Law Firms Slowing Recognizing Rights Of Gay Employees, It Seems

Gay Rights has become an increasingly significant issue for many law firms who, surprisingly lag behind other areas in the recognition of gay staffers (witness the recent Cravath stoush and the publicity that went with it.) In London, bankers JP Morgan are running a seminar for its panel of lawyers on gay employment issues.

'The Lawyer' reports http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=124732&d=11&h=24&f=46 that its initiative has been spearheaded by assistant general counsel and JPM managing director Tim Hailes and global co-general counsel Diane Genova.

Hailes told The Lawyer: “The firms’ commitment to this agenda will be a relevant factor [in the bank choosing them]. It isn’t the deciding factor, but it will be taken into account as part of our assessment, and not doing it won’t be viewed positively. We want to see change.”

The law, it seems, is moving slowly but surely into the 21st century.