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The New Jersey State Bar Association’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender [LGBT] Rights Section named Asbury Park’s Daniel Weiss this year’s winner of its Lifetime Service Achievement Award, accoording to a news release from the organization.

Weiss, an immigration lawyer who helped form the section and served as an association trustee, will receive the award at the section’s Third Annual Dinner at 6 p.m. on April 30. The event will be held at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick and will feature a keynote speech from Lawrence Lustberg, of Gibbons, P.C., who was co-counsel for plaintiffs in the landmark case of Garden State Equality v. Dow.

Weiss’s work in the LGBT field has been extensive. He and his husband, John, were the first named individual plaintiffs in Garden State Equality v. Dow, the case that ultimately led to marriage equality in New Jersey. In addition to his involvement in the litigation, he also advocated for marriage equality in the statehouse.

Weiss has dedicated himself to advancing LGBT rights, according to Association Second Vice President Thomas Prol. “As a champion of equality, he has led us by a fearless drive to fulfill his personal vision of a better world not only for LGBT people, but for all people,” Prol said in the release.

In 2003, “Danny,” as he is known to his friends and colleagues, helped found the LGBT Rights Section and served as its first co-chair. Weiss served on the association’s Board of Trustees from 2006 through 2013, the release stated.

Weiss is admitted to practice in state and federal courts. He has been a frequent lecturer at the New Jersey Judicial College, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the Office of Attorney Ethics [OAE]; and in the community.

He is a past chair of the District IX Ethics Committee and is a special master for the OAE. He sits on the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Minority Concerns and the District IX Fee Arbitration Committee. He received the Founders Award from the American Immigration Lawyers of America (AILA) in 2005 in recognition of his national and state leadership in LGBT rights. He is the immediate past liaison between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and AILA-NJ and prior liaison for the Regional Asylum Office.

The association’s LGBT Rights Section is dedicated to addressing the issues that are of importance to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the legal profession. It advocates for and promotes the civil and human rights of the LGBT community, and works to advance professional opportunities for LGBT attorneys and judges.

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