Selendy Gay founding partner Faith E. Gay was named to Crain's New York Business' List of Notable LGBTQIA+ Leaders for 2023, a highly competitive list of LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers selected for their professional achievements and commitment to equality.
Professionals named to the list have made unique contributions to advancing equality within the workplace and as community leaders. Crain’s recognized Faith for her longstanding commitment to expanding opportunity for women, people of color, and especially LGBTQIA+ people as exemplified in the founding of Selendy Gay, and in the wide range of public advocacy she has chosen to pursue.
“The pursuit of fairness, equality, and justice are the calls I’ve sought to answer throughout my career,” said Faith about her inclusion on this year’s list. “I’m proud to be named alongside these remarkable professionals who share my belief that advocacy for our community is both a privilege and an obligation.”
At Selendy Gay, more than twenty percent of the partners and associates identify as LGBTQIA+. By comparison, only three percent of attorneys identify as LGBTQIA+ at BigLaw firms, generally. The firm is committed to building a wholly inclusive professional community, and partnering with organizations that advance the equal rights of LGBTQIA+ people. In one recent example of Selendy Gay’s pro bono work, the firm successfully defended a ban enacted by New Jersey on the practice of so-called sexual orientation change efforts or conversion therapies on minors by state-licensed professionals.
In addition to securing significant victories for commercial clients in the complex civil litigation and corporate defense and investigation spaces, Faith regularly takes on challenging public interest and pro bono cases. Most recently, she represented members of the American Federation of Teachers in a class action win that secured critical student debt relief for teachers, nurses, first responders, social workers, and others who have dedicated their careers to public service. In April 2022, Faith joined, as co-lead trial counsel, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in representing U.S. Capitol Police Officers seeking to hold former President Donald Trump and extremist groups responsible for their acts of violence in the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Ms. Gay was recently named a Litigation Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Corporate Counsel, has been a repeat recipient of Crain’s Most Notable Women in Law and the LawDragon 500 awards, and received the prestigious Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy from the Office of the Appellate Defender. Earlier in her career, Ms. Gay twice received the Director’s Award from the United States Department of Justice for excellence in trial advocacy.
Faith serves on the Executive Committee of the Law Board Northwestern University School of Law. She serves on the boards of the Campaign Legal Center, the Clark Foundation, the Public Theater and Union Theological Seminary. Faith is an ordained Presbyterian minister and a graduate of the Yale Divinity School. Faith and her wife, Francesca Zambello, have established an endowed chair in Social Justice at Northwestern University School of Law.
