When I was in law school (admittedly, that was 50 years ago), no one warned me that I should watch my pronouns. Times have changed. Using the wrong pronoun seems to have been the pivotal issue in the recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision of Cerame v. Slack.

Cerame involves two lawyers who are challenging on First Amendment grounds our Rule 8.4(7) which prohibits conduct “that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, color, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, status as a veteran, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or marital status in conduct related to the practice of law.”