“THERE AREN’T A WHOLE LOT OF LAWYERS AVAILABLE WHO ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE IN POLITY (GOVERNANCE OF THE CHURCH) AND ARE WILLING TO WORK PRO BONO.” - TIMOTHY CAHN
KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP 30
OVER THE LAST DECADE, ATTOR- NEY TIMOTHY CAHN HAS TAKEN ON 15 PRO BONO CASES CON- CERNING THE RIGHTS OF LGBT PASTORS AND MEMBERS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA. THIS NICHE WAS NOT CREATED BY CHANCE. As a young openly gay man Cahn faced discrimination in the church, and now that he is able to make a diff erence he has seized the opportunity. As a partner in Kilpatrick Townsend &
Stockton LLP’s San Francisco offi ce, Cahn is typically busy advising paying clients on matters of litigation and corporate counseling. Still, he always makes time for ecclesiastical court cases that might help gays and lesbians, should they choose, to enjoy full and equal membership in the church. His most recent pro bono case was that of the Rev. Erwin Barron, a Presbyterian minister whose ordained status came under attack after he married his husband in California in 2008 (during the window when same-sex couples could legally marry in the state).
At one time a pastor in Minnesota, Barron
moved to San Francisco. When he requested that his church credentials be transferred from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities area to his new jurisdiction, Barron encountered problems. Another church member who had learned of Barron’s marriage fi led accusations against him, claiming that he had violated the church constitu- tion. He urged that Barron’s transfer be blocked. It was at this time that Barron reached out
to Cahn through the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, a group working toward a truly inclusive church. T e case, which lasted more than three years, was tried by a presbytery panel of six at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Minn. Cahn argued that Barron’s marriage was not an ecclesiastical marriage, but a civil one, and civil marriages were not barred under the church constitution. Ultimately, the trial resulted in a split decision (3-3). Had Barron been convicted by the court’s mandatory two- thirds guilty vote, he could have been defrocked. Instead, Barron remains ordained, and his creden- tials have been duly transferred.
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MARCH/APRIL 2012
MCCA.COM
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