18- OITM april 2001 Good legal advice can make all the difference. V Langrock Sperry & Wool offers the_ services of 22 lawyers with over 300 years combined experience in all areas of the law —— including two lesbian attorneys with special expertise serving the legal needs of the g/l/b/t/q community. SUSAN MURRAY & BETH ROBINSON With offices in Middlebury and Burlington Middlebury (802) 388-6356 Burlington (802) 864-0217 . smurray@langrock.com brobinson@langrock.com Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP ATTORNEYS AT LAW Serving the Financial Needs of Gay Men and Lesbians At American Express Financial Advisors, we want to make our commitment to gay men and lesbians clear. Just as we have extended domestic partner benefits to all our lesbian and gay employees worldwide, it is our goal to provide sound financial advice specifically tailored for the unique issues affecting our lesbian and gay clients. Sound financial planning for: 0 investments 0 Estate Planning 0 Tax Management 0 Risk Protection 0 Retirement 0 Domestic Partners Call today‘ for your complimentary consultation. eovnsss ® Financial Advisors American Express Financial Advisors Inc. 300 Interstate Corporate Center, Suite 301 Williston, VT 05495 802.872.2775 800.267.5044 Irene Boire, Ext. 243 Chad DuBois, Ext. 209 © 1998 American Express Financial Corporation It may have seemed abstract last year as we recited the litany of legal protections denied same-sex couples: “ social security survivor bene- fits, exemption from the prop- erty transfer tax, the ability to sue for wrongful death ...” A horrific story from San Francisco drives home the sig- nificance of that last legal pro- tection. Diane Whipple was a popu- lar lacrosse coach (and two- time All-American) at a small Catholic college near San Francisco. She was also a les- bian, and lived "with Sharon Smith, her partner of seven years. Both in their mid-thir- ties, and avid runners, Smith and Whipple looked forward to many happy, healthy years together. A That all changed on January 26. Diane Whipple opened the door to their sixth-floor apart- ment to find herself rushed by the neighbors’ vicious dogs. The details of the attack are unclear, but in the end, Diane Whipple was dead, her throat torn out and the hallway apart- ment soaked in blood. The dogs, it turned out, had originally been purchased on » behalf of two prisoners serving life sentences who put up the money so Janet Coumbs, a woman who regularly visited one of them, could buy Presa Canarios dogs, breed them, and sell them. The plan was for Coumbs to repay the convicts as she sold the puppies. Presa Canarios dogs are apparently a fierce breed, often trained to fight other dogs. By January 1999, Coumbs had bought four dogs. One of the dogs, Bane, grew difficult to “control. No fence could hold him, and Coumbs had to keep him chained ‘in the yard. Wrongful Death Legal Briefs By Susan Murray &‘Beth Robinson Another dog, Hera, -killed Coumb’s daughter’s kitten and, along with Bane, killed sheep and chickens on the farm. At some point, one of the convicts asked other friends, attorneys ‘Robert’ Noel and Marjorie Knoller, to take the dogs from Coumbs. Coumbs claimed that when they picked up the animals in the spring of 2000 she warned them that the animals were vicious and had killed some of her livestock. Nonetheless, by September, Bane and Hera were living with Knoller and Noel in their San Francisco apartment, down the hall from Whipple and Smith. Some neighbors have reported that they lived in fear of these dogs, and that Bane was known as the “Dog of Death.” Apparently, one of the dogs bit Whipple in the hand.in December. Although it looks like these dogs may have had a known history of vicious behavior, Noel and Knoller failed to restrain them enough to prevent the brutal attack on Diane Whipple, and her tragic death. 2 Under these circumstances, there is no doubt that if Smith and Whipple were legally mar- ried, Smith would have the right to sue Noel and Knoller for wrongful death. But they weren’t married because same- sex couples in California are not allowed to marry. They weren’t even joined in civil union. In the eyes of Califomia’s law_s - as presently interpreted - Smith is assumed to be a legal stranger to Whipple, with no more right or standing to bring a claim in connection with her death than a random person off the street. (If this had happened in Vermont, and Smith and V Laurie S. Rosenzweig Attorney at Law 18 South Main Street, P.O. Box 1455, ' Rutland, VT 05701 802-786-2251 e-mail: Sabu234@AOL.com Real Estate, Wills &Trusts, General Practice .Q.O' %°+'i§lc’ /\z\/\ ‘90,)/,’_) 60‘) O’? 1,) ("rah Mb“ BLACKWO OD 62% 0% A ASSOCIATES, PC *9» atttorney: blacl