Laura Maechtlen Quoted in Law360
“Firms Say 'Out And Proud' Makes Good Business Sense”

More and more, buyers of legal services are counting sexual orientation when assessing the diversity of their outside law firms. At the same time, law firms are looking to boost the ranks of their gay and lesbian attorneys.

In a recent article by Law360, Seyfarth Shaw San Francisco Labor & Employment partner Laura Maechtlen, past president of the National LGBT Bar Association, discussed this trend and the challenges that gay lawyers still face.

According to the article, more companies in the past five to seven years have added LGBT questions to requests for proposal that used to focus on race, ethnicity and gender. And the companies that had those questions all along are starting to give them more weight, Laura explained.

But challenges remain, Laura added. Many firms are unsure how to respond to clients' newfound focus on LGBT statistics, either because they feel it is too private a question or because they aren't sure how to pose it, she said. In addition, the benefits to identifying as LGBT are not universal: In some parts of the country, clientele may not be as willing to accept gay lawyers, leaving attorneys with little incentive to advertise orientation, Laura said.

"In certain places being gay is something you can still be fired for," she said.

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