the program will be moderated by a professor geoffrey hazard, a distinguished professor of law at uc hastings. the professor is a leading expert in the field of civil procedure of legal ethics and is good at asking questions. it is my pleasure to introduce our very special guest, stephen zack, president of the american bar association. with nearly 400,000 members, it is the largest volunteer professional membership organization in the world. mr. zack is the first hispanic american to serve as the president and the second to be born abroad. he was only 14 when his family emigrated from cuba under harrowing circumstances, including last minute detention by the secret police. he made it here. in two lines -- and two lines come to mind when i think of him. "this is my country, land of my choice. this is my country, here i found voice." what a voice it is. he earned his aba at the university of florida and he is now in their hall of fame. he is a partner in the miami office of the national law firm. his clients range from former vice president al gore to philip morris, to the national geographic s

>>reporter: little is a professor of law at uc hastings. rational justification to prevent people to get married to members of the same gender or sex. other than, historic the we have not seen it done. it does not seem like a hard case but that does not mean they will win that one. >>reporter: ever the ruling the losing side will probably appeal directly to the supreme court. little says that tuesday's ruling will make a difference as the case worked its way up the ladder. >> you have a pretty conservative republican judge in the middle. if they all agreed that it is a harder case to overturn. >>reporter: where the the next debt is directly to the u.s. supreme court corp's first to stop at the ninth panel, they expect a decision by the u.s. supreme court will not come until december of 2013. >>james: a same-sex couple in berkeley are at the center of the lawsuit. patella said they had been fighting for the right to marry for years. they believe they will when victorious today. >> winning tomorrow will be as close to a resolution on this iss