Christopher Riano Named a 2022 Rising Star by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association
NEW YORK (October 20, 2022) – Holland & Knight attorney Christopher Riano was recognized as a 2022 Rising Star at the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) annual Diversity Gala in New York City on Oct. 19. Mr. Riano, of counsel in Holland & Knight's New York office, is a constitutional and public law attorney with significant regulatory and litigation experience at the state and federal levels. He is also a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in the legal community, an advocate for civic education and an award-winning author and lecturer.
MCCA's annual Rising Stars honor attorneys whose accomplishments and commitment to their community make them "attorneys to watch." Listed attorneys have at least eight years of experience and show outstanding achievement and leadership in the legal profession. They also demonstrate a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; community service; and pro bono work.
Mr. Riano serves as the president of the Center for Civic Education, a nonpartisan civic and constitutional law education organization dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles. Mr. Riano also serves as chair of the New York State Bar Association LGBTQ Law Section and works to ensure that there is a statewide home for members of the LGBTQ legal community, as well as their allies, to allow for all members of the section to do everything that they can to further the noblest traditions of the legal profession. Under Mr. Riano's leadership, the section has made strides through community building, advocacy and programming.
Since 2011, Mr. Riano has been a lecturer in constitutional law and government at Columbia University and has spoken at dozens of conferences and events on constitutional law, public law and the regulatory state, as well as in support of greater equity and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. He is also an award-winning author and scholar in constitutional law. In 2021, he received the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for his book Marriage Equality: From Outlaws to In-Laws, co-authored with William N. Eskridge Jr. of Yale Law School. The book, which presents the 50-year history of the marriage equality movement, was hailed as the "magnum opus" of the field by The New York Times. He previously served as the first LGBTQ general counsel of the New York State Liquor Authority, as assistant counsel to the governor of New York and currently is the first LGBTQ commissioner serving on the New York State Gaming Commission.