The Office of the Appellate Defender hosted its 26th annual “First Monday in October” gala and mock Supreme Court argument at NYU on Monday. Arguments in Altitude Express v. Zarda, which asks whether Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, were presented by Faith Gay, a partner at Selendy & Gay, and John Gleeson, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and former Eastern District judge. They were honored with the Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy.

Other honorees and participants were, left to right, Fayola McIntosh, a former OAD client who received the Beacon of Hope Award; Tony West, senior vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary at Uber, who received the Counsel for Justice Award and served as chief justice; Nicolas Bourtin, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and incoming chair of the OAD board of directors; Gay; Sean Hecker, a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink and outgoing chair of the OAD board of directors; Gleeson; and Peter Simmons, a partner at Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson who accepted the Gideon Award on behalf of the firm.