Getting things done: Lambda

Nat´l co­ chair Cynthia Hyndman

by P.J. Engelbrecht

After 17 years in private legal practice, lately a partner with Chicago law firm Robinson Curley & Clayton, labor and commercial litigation specialist Cynthia H. Hyndman, Esq. made national lesbigay news last month.

Hyndman, 42, was elected co­ chair of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund´s 29­ member national board of directors at the group´s February meeting in Los Angeles. Co­ chair Donald M. Millinger, Esq. is a partner in Philadelphia firm Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers.

Lambda Legal Defense is the nation´s "oldest and largest [lesbigay] civil rights organization," turning 25 last year and boasting about 50 employees, and it is the only national LGBT group to maintain offices in Chicago, Hyndman pointed out during an Outlines phone interview March 15.

How Hyndman got involved in the Lambda organization illustrates the way of the philanthropic world: she knew someone. Specifically, she knew Kevin Cathcart, who headed a Boston gay group when Hyndman was ending "one very long year" spent in Boston in a failing relationship. In 1992, Gary, Indiana­ born Hyndman decided to return to her Midwestern roots and moved to Chicago. Cathcart moved on to Lambda, Hyndman moved back to Chicago. "People I knew at [his group] told him. ... He called me and said, ´now I´m going to suck you into Lambda´," she recalled.

And so he did, when the Midwest office opened a year later. "I was at a fundraiser for [the Illinois Federation for Human Rights] ... and I saw Pat [Logue] there," Hyndman said, reffering to Lambda´s Midwest managing attorney. She volunteered­first, to work "as a cooperating attorney on a lesbian foster care case," in early 1994.

The Midwest Lambda staff has burnished its reputation by scoring notable victories in recent years, under the legal leadership of Logue. Hyndman has been involved in several celebrated local cases.

"[Logue] and I did the ´Dancing Queens´ case," Hyndman said. Four men had been arrested for dancing together in a mostly straight Harwood Heights club. "We won. ... We sued them for money [and] got a favorable decision from the hearing officer ... and then we settled for a confidential amount."

She helped win a round against the state Department of Children and Family Services bureaucracy, too. A Champaign lesbian couple had been denied licensure as foster parents. Lambda lawyers "convinced the DCFS they were being stupid and got them licensed."

Hyndman contributed a friend­ of­ the­ court advisory brief in Wisconsin´s Nabozny case, as well. The brief was presented on behalf of several organizations, including Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Such cases may be especially close to Hyndman´s heart. She and her partner, Time magazine Midwest correspondent Wendy Cole, 39, are the parents of Rachel, a not­ so­ terrible but decidedly vocal 2­ year­ old, and they´re expecting another child in a few months.

"Our experience has been good," Hyndman said of lesbian parenting in Chicago, a city this "Midwestern girl" loves. Asked whether the new baby will be a boy or a girl, Hyndman replied slyly, "we don´t know ... one or the other." Either way, the proud moms will be busy.

Getting down to business

Hyndman´s day job diverges from her pro bono work. She described her law firm´s bailiwick as "very bizarre, an unusual specialty ... represent[ing] insolvent insurance companies in professional liability cases ... nationally." She´s a frequent flyer.

Yet she finds both legal arenas "as satisfying in different ways ... [and] a nice contrast." Hyndman enjoys the intellectual challenge of the convoluted insurance problems. The common ground she sees in commercial and civil rights litigations is "dealing with people who´ve been victimized."

As Lambda co­ chair, Hyndman´s responsibilities will run more to development than to advocacy. But it´s another challenge for which she´s clearly prepared.

She and Millinger will perform oversight, run meetings, control agenda items and participate on standing committees­Hyndman is assigned to Nominating and Administration & Finance. The Lambda Executive Committee ´meets´ monthly by conference call.

The entire Lambda board gathers three times yearly in cities where the group maintains an office: once in New York, once in Los Angeles (or Atlanta) and once in Chicago. So when recruiting board members, "you have to really be sensitive to the ability of people to fly around," Hyndman admits.

That is, serving on a major national board is not only a personal time commitment, but also a financial one. In several respects. "A lot of it´s, ´how are we gonna raise the money to meet the budget?´" the co­ chair said.

Private donations comprise over 90% of Lambda´s annual budget, raised through grants, galas and the crucial individual contributions, large and small. Lambda´s legal work is provided for free, unless they benefit from "fee shifting" after a favorable liability decision, and money raised in Chicago pretty much gets spent here.

The central task of fundraising involves "sort of putting your money where your mouth is ... [to] lead by example," said Hyndman. More importantly, the boardmembers must "know who our major donors are. ... Part of your duties ... are to get to know them.

"It´s not just people that give a lot of money that are important­it´s people who give at the $25 level, too ... [in an annual amount] meaningful to them." To develop relationships with donors both draws upon and helps build one´s own professional networks.

"I don´t golf! I´ve never golfed," Hyndman laughed, but she ´does´ Lambda´s "Ladies on the Links" golf fundraiser and family picnic every year anyhow. "It´s a way to reach out to the women´s community," she explained.

Because the board handles financial development, as well as policy decisions (three­ year strategic planning just got underway), Lambda legal staffers can devote their time to careful case selection and determined litigation on behalf of lesbigay civil rights.

Current Lambda initiatives include a nascent "elder law" project in New York, and several sodomy law challenges. Lambda submitted an amicus brief in the successful challenge to Georgia´s notorious ban, for example. The group is also involved in a host of HIV/AIDS discrimination cases and LGBT custody suits. Lesbigay equality under the law is the overarching goal.

"I think probably because I´m a lawyer, I have a lot more confidence in the legal system than the political system ... to pursue our rights," Hyndman mused. "When you have [legal] victories, they´re a little more difficult to take away."

Hyndman knows she is "supporting the pursuit of social change" through her Lambda efforts. "It´s something everybody in the community oughta be concerned about­it affects all of us."

"For my money, Lambda´s ... the best thing around," Hyndman declared shortly after a piping voice "summoned" the savvy lawyer and community benefactor to bedtime duties. No question, the energetic Hyndman was a smart leadership choice.

Lambda Legal Defense­ Midwest (312) 663­ 4413.

* Lambda Publications, The Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community,1115 W. Belmont 2D, Chicago, IL 60657; PH (773) 871-7610; FAX (773) 871-7609. See Outlines, Nightlines, Out Resource Guide, Clout! Business Report, Blacklines and En La Vida on the web at http://www.suba.com/~outlines/. E-mail feedback to outlines@suba.com!