Columbia is on defense in a lawsuit which was brought by the student accused by Mattress Girl. They’ve hired the lawyer who brought down the Defense of Marriage Act.

The Columbia Spectator reports.

Columbia looks to DOMA attorney in Nungesser case for victory in court of public opinion

In one of its most high-profile lawsuit yet, Columbia has turned to one of New York’s most famous attorneys to defend the University in what is seen as an attempt to secure a win in both the courtroom and the court of public opinion.

Columbia was besieged by media attention in the past year when Emma Sulkowicz, CC ’15, carried her mattress on campus as part of a performance art piece, claiming that the University mishandled her case against her alleged rapist, Paul Nungesser, CC ’15.

Though both Sulkowicz and Nungesser graduated last spring, the media attention following the now alumni continues: Nungesser filed a lawsuit against the University last April charging that Columbia violated Title IX in its handling of Sulkowicz’s protest.

Enter Columbia’s attorney Roberta Kaplan, Law ’91—known for successfully arguing before the Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor, the case that invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The win was considered a landmark victory for LGTB rights in the United States.

This is the first time that Kaplan—a partner in the litigation department at prestigious law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP—is representing Columbia. Kaplan declined to be interviewed through a University spokesperson.

The decision to hire Kaplan is somewhat of a departure for Columbia. Though the University often retains outside counsel from a variety of prominent law firms, the University’s Office of the General Counsel has established a pattern of using firms Proskauer Rose LLP and Rivkin Radler LLP.