Person of the Year 2010

Highs: A decade after they faced each other in the landmark Bush v. Gore case, power attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson found common cause and fast friendship as co–counsels working to overturn California's prohibition on same sex marriage. On August 4, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the measure, enacted by ballot initiative Proposition 8, violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and was thus void.

Lows: Despite their victory, Boies and Olson only advanced the ball downfield, failing to yet reach gay rights activists' ultimate goal. On August 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted a request from Prop 8's legal defenders to delay Walker's order voiding the ban. As Boies and Olson labor on in appellate court — and possibly, one day, the Supreme Court — same sex couples in California remain unable to marry.

—Adam Sorensen