One of the nation’s largest law firms is now home to a group that will serve as a resource for LGBT and ally employees.
Pepper Hamilton LLP, based in Philadelphia, last month launched an LGBT Affinity Group, open to all attorneys and staff members.
The group will work to enhance ties between the firm and the LGBT community, both internally and externally.
The effort was suggested through Pepper’s Diversity Committee, which also recently created affinity groups geared toward veterans and African Americans. The firm’s women’s affinity group launched in 2003.
Jim Epstein, an openly gay partner at Pepper who is now in his 25th year with the firm, headed up the LGBT Affinity Group’s planning committee.
He said Diversity Committee chair Kassem Lucas approached him about getting involved, and he immediately agreed.
“I think it’s a great thing, and I’m really pleased the firm wanted to start affinity groups in general and include the LGBT community,” Epstein said. “It says a lot to me about what the firm stands for.”
In the planning process, organizers decided to not limit the group to the company’s 500 attorneys but to open it to the hundreds of staffers as well.
“I think that’s critical,” Epstein said. “We talked about it and, at the end of the day, the consensus was that the issues we’ll be dealing with are firmwide and will not just affect lawyers but all employees.”
The firm has 11 offices nationwide, and last month’s kickoff meeting, which drew about 40 people, included call-ins from members in other cities. Group chair Nick Kouletsis said future events will likely include video conferencing.
Kouletsis, an out partner who started with the firm in 1980, said he has long found the environment at the firm to be “remarkably positive” for LGBT employees.
However, some newer staffers shared stories of negative experiences at former employers, and Kouletsis said the group will strive to ensure that all LGBT employees feel welcomed and valued at Pepper and supported by the group.
“Our initial effort is going to be focused on making sure everyone feels that they have a safe place to talk about whatever it is they need to talk about,” he said. “We want to make sure they’re in a comfortable environment and can bring up the issues that they deal with on a day-to-day basis.”
In addition to the social support, Epstein added that the group can also serve as a conduit to keep firm hierarchy abreast of topics pertinent to LGBT employees as well as enhancing the company’s profile in the community by working with agencies that serve LGBT populations.
Kouletsis said he’d also like to see the group focus on helping the firm to attract and retain a new pool of LGBT employees.
LGBT employees comprise about half of the group’s initial membership, with many of the others joining on behalf of LGBT family members and friends.
“I’d definitely like to see more folks at Pepper who themselves are LGBT become part of this, but I really welcomed the fact that we had such a healthy number of allies join,” Kouletsis said. “These are people who thought this was important enough to support even though these issues may not be directly affecting them personally, so we really appreciate that support.”
The group will meet monthly for a brown-bagged lunch and will determine its future course as it develops.
“We’re not going to be overly structured right now,” Kouletsis said. “The main thing is that people get comfortable with one another and then we can decide where the group wants to take itself. This is a group that is good for the interests of the firm and also for the interests of the individuals, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].