Laura Maechtlen Quoted in The National Law Journal

San Francisco associate Laura Maechtlen was quoted in the December 15, 2005 issue of The National Law Journal in an article entitled “The Bigger the Law Firm, the Bigger the Closet,”which describes the results of the Journal’s own survey regarding openly gay and lesbian attorneys working in large and midsized law firms. Midsized law firms reported that 3.2 percent of their attorneys were gay and lesbian, while in the top 20 largest law firms, the number was 1.8 percent.

The article notes:
“Theories vary as to the reasons for the differentials among midsize and larger firms, but it appears that many of the smaller firms are more up-front about the numbers of gays and lesbians in their workforces.

One reason for the difference may be that the smaller the firm, the more difficult it is for attorneys to keep their sexual preferences a secret if they so choose, said Laura Maechtlen, an associate at Seyfarth Shaw and a board member of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association.

In addition, Maechtlen said that with cutthroat competition at the country's largest law firms, gay and lesbian attorneys may be more inclined not to reveal their sexual preferences, although, she added, she feels welcomed and appreciated at her Chicago-based firm.

‘You have in that [large firm] environment an incentive to not be 'out' at work,’ she said. ‘You want to be judged on your legal abilities as opposed to what people might term a “minority attorney.”'"