It Gets Better CEO: For LGBTQ Professionals in Big Law, It Is Getting Better
“An employer that doesn't allow a LGBTQ person to be who they are and live their authentic selves is not an employer that deserves that employee,” Nixon Peabody partner Seth Levy said.
June 28, 2019 at 07:16 PM
4 minute read
Over the years, several Big Law firms have become more vocal in their support of the LGBTQ community—some have celebrated LGBTQ Pride month by changing their firm logos, others have participated in Pride parades across the country.
Seth Levy has taken note, given that he is not only an LGBT lawyer and partner at Nixon Peabody, but also chairman and CEO of the It Gets Better Project, the nonprofit organization that shares video stories of experiences and messages of hope from the LGBT community.
“The [legal] profession [and] society have certainly changed. There has been a lot of progress made,” Levy, who is based in Los Angeles, said in an interview Friday.
Levy created the It Gets Better online platform in 2010 amid the growing popularity of a video by author Dan Savage and his partner, Terry Miller, responding to a string of suicides committed by teens who were struggling with coming out or were bullied over their sexual orientation.
As of today, the organization has shared over 60,000 stories of people in the LGBT community. They include a video by attorneys from Nixon Peabody, which shed light on the experiences of LGBTQ legal professionals. (You can watch that video here.)
“Once you are out at work, you are forever coming out,” Levy said. “It is not something that you do once. Every new client, every new lawyer you interact with, every opposing counsel … people don't just know you are gay when you walk into the room, so there is always a need to consider 'do I tell this person, and if so, why'?”
Levy, who grew up in New York and came out as gay in late 1990s—toward the end of his college years—said as a young lawyer, he didn't know any senior LGBTQ attorneys he could look to as role models. Since then, the Big Law community has come a long way, he said, especially in progressive cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, and people in large law firms are working to create a better environment for the LGBTQ community.
And that's an imperative, he added.
“An employer that doesn't allow a LGBTQ person to be who they are and live their authentic selves is not an employer that deserves that employee,” Levy said.
Building on the momentum of the viral videos, the It Gets Better Project has since deployed programs for LGBT youth on six continents, in countries including Chile, Canada, Portugal, Italy and England. In addition to spreading its message of hope, the project also offers a resource center and educational programs to help young LGBT people find helpful services in their community.
“For the LGBTQ community, we don't have the same intergenerational relationship that you see in communities of color or religion [in that], to put it simply, gay kids don't [always] come from gay parents. So, LGBTQ youth are typically born in families, [in which] there isn't anybody like them,” Levy explained.
That is what makes the project important, he said. It creates ”an adult community of those LGBTQ people and their allies who can speak to young people in a way their parents may have, if there was the natural connection through the generations.”
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllIn Lawsuit, Ex-Google Employee Says Company’s Layoffs Targeted Parents and Others on Leave
6 minute readMorrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
Trending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 2Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 3Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 4Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
- 5Tom Girardi to Surrender to Federal Authorities on Jan. 7
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250