Bar Study Finds ‘Pervasive’ Bias Against Gays In Legal Profession
Washington needs openly gay judges, rules against discrimination and other changes to help fight “pervasive” bias against homosexuals in the legal profession, a new King County Bar Association report says.
“One of the most disturbing findings is that gay and lesbian citizens sometimes ‘settle cheap’ or abandon their rights rather than turn to our courts for justice,” association president J. Richard Manning said.
The report issued Thursday was prepared by a task force of 25 lawyers and judges, and included both gay and heterosexual members.
During the 22-month project, the panel surveyed gay and lesbian attorneys about their experiences practicing law in Washington’s most populous county. It also asked law firms about their practices and policies regarding homosexuals.
“The task force learned that employers - especially private law firms - are not very hospitable to lesbian and gay attorneys,” the report says.
As for lawyers’ clients, “we found a widespread lack of confidence among gay and lesbian litigants that they will be treated fairly,” the report says.
“The fear that their sexual orientation will be revealed in open court - often against their wishes - or used against them, induces parties to abandon legitimate claims or settle them for less than they are worth.”
The report calls sexual orientation “profoundly irrelevant to the qualities that make a good lawyer or judge.”
“To allow sexual orientation to have any influence on the interpretation of a contract, the length of a sentence or the size of a plaintiff’s award tarnishes the principle of equal justice under the law,” the report says.
There are no reliable statistics on the number of gay attorneys in King County, the report says. But if the figure is 5 percent statewide, that would amount to 1,000 homosexual attorneys in Washington, it noted.
Among the report’s findings:
King County’s 15 largest law firms have a total of about 800 partners, but only about six of them are openly gay or lesbian.
“Moreover, the majority of firms who responded to our survey said they did not have any attorneys or staff working for them who were openly gay or lesbian,” the report says. “This means lesbian and gay attorneys are not hired, do not stay, or remain very closeted.”
Few firms have adopted policies banning discrimination based on sexual orientation, and many attorneys keep their homosexuality secret, fearing they will be fired if it becomes known.
“An attorney who handles discrimination cases has represented clients with wrongful-discharge claims, based on sexual orientation, against two of Seattle’s largest law firms,” the report says. “Others have heard enough comments from senior partners to have little doubt that they would be fired if their sexual orientation were known.”
Gay attorneys suffer financially, because a disproportionate number work in government agencies, public-interest or non-profit groups, small law firms or solo practices, which tend to pay less than medium and large law firms. They also rarely receive the full benefits available to heterosexual couples, because most firms don’t offer health-care coverage, for example, to same-sex domestic partners.
“Bias in the legal profession is pervasive and its elimination presents a challenge,” the report concludes.