06/23/2026
Before Pride Month comes to a close, we want to share a story that means a great deal to us.
On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges and made marriage equality the law of the land. Like many landmark rulings, it started with one person and one very human request. Jim Obergefell simply wanted his name listed as the surviving spouse on the man he had loved for more than two decades.
One of the attorneys who helped make that ruling possible, David Codell, was a high school classmate of Tom Misteli. David's work on a Tennessee case folded into Obergefell helped secure the freedom to marry for couples across the country. He passed away earlier this year.
A decade later, every family can decide for themselves who is named, who decides, and who is protected. That is worth celebrating, and worth honoring in the people who made it possible.
Read the full story on our blog. https://mistelilaw.com/2026/06/22/from-a-florida-high-school-to-the-supreme-court-remembering-david-codell/
