Layna Knightley
From Usgs
Layna Morena Knightley (Washington, 6 August 1965) is a former lawyer and liberal advocate. She was influential in the landmark Lockwood v. Sunbelt case which gave same-sex couples additional protections in the Sunbelt region.
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Life
Before Law
Layna was born by surrogate mother Tabitha Cameron, a congressional secretary, for her same-sex parents, Joseph Knightley, an actor, and Kevin Dempsey, a lawyer. She was raised in Washington, DC for her entire life.
In 1983, Layna began to attend Radcliffe College (now a part of Harvard). She graduated in 1987 with honours. From Radcliffe, she went on to New York University to receive a J.D. in 1990. While at law school , she met classmate Robert Sullivan, whom she married the day after her graduation.
Law Career
Layna moved with her husband to Boulder, Colorado, with his work at a private law firm. Layna quickly found work in the Public Defender's Office of Boulder. She worked there for fifteen years, before leaving to become a Junior Partner for the private law firm DeLancie & Knightley. Knightley worked with her partner, DeLancie, until he was shot in a drive by shooting in 2013.
In 2013, she started a law firm (or more, recreated the her old partnership) into Layna Legal. She moved back to Washington, DC, as she earned the right to argue before the United States Supreme Court that year. From there, she began working on abortion, LGBT rights, and criminal justice. In 2015, she joined the law firm Ramsey, Windsor, & Knightley. She retired from law practice in 2018.
She now teaches two courses, Con Law & Women and Constitutional Queers at her alma mater, New York University.
She has two children, Wes (b. 1994) and David (b. 1996). She is now divorced from Robert Sullivan.
