About me
Richard Saenz (he/him) is Counsel and the Criminal Legal System Strategist at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and those living with HIV. He is the project manager of Protected & Served? 2022, Lambda Legal’s groundbreaking community survey on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV with the criminal legal system available at http://www.ProtectedAndServed.org
Richard has litigated cases across the country concerning the constitutional and statutory rights of incarcerated people. He is lead counsel in a challenge against the Utah Department of Corrections' unconstitutional and discriminatory denial and delays of adequate health care to incarcerated transgender people with gender dysphoria. In 2025, after a week-long federal trial, the federal district court ruled that the Alaska Department of Corrections' failure to provide adequate medical care to his client violated the Eighth Amendment. And, he successfully settled a case alleging that a discriminatory Missouri Department of Corrections’ policy resulted in the prolonged use of solitary confinement against people living with HIV.
He authored “A Crisis Behind Bars: Legal Issues Impacting Transgender People in Prisons” the featured article for the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Magazine, Winter 2023. And has been a guest on ABA's Criminal Justice Section’s JustPod and the LGBT Bar of New York’s podcast to discuss, “Can the criminal legal system protect LGBTQ+ people?”
In 2024, Richard was selected as a Wasserstein Fellow at Harvard Law School. The program recognizes exemplary lawyers who have distinguished themselves in public interest work and who can advise students who are considering similar career paths. Richard received his JD from Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Stein Scholar and holds a BA from Georgetown University.
