The Practice of Law With LGBT‐Parent Families

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12358
• Author: Amanda K. Baumle
• Published date: 01 July 2018
• Date: 01 July 2018

THE PRACTICE OF LAW WITH LGBT-PARENT FAMILIES

Amanda K. Baumle

In this article, I examine how a history of legal conflict has produced a constantly evolving professional identity for lawyers

representing lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) clients on family matters. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 law-

yers, I describe variation across areas of specialization, advertising,clientele, and access to professional networks. In addition,

I focus on how sociopolitical and legal context shapes professional identity and practice for these lawyers, demonstrating the

importance of practice location for this group of lawyers. Although interviews were conducted prior to national marriage rec-

ognition, these findings provide insight into the future developmentof the LGBT family law profession post-Obergefell.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

•Family lawyers practicing for LGBT clients have faced unique practice challenges due to a rapidly changing legal

environment.

•I describe how family lawyers’experiences in working with LGBT clients, as wellas their professional identities, vary

across sociopolitical and legal environments.

•The ways that family lawyers adapt postmarriage equality will be shaped by their prior experiences practicing within

an uncertain and evolving legal environment.

Keywords: FamilyLaw; Lawyers; LGBT; and Professional Practice.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and their families have experienced

a contentious and shifting legal environment that has affected rights related to their relationships,

children, financial well-being, and social status. This rapidly changing legal landscape has, in turn,

shaped the professional experiences of the lawyers who represent LGBT individuals on their family

matters, resulting in a constantly evolving professional identity. Drawing on in-depth interviews

with 21 geographically diverse lawyers, I examine the ways that changes in the law and sociopoliti-

cal environment have shaped the practice and identities of this group of lawyers. My participants

describe changes in areas of specialization, the way they advertise, clientele, and access to profes-

sional networks. Given the historical variation in laws and sociopolitical climate for LGBT individ-

uals across states, I pay particular attention to the ways that practice location shapes professional

identity and practice.

My findings provide a window into the future development of the LGBT family law profession

following Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)—the potential for its sur vival as a distinct niche, and how a

history of experience with legal uncertainty and variation across geographic context could shape

both trust in formal law and future practice decisions. My interviews were primarily conducted

before national marriage equality, but the professional history of this group is likely to continue to

produce a unique LGBT family lawyer identity. Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in

Obergefell served to extend marriage and divorce law to same-sex couples, it is unlikely that the

professional identities and practice for this group of lawyers will quickly converge with that of law-

yers practicing family law for heterosexual clients. Some laws remain contested and unevenly

applied across jurisdictions (Zarembka, 2015), and recent and anticipated vacancies on the Court

have caused concern over the permanency of national marriage recognition.

In addition, the idea that LGBT individuals and their lawyers will immediately be able to operate

outside of their long and contentious history with the law is problematic. Lawyers practicing in this

Correspondence: akbaumle@uh.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 56 No. 3, July 2018 423–433

© 2018 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts