Cleary Gottlieb Secures Critical Ruling in ‘Conversion Therapy’ Litigation

Cleary Gottlieb, along with co-counsel the Southern Poverty Law Center and Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC, obtained a major decision on behalf of plaintiffs in a consumer fraud lawsuit against Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH) and JONAH’s co-defendants.

A New Jersey Superior Court judge has ruled that misrepresenting that homosexuality is a disorder in marketing conversion therapy services violates the state’s consumer protection laws – a devastating ruling for the conversion therapy industry, which claims to “convert” people from gay to straight. The ruling marks the first time a court in the United States has found that homosexuality is not a disease or a disorder and that it is fraudulent for conversion therapists to make such a claim.

The Cleary Gottlieb pro bono team is led by partner Jim Bromley and associate Lina Bensman. The team also includes associates Tom Kessler, Peter Dubrowski, Lauren Restrepo, Adam Olin, and senior attorneys Jodi Erickson and Mike Bohner. All lawyers are based in New York, except for Bohner, who is based in Washington.

For more details on Judge Bariso’s ruling, please see the Southern Poverty Law Center’s official announcement.