Litigation

We take on a small number of cases that offer courts opportunities to establish new precedents. Our impact litigation work focuses on defending and lifting up transgender and nonbinary individuals who have limited access to legal services and who face intersecting forms of discrimination, including due to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic class, geography, and lack of access to benefits and services. We also bring cases on behalf of clients who come to us through our Name Change Project and our Trans Health Project. 

For twenty years, the attorneys and legal workers at Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund worked in the courts to pursue and protect the rights of transgender and nonbinary people. Many of those cases have led to precedent-setting victories, including expanding access to insurance coverage for trans healthcare, changing policies to reduce violence against trans and nonbinary people in jail, removing barriers to court-ordered name changes, and protecting the rights of trans and gender nonconforming people to be free from discrimination related to using public restrooms. Impact litigation at A4TE will leverage this experience to continue bringing pathbreaking trans rights cases. 

Legal Assistance Inquiries

We generally cannot assist people seeking advice or representation in individual cases. If you need legal or other assistance, please go to the Trans Health Project, Name Change Project, or the Trans Legal Services Directory. 

• If you need help with a legal issue and cannot afford an attorney, visit lawhelp.org for self-help resources and information about legal service providers.
• If you need help with an employment matter, visit the National Employment Lawyers Association directory.
• If you or a loved one is in jail and in need of bail assistance, visit the directory of community bail funds.
• If you are facing criminal charges related to trans healthcare, visit Transgender Law Center's Trans Health Legal Fund. 
• For other legal matters, try your local bar association's referral service, the Transgender Law Center’s Helpdesk, or the National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Helpline.

If you are experiencing violence, please consult the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

• If you are experiencing thoughts about self-harm, please call 998 or contact the Trans Lifeline or The Trevor Project.