Trans lawyers? Forum

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ScottyDubbs

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Trans lawyers?

Post by ScottyDubbs » Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:11 pm

I'm a 15-year-old trans guy who wants to go into a career in law in the future, I was just wondering if there are any trans lawyers here that can share their experiences of how they are treated or how it affects their careers. I don't want to be labeled as the "trans lawyer" or have it impact the way my clients or myself are treated in court.

talons2250

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by talons2250 » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:15 pm

Alexia Korberg (https://www.paulweiss.com/professionals ... -d-korberg) and E.K. McWilliams (https://jenner.com/people/EKMcWilliams) are two very successful transgender biglaw partners working in the private sector. Perhaps you could cold email them and ask about their experiences. On the public interest side, Carl Charles (https://www.lambdalegal.org/about-us/staff/carl-charles) is a senior attorney at Lambda Legal. You could try contacting him as well to see if he'd be willing to discuss his experience with you.

That said, you're only 15 years old, so you should definitely be focusing on high school. Law school is a long time away!

Just know that your being transgender should not negatively affect your ability to succeed as a lawyer. :)

nixy

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by nixy » Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:44 pm

It’s interesting to me that the E.K. McWilliams bio goes out of its way not to use any pronouns at all.

OP, being trans shouldn’t affect you being a lawyer, though I can’t guarantee you won’t face any prejudice. A trans acquaintance of mine is at a biglaw firm - transitioned there, in fact - and found their firm very accepting and supportive. So it’s definitely possible, it will just depend. I don’t think there’s any particular bias against trans people that’s specific to law, it’s just like the rest of the world where some people get it and, unfortunately, some don’t, and some of the latter want to make your life difficult. I think you will have to just do your due diligence when looking into specific jobs.

I don’t think law schools should be at all a problem, unless of course you’re looking at Liberty or Ave Maria (but don’t do that).

(Also that’s going to be a long time from now so I suspect attitudes will continue to get better, except maybe in certain states…)

Access

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by Access » Fri Apr 08, 2022 2:27 pm

Your typical biglaw is socially liberal and fiscally conservative. There's going to be diversity and inclusion initiatives, and we spend all day working for corporations. For better or worse, that's the environment.

crazywafflez

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by crazywafflez » Sun Apr 10, 2022 10:42 am

Echo what other folks have said. Your average biglaw attorney in just about any market will be socially liberal and fiscally moderate for the most part, most are Biden/Clinton/Obama liberals.

You should certainly try reaching out to LGBTQ+ folks though and get their xps.

Best of luck.

PS- you are too young to think about law school/practicing go enjoy more fun things in life and enjoy being a kid!!!

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LeagleBeagle92

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by LeagleBeagle92 » Sat May 14, 2022 4:44 pm

Some trans ppl like E.K. Mc just use their name as their pronoun—like the name is the pronoun. If u read more they also use they them in interviews and their speeches. Law is traditionally buttoned up, but the big firms seem like they are trending trans accepting bc Gen Z is on the way. Thank god they are too lol

nixy

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by nixy » Sat May 14, 2022 7:09 pm

LeagleBeagle92 wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 4:44 pm
Some trans ppl like E.K. Mc just use their name as their pronoun—like the name is the pronoun. If u read more they also use they them in interviews and their speeches. Law is traditionally buttoned up, but the big firms seem like they are trending trans accepting bc Gen Z is on the way. Thank god they are too lol
That makes sense, thanks for explaining.

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Nothing but the Funk

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Re: Trans lawyers?

Post by Nothing but the Funk » Tue Jul 19, 2022 2:20 pm

Hey, trans woman here who worked at a v5 in Texas before moving into the public sector (although I did not come out until my most recent job). Feel free to send me a message and ask anything you want. That being said live your life before you commit to law, it's a hard field and can certainly involve dealing with more than the normal amount of assholes.

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