Jeff Cleghorn

Atlanta, GA

Jeffery M. Cleghorn is a Named Partner with the law firm of Kitchens New Cleghorn, LLC, with offices in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia. Jeff is a member of the firm’s litigation team, with a focus on issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals and their families. Jeff’s practice area includes Family Law (Divorce, Custody Disputes, Modifications, Child Support), Domestic Partnership Agreements, Disputes and Dissolutions; Adoptions and Second Parent Adoptions; Gay and Lesbian Family Law, Partnership and Civil Rights Issues.

Jeff is a 1984 distinguished military graduate of North Georgia College in Dahlonega, where he received a B.A. in Political Science. After graduation, he received a commission in the United States Army as an Officer in the Army’s Military Intelligence Corps. Jeff’s military career included overseas assignments in South Korea and Germany, and stateside assignments in Arizona and South Carolina. Jeff spent his final years in the Army working in Washington, D.C., for the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, on the Joint Staff (Directorate for Intelligence). His military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Staff Commendation Medal and the Parachutist Badge.

Upon obtaining the rank of Major, Jeff left the Army in 1996 and enrolled in law school at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. In 1999, he began his legal career as a Staff Attorney with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), in Washington, D.C., where he represented LGBT military personnel in matters relating to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law and the Defense Department's treatment of its gay and lesbian personnel. Jeff’s advocacy on behalf of LGBT service members included Congressional lobbying and liaison to senior Pentagon decision-makers. Jeff worked as a consultant to the University of California’s Michael D. Palm Center from 2003 through 2005. Jeff currently serves on SLDN’s Board of Directors.

Jeff has appeared as a legal analyst on CNN, C-SPAN, FOX News' "The O'Reilly Factor," MSNBC, and NPR. He has authored opinion pieces advocating gay and lesbian equality for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Army Times, Marine Corps Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, Advocate.com, and has also appeared in local television and radio outlets around the country. He has spoken extensively about DADT to military, veterans and academic audiences, to include the United States Army War College, Harvard University, University of Virginia, Hofstra University, and the University of Florida.