its less than thirty days before i graduate law graduate from law school and i have noticed a few attorneys ( or soon to be ones like me) posting on here.

not to "out" all the attorneys on here, but wondering how many of "us" there are on here who are outsports members.

thought i would get the ball rolling.

Freely admitted and unrepentant attorney...

I've graduated from law school, but I'm not a practicing lawyer.

Hi,

I moved to NYC from Florida to go to law school (I started last August). In a few weeks, I will be a 2L!

interesting group of us here. i thought you were well versed former msu gymnast.

congratulations musical dad; first year is the most tedious. ironically, i moved from ca to nyc to go to law school.

Illini, Believe me, your job in sports marketing sounds MUCH more interesting than litigating. Did you go to law school in C-U too?

An unrepentant active litigator - spelled A-L-L-I-G-A-T-O-R - here.

Congrats on your upcoming graduation, Bryant,* and good luck to all the aspiring lawyers in law school here - and best of luck taking the bar when it comes time to do so. (Remember, practice tests are the key!)
_____
*Columbia '05?

I consider myself a recovering attorney--like an alcoholic it never leaves your system entirely. It's a day-to-day battle.

I'm now in the bar biz in Key West, so I left the bar for a bar.

And to gm, Texas is the answer to your query in another thread.

one is too many! spoken like a true CPA refugee.

Still licensed, but technically not practicing law. Have always worked for non-profit, public interest legal organizations.

Not only an attorney (for 13 years now!) but an HMO attorney at that. There's more to law than going to court (which I hate). Most of my day is spent reading and writing contracts and interpreting legislation and regulations. Many, many lawyers would find my day dull to the extreme, but I really like what I do.

Congratulations, Bryant, on graduating!

Congrats Bryant! I'm sure you've studied hard to make it this far. I'm not in law, but I always thought I'd make a good lawyer as long as my client was innocent.

Lawyer here. GC for small public company.

Hook 'em.

Attorney

Go DUKE!

Congrats on your upcoming gradualtion, Bryant.

If you invite Krayzelburg & Rogan to your graduation party...make sure you invite your good buddy MDB too

Lawyer here.

I'm graduating from law school in 7 weeks.

Thanks, KWG. No offense, but I just KNEW you were in the bar business. How? Well, you said you were admitted, but were no longer practicing. And then being in Key West, well, there you are!

No, seriously, your timing and frequency of postings and their overall tenor bespoke one who'd left litigation for more temperate climes - and I figured there had to be some limes, tequila and Jimmy Buffet going on down there too. Good for you and if I'm ever down your way again - what gay man DOESN'T get to KW at least once a decade? - I'll PM you to find out where you are and stop by for a drink or two. Don't worry, I'm a "happy drunk!" wink (I'm just a jerk when I'm sober! eek! )

Congrats to you too, Neptune. Are you contemplating practicing admiralty law? It's interesting stuff and the East Coast is where it's at for that. Check out http://www.mlaus.org if you are - and good luck in whatever you go into!

[ April 14, 2005, 10:52 AM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

Hello...my name is Randy and I am an attorney.

Its been 4 years and 3 months since I had to step inside a courtroom,

I specialize in Condo and resort law here in Florida and the Carribean. Don't miss litigation at all!

Another lawyer here, though, not a litigator.

It is nice to hear your twelve steps are coming along nicely

Thanks. No admiralty law for me. I'm starting work at a large law firm in NYC this fall, probably doing commercial litigation. It's not glamorous, but at least it will get me out of my massive educational debt hole.

neptune - i am guessing with your cambridge connection where you are from. your school loves graduating after everyone else!! congratulations to you man.

worked at a big nyc law firm last summer but doing two back-to-back federal clerkships before i embark on the real world. i am very fortunate in that my folks paid for all but $10K per year for my tuition/expenses. i am also very very fortunate that i had an undergrad scholarship so my burden is light. i wish you luck in getting those bills paid off sooner than later.

it's amazing how many law students/lawyers are on here. nice sense of community.

are all you guys "out"? i personally came to the realitization that i was gay kind of late and although in therapy, am still working on it. honestly, i am going to be glad to be away from school and move on with my life in more anonymity. my bf and i are both well beyond the notion, of stating, as we did when we first met, that we might be "bi" and now are dealing with the how to come out those who we pretended to be something else too. you know guys; it’s a real struggle. oh well, any advice would be welcomed. i sort of feel at home on this board; it’s weird. i am so glad i stumbled upon it two weeks ago.

hey mariner duck boy - now lenny is someone i could invite but markus i barely know. where do i mail the invite?? lol!!

Thank God! I've been fighting my condo association for months. Want to give me lots of free legal advice?

I've got a spare bedroom if you need to come down and investigate the issues. (or one big bed in the master bedroom too)

[ April 14, 2005, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: KeyWest Guy ]

Bryant:

Am completely out at my current job (in house for a restaurant franchisor), but have definitely had some terrible experiences (including a partner in Washington, D.C. who referred to me as "one of the girls"). Generally, the legal community is pretty conservative, but it is important that you work some place where you can be yourself. There are a lot of firms and companies that are very supportive (a good friend at MOFO raves about them).

Good luck.

KWG, not to "sound" like a know-it-all - let alone actually be one wink - but I did a fair amount of condo/homeowner assn. law before joining the AG. It's all very statute-specific by state, but the key elements to remember are your right to common law due process in the absence of any other, and no takings w/o just compensation under the V Amdt., or FL's equaivalent to it, which I assume they - and even AR! - have. Everything else is mere details, but they can trip you up, so "don't sleep on your rights!"

Bryant, TWO back-to-back federal clerkships? Not bad, not bad at all! Just don't forget in your deliberations with Their Honors that there's a very real world just outside the chambers' door. And good luck to you and your BF with your growth; to me, you sound smart enough to sort things out on your own. Law and human experience trump psychobabble every time!

Oh yeah, totally out since before law school and on the AG's Gay & Lesbian Employees' Advisory Committee (GLEAC) from its inception shortly after I arrived.

[ April 14, 2005, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

I'm not a lawyer but some of my best friends are. One works for a supermajor LA firm, is totally out and has had no problems. He brings his partner to all functions.

Bryant: Even if it's only Lenny whom you invite, I want to be there ... but please figure out a way to invite Markus as well (shouldn't be tough for a good lawyer with two clerkships in front of him -- do you get to stay in NY?) ... and while you're at it, have your beau invite some of his wrestling buds. The mind takes wild flight over the imaginable possibilities. I'm not a lawyer, btw -- and since all the good one-liners have already been used here, I'll only add my congrats on your accomplishments. True, what you're working through on the personal front is complicated, but the law can be a truly useful tool in the process -- both in helping you think through the tangles, and in helping you identify allies in the process. So just let me know when and where you and the boys will be swimming to celebrate your graduation, and I'll be there.

Yeah I'm out. There was no real reason to be closeted for me, since I'm out in my private life and I have no intention of playing the pronoun game at work or trying to generally hide who I am. Besides, I find that being an in-shape 6'3" black guy tends to intimidate my coworkers just enough to keep them from saying something homophobic.

IMHO, it's better to be out since you have enough things to worry about at work--whether a brief was filed on time, writing a memo for the judge, etc--so why add more stress.

It really is silly that my school holds commencement so late--I even have to miss some of my Bar-Bri classes to attend graduation. I suppose my school relishes the ability to be difficult that way

[ April 14, 2005, 08:30 PM: Message edited by: Neptune ]

Glad to have you among us. I came out relatively late -- at age 35 (just over 2 years ago). It was a very tough decision for many reasons I won't go into here.

I think that the degree of liberalism or conservatism you'll experience depends on where you work. I worked in-house at one of the largest corporations (strong supporters of Bush's, regretably ) for several years and worked among some very open and out people. My old boss was the ultimate fag hag. Seriously, seeing her at a company function was like unleashing Margaret Cho at a Pride festival -- she was a magnet for every gay man in the company, of which there were more than I could even possibly know. Many senior people were gay and when one of my colleagues (an EVP) got married to his partner, most of the company's highest executives went. Was I "out" at work? Not really. The people I wanted to know knew, but most didn't. I was part of the company's pride group, so anyone who wanted to find out about me could. I didn't advertise but I didn't deny, either.

After working in an office where I am "out", it would be impossible to go back into the closet at a future job. I know I have it somewhat easier, as I work for a non-profit. I have friends at large firms that are out and friends that are totally closeted at their firms.

Are any of your involved in any local gay atty. groups (here in Philly we have Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia - GALLOP). GALLOP co-sponsors Gay Night at the Phillies. If you are interested in seeing if there is a similar group in your area, check out NLGLA's website:

NLGLA website

NLGLA also sponsors an annual conference - Lavender Law, which Philly hosted a few years ago. This October it is in San Diego.

You wimps! Doesn't anyone else litigate? Lawyer here, I go to court about 1-2 times a week, but no jury trials for a while, mostly real estate litigation and <shudder> domestic. One of my domestic cases last year was a 89-year-old woman who was divorcing her 91-year-old husband, married in 1935, they had been separated a couple of years and she was afraid that she would die first and he would leave his estate to his mistress! She wanted the kids to have it.

That said I am very envious that many of you are reformed, how do you get out of this ratrace?

I am completely out at work, the older guys don't talk about it, the younger women in my firm love to gossip with me about good-looking men.

Litigate--schmitigate! How 'bout a cocktail? :cool:

P.S. Stop gossiping about me with the women at your work.

[ April 15, 2005, 07:17 AM: Message edited by: KeyWest Guy ]

And what client is getting billed for your time on Outsports.com? wink

Let's see, what file is open on my desk right now? Hum, I looked at it, that should be worth .2 hour, right?

Scottie:

Tried being involved in the local gay lawyer group in Denver, but they are not terribly active. Was involved with Gaylaw when I worked in DC.

I was out fully when I moved to California to work in-house for a Silicon Valley company. The CEO was thrilled about it. I think he thought that in Northern California, he looked behind the times to not have an out gay executive. He brought it up way more than I ever did.

When I decided to move back to Texas, I was worried about being forced back into the closet by a conservative employer. Luckily, I landed with another company that did not care one bit. There are a lot more aggressive church goers here, but I have not any problem and have introduced my partner to them.

I tried litigation for a while. I loved being in the courtroom. I don't think there is a greater thrill (on the job) than delivering a closing argument. But, the pettiness of discovery made me realize that I was more suited to transactional work.

Good luck to you.

Intellectual property/business litigation/appellate practice here. I mainly cogitate and write all day long.

gmg, I went to law school at Northwestern.

Damn Purdue for not having a law school. Then again, I probably would not get much reading done. wink

From my calculations (this should be Aubie's job) it looks like we have 17 attorneys, gonna be attorneys, and been there,done that attorneys.

Just did a quick search of message board profiles. There are 56 registered message board users that list occupation as attorney or lawyer. An additional 6 indicate they are law students. And there are many people that don't list their occupation on their profile.

I'm afraid I am one the the many who haven't listed a profession in their profile. Lawyer here, also. Did the corporate thing for 6 years, then a senior clerkship for almost 18 years, now a partner in a small civil rights firm. I was not out in the corporate setting, was out the last few years working for the judge, and am out at my new firm. It's nice to see so many who are comfortable and secure being out at work. It's not an easy step to make, and is certainly not the right step to take for everyone. Hopefully that will one day change.

Wow! Lots of lawyers/students here. Unfortunately, I'm gaygineer...., not lawyer.

gaygineers are also welcome here....

Hey - lookin for a gay lawyer here in Cleveland area. Any suggestions? You can private e-mail them to me if you don't want them posted. Edited for spelling errors due to bad typing.

[ April 15, 2005, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: copman ]

Scottie, good call on the NLGLA convention here in SD, especially since I helped set it up. :cool:

Illini, NU? Good for you; smart boy! My Dad went there for his BA and MA, but he was a math teacher, not a lawyer, which, of course, meant I would not go there and WOULD become a lawyer!

Copman, I've searched every gay bar association I know of and can't find any gay lawyers listed closer to you than in Columbus. Im sure there are some in Cleveland, but you'll have to find them thru local contacts, I'm afraid. Good luck!

[ April 15, 2005, 03:01 PM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

Better late than never, but I'll out myself as an attorney too. Like sjtexasex, I'm a GC for a small (recently) public company here in SF.

MSU Gymnast, I have an attorney friend thinking of relocating to Denver -- how do you like practising there?

OK, me too. 28 years of active bar membership, although I have never worked at a firm. Mostly in house, then started and sold a couple of businesses, and now just do the advise and consult thing.

I still have occasion to interact often with partners and associates at large firms with corporate practices in NY, Boston, DC, Chicago, San Francisco and LA. My impression is that there are far fewer problems in being out at these places in terms of both the comfort level and prospects for progress than when I was getting started in the mid-seventies.

Add another one to the list. I've worked in a small (very conservative) commercial litigation firm for about a year, and I did a year of insurance defense (I know, I know) before that. Not out at work. My coworkers keep trying to set me up with their cousins/sisters/friends. Not sure if they're purposely torturing me, or if they are just that clueless. Afterall, I am the best-dressed person in the office. It seems that the larger firms in Houston are more tolerant of gays than the smaller firms. I assume it is the same everywhere??

I laughed when I read this. I used to get that to and then I just thought the hell with it and the next time someone tried to set me up with their sister I politely declined and then added " but if you have a brother I might be interested". They soon got the picture and got over it.

[ April 17, 2005, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: swiminbuff ]

My guess is clueless. It's probably not even on their radar screen, particulary with your male co-workers.