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Comings & Goings
Wilson named managing partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips


The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].

Donna Wilson (Photo by Donna Wilson)
Congratulations to Donna Wilson, CEO and managing partner-elect at Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, LLP, an AmLaw 125 firm with offices from coast to coast. Upon being named Wilson said, “Being elected as Manatt’s next CEO and managing partner, and following in the footsteps of Bill Quicksilver, is an honor I hold in the highest regard. Manatt is a special place, inclusive and collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial with a focus on providing quality services and becoming essential to our clients. There’s something unique here. You can call it Manatt-itude, which is this sense of pride in who we are, where we came from and where we’re going. We’re proud of our colleagues, our clients, and our commitments. I am thrilled and privileged to be given the opportunity to lead such an impressive group of people, to continue building on our values and achieving our goals.”
Wilson is nationally recognized for her high-profile work on behalf of clients facing litigation and government enforcement actions, with a focus on both highly regulated industries and the privacy and data security space. Her extensive crisis and risk management experience, coupled with her broad subject matter knowledge and precedent-setting litigation experience, make her highly valued by in-house counsel, the C-level suite, and boards in preemptively mitigating risk, and navigating those risks that become full-blown exposure.
As the chair of Manatt’s privacy and data security business group and co-chair of its financial services practice, Wilson has been widely recognized for her leadership, most recently being selected again as one of the Top 100 Women Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and recognized as one of the Top 500 Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon 500. In addition, until her term as CEO and managing partner officially begins on July 1, 2019, she will continue to serve as a member of Manatt’s board of directors and the firm’s compensation committee. An active member of the LGBT Bar, Wilson is well known as an advocate for diversity and inclusion.
After law school, she clerked for the late Honorable David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Diego, as well as to the late Honorable Stanley S. Brotman of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Wilson is admitted to practice in the state of California and the District of Columbia and to practice before the Supreme Court of California, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Court, Southern, Eastern, Central and Northern Districts of California.
She received her bachelor’s at the George Washington University and her J.D. from the University of Virginia, where she was also Order of the Coif Member, Managing Board, Virginia Law Review.
Congratulations also to Ben Finzel whose firm RENEWPR won its first public affairs award. They won a Cleanie Award on behalf of their client the Carbon Capture Coalition.
This marks the inaugural year for the The Cleanie Awards. The program is the first comprehensive awards program exclusive to the cleantech industry. They set out to recognize innovation excellence, business leadership and superior outreach campaigns.
The Cleanies aspire to identify the unsung movers and shakers in the industry, from the top of the Fortune 100 list to hot startups, pioneering individuals and high impact advocates. They believe this recognition program will generate visibility for innovators and disruptors who are creating life (and planet) changing solutions.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours

D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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