law and Gender

Honors and Awards

• Rising Star in Connecticut Magazine
• New England Super Lawyers Magazine

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Board of Editors, Connecticut Bar Journal (2009 – present)
• Board of Editors, Connecticut Family Lawyer (2006 – present)
• Co-Chair, Planning Committee for Symposium on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Youth sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Foundation (2013)
• American Bar Association, Family Law Section (2006 – present)
• Connecticut Bar Association, Family Law Section, Executive Committee Member, Amicus Committee Member (2006 – present)
• Connecticut Bar Association, LGBT Section, Executive Committee Member (2012 – present), Education Liaison to CBA (2015 – present)
• Triangle Community Center, Board of Directors (2014 – Present)
• Fairfield County Bar Association (2013)
• New Haven County Bar Association, Family Law Section (2006 – 2013)
• Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, Policy Board (2008 – 2013)
• National LGBT Bar Association (2004 – present)
• Connecticut Bar Association, 2006 to Present
• American Bar Association, 2006 to Present
• The National LGBT Bar Association, 2004 to Present
• Fairfield County Bar Association, 2013 to Present

Pro Bono Activities

• Triangle Community Center, Board of Directors, 2014 to Present
• Connecticut Wornen’s Education and Legal Fund, Policy Board, 2008 to 2013

Languages

• English