Tanya Neiman

Tanya Marie Neiman (June 28, 1949 – February 27, 2006)[1] was an American lawyer and activist based in San Francisco. For over 20 years, she was director of the Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco, now known as the Justice & Diversity Center, "one of the largest and most innovative legal services programs in the country to serve lower-income people".[2]

Tanya Neiman
BornJune 28, 1949
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedFebruary 27, 2006 (aged 56)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
OccupationLawyer

Early life and education

Neiman was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in California, the daughter of Max Neiman and Helen Lamaga Neiman..[3][4] She graduated from John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in 1966,[5] earned a bachelor's degree in economics, philosophy, and politics from Mills College in 1970,[6] and earned a Juris Doctor degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.[1]

Career

Neiman taught at Boalt Hall as a young woman. She joined the state Public Defender's Office in 1976. She became director of the Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP) of the Bar Association of San Francisco in 1982,[7][8] and, in her long tenure as the program's head, is credited with turning the VLSP, now known as the Justice & Diversity Center (JDC), into "one of the largest and most innovative legal services programs in the country to serve lower-income people".[2] She helped to found the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, the Domestic Violence Consortium, and the Eviction Defense Collaborative.[2][9]

Neiman was honored by the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) in 1996 with their Kutak-Dodds Prize. The State Bar of California gave her the Loren Miller Legal Services Award in 1998.[10][11] She received a Frontline Award from the ACLU of Northern California in 2005. Just before she died in 2006, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bay Area Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.[2]

Publications
  • "Teaching Woman Her Place: The Role of Public Education in the Development of Sex Roles" (1973)[12]
  • "A Community-Based Response to Welfare Reform" (1997)[13]
  • "Creating Community by Implementing Holistic Approaches to Solving Clients' Problems" (1999)[14]
  • "Legal Services Leadership on Job Development: The San Francisco Experience" (2000)[15]

Personal life and legacy

Neiman was known for wearing suits and bowties. In the 1970s, she had a longterm relationship with Mary Carolyn Morgan, who became the first openly lesbian judge in the United States in 1981, when she was appointed to the San Francisco Municipal Court by Governor Jerry Brown.[16] Neiman and her partner Brett Mangels married at San Francisco City Hall in 2004. They were together for 24 years when Neiman died in 2006, from ovarian cancer, at the age of 56.[2] Flags at San Francisco City Hall flew at half-staff after her death, and mayor Gavin Newsom said that "San Francisco has lost a great humanitarian and altruist".[9]

The Tanya Neiman Building, home of the JDC's Homeless Advocacy Project, is named in her memory,[7][17] as was the Tanya Neiman Pro Bono Professional of the Year Award, given by the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals.[18]

References
  1. "Tanya Neiman Obituary". San Francisco Chronicle. February 25, 2007. Retrieved June 11, 2022 – via Legacy.com.
  2. Szymanski, Zak. "Legal activist Tanya Neiman dies at 56" Bay Area Reporter (March 2, 2006), via GLBT Historical Society, Online Searchable Obituary Database.
  3. Tanya M Neiman in the 1950 United States Federal Census, from Ancestry.com.
  4. "Helen Neiman Obituary". Los Angeles Daily News, via Legacy.com. January 24, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  5. "Honored by Communities, Schools for Top Achievements". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. June 21, 1966. p. 27. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Protests Subdued at Mills Ceremony". The San Francisco Examiner. June 1, 1970. p. 13. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Tanya Neiman's Spirit Lives On in JDC's Work". The Bar Association of San Francisco. February 26, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  8. Laird, Cynthia (July 31, 1997). "Lesbian director of legal aid group to be recognized by American Bar Assn". Bay Area Reporter. p. 5. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. Egelko, Bob (March 1, 2006). "Tanya Neiman – S.F. Bar's head of legal aid for the poor". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  10. "Neiman receives bar's top honor for helping others". California Bar Journal Archive. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  11. "Past Recipients of the Loren Miller Legal Services Award". California Lawyers Association. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  12. "Hastings Law Journal | Vol 24 | Iss 6". UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  13. Neiman, Tanya (1997–1998). "A Community-Based Response to Welfare Reform". Clearinghouse Review. 31: 165.
  14. Neiman, Tanya (1999–2000). "Creating Community by Implementing Holistic Approaches to Solving Clients' Problems". Clearinghouse Review. 33: 19.
  15. Neiman, Tanya (1999–2000). "Legal Services Leadership on Job Development: The San Francisco Experience". Clearinghouse Review. 33: 581.
  16. Kang, K. Connie (August 28, 1981). "Lesbian judge: a 'momentous event' for every homosexual". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 28. Retrieved June 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "HAP Celebrates Tanya Neiman and Friends Who Have Made it Strong" San Francisco Attorney (Fall 2015): 6–7.
  18. "Pro Bono Counsel and Director Kelly Tautges Honored With 'Tanya Neiman Pro Bono Professional of the Year Award'". Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
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