A local out lawyer has been elected to the governing body of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Ira S. Lefton, a partner at Reed Smith LLP, and four others were voted into PBA’s Board of Governors Dec. 9. Lefton is the second openly gay member of the board,
after Larry Felzer of the Senior Law Center.
“My election to the board of governors means that my role as an openly gay attorney in a large corporate law firm is considered a strength or positive factor, along with my other professional achievements,” Lefton said. “I think that my election as someone who tries to act as if being openly gay is a privilege or gift, to use the language Tim Cook recently did, and nothing to hide or be ashamed of, helps to further confirm that the local legal profession is increasingly inclined to agree that that is exactly so.”
Lefton has been advocating for LGBTs for more than two decades.
His accomplishments include: arranging for Reed Smith to be one of the first firms to “gross up” domestic-partner benefits for same-sex partners of firm employees when such benefits — unlike benefits for heterosexual couples — were taxed; encouraging his firm to host events for the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia and serve as a big-dollar donor for Lambda Legal Defense events in Philadelphia; and providing pro-bono counsel to Philadelphia FIGHT and the LGBT Elder Initiative.
Lefton hopes to advance the inclusion of LGBT attorneys, especially younger ones, in the legal profession.
“That means working to ensure LGBT attorneys get full access to jobs and to good opportunities within the firms, large or small, they join — the chance to work on key cases and major transactions and to get important client contact and responsibility,” he said.
While on the board, Lefton wants to promote a resolution and follow-up action by the association strongly favoring the enactment of statewide legislation barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“I also would like to see the board conduct continuing legal education or other training sessions on how to identify or acknowledge implicit bias against LGBT individuals and how to counter its effects.”
