Ellis v. Rodas
Jan 01, 2015OUTCOME: The Court held that California had jurisdiction over the civil union partnership, granted termination and spousal support with arrears, plus over $9,000 in attorney's fees.
International same-sex marriage with spousal support. The question in this case was whether California law recognized "permanent partner status" as defined in the Republic of Colombia as "substantially ... equivalent" to a domestic partnership. Petitioner-client was requesting termination of his same-sex civil union recorded in Colombia, along with the right to spousal support. Ms. Alkire worked with LGBTQ attorneys in Bogota, Colombia to define a fluid international legal concept (same-sex domestic partnerships did not exist in Colombia and civil union rights were in major flux) and represented client in a long-cause hearing in Alameda County, CA.
