In recognition of more than three decades of work in the field of social justice, on October 5, 2017, Leslie Levy was given the prestigious Fay Stender Award. The award, which was established by the California Women Lawyers in 1982, recognizes a “feminist attorney who, like Fay Stender, is committed to the representation of women, disadvantaged groups and unpopular causes, and whose courage, zest for life and demonstrated ability to effect change as a single individual make her a role model for women attorneys.” Before a crowd of more than 400 people, Leslie was described as a “badass” who is fierce, strong and compassionate, and was praised for her efforts to “make the world a better place, a safer place, and a place where equality of opportunity and treatment is guaranteed to everyone.”
In accepting the award, Leslie graciously thanked those who had inspired and encouraged her, and spoke about her work:
“I stand in front of you humbled by this honor, to be recognized by an organization started by and grown by women for women. And I suspect this is a first for the org. to have given this award to a 62 year old jewish atheist lesbian feminist vegan sea kayaking lawyer. I could be wrong. . . . ”
“The real heros in my story are my clients and all the clients that have taken a stand against injustice. None of the things I have achieved would have be possible without the clients who have given me the honor of representing them. It is a gift. And whether you represent a defendant, or a Plaintiff or are a judge, I hope we all seek to have compassion for those who dare to take personal risks to use the legal process to seek change.”
“How hard it must be to step into a system that uses a language that is foreign to our everyday life, with people that are unfamiliar, with rules they did not make and may not understand, and to be asked, actually demanded to expose the most personal of aspect of theirs lives and have to trust the system and strangers to do the right thing. It is a most courageous act.”
“When I think back on my career, I realize that I learned an early lesson from two clients. It was at a time when disability rights was fighting to be seen as a civil rights issue. These two women, who were blind, came to me shortly after I started practicing. They had fallen off the platform on BART because of its design and lack of safety features. They did not seek simple compensation for their injuries but they sought change that would make it unlikely that others would suffer the same injuries. Together we argued that equal access meant equally safe access. Those yellow raised dots at the edge of the platform, their installation made “equal access, i.e. equally safe access, a reality for the community of people who are blind.”
“As I turned more of my practice to focus on gender issues, it became clear that equality for women meant dealing with issues of safety, of violence against women. Simply opening a door to women, without assuring that they are not subject to gender based violence was not equality. I realized that the pervasive violence against women in all its forms undermined our attempts at equality. Rather than focus on one area of law, such as housing or employment, I focused on trying to redress violence against women across the many arenas in which it occurred.”
“I remember well the dozen women came to my office after repeated attempts to have agencies and politicians and lawyers address the sexual harassment they were enduring from the apartment manager. They were repeatedly told that there were no laws against it. Yes, they had access to housing, but they did not have equally safe access. When they came to me, they too weren’t simply seeking compensation, they wanted change, they wanted safety, they wanted recognition that this wrong, was illegal. Together we changed the attitudes of the EEOC and DFEH, created law and raised the public awareness on the issue. Equal access to housing means housing without sexual harassment.”
“In recent years I have focused on discrimination of all sorts in employment. However, I still maintain a focus on gender violence wherever the law has the ability to redress it. I cannot emphasize the courage and risks taken by those women who speak out about and against sexual harassment and assault be it in the context of a lawsuit, a blog or even in a private conversation.
“There is much important discussion about minimizing our ecological footprint. But with regard to social change, with regard to creating equal rights for women of all races and classes, ages, abilities, our discussion should be about maximizing our social change footprint. The risks we take, the boldness with which we act, all define us and the world we seek to create.”
“Nora Ephron, in a commencement address, put it well: ‘Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women.'”
“In closing I would like to share the saying on a postcard that appeared one day on the refrigerator door at our office: Be the kind of women who when her feet hit the floor in the morning the Devil says, ‘Oh crap, She’s up again.’”
