Lavender Law Job Fair 2017 Forum

[Anonymous User]

Has anyone participated in the Lavender Law Job Fair held by The LGBT Bar Association in the past?

What are their job fairs like? I've heard the job fair is much less structured than those diversity job fairs, but I'm wondering what are the odds to obtain a CB through Lavender Law.

Thanks!

[Wustlmike19]

I've gone twice, have gotten Big Law jobs twice, and have had a number of callbacks from Lav Law. For reference, I go to a lower-ranked double digit school. The jobs i received were at firms that did not do OCI at my school. So yes, I would strongly suggest that you attend, provided you can do so financially. Perhaps ask the school or your Pride org if they can foot some or all of the bill.

The job fair is basically a convention center room/s where ALL the firms are. They each have a table and you walk up to them, sit down give them your resume, and conduct mini-screener interviews. The other fairs, at least the fairs I've been to, have you bid for a firm and then fly up if you receive interview offers, here you show up and talk to any firm you want.

[grand inquisitor]

the sex is the selling point. the job fair is just an excuse.

[Anonymous User]

I've gone twice, have gotten Big Law jobs twice, and have had a number of callbacks from Lav Law. For reference, I go to a lower-ranked double digit school. The jobs i received were at firms that did not do OCI at my school. So yes, I would strongly suggest that you attend, provided you can do so financially. Perhaps ask the school or your Pride org if they can foot some or all of the bill.

The job fair is basically a convention center room/s where ALL the firms are. They each have a table and you walk up to them, sit down give them your resume, and conduct mini-screener interviews. The other fairs, at least the fairs I've been to, have you bid for a firm and then fly up if you receive interview offers, here you show up and talk to any firm you want.

Congrats!

If that's the case, then wouldn't the people lining up for the same firm would overhear the interview conversation?

And did you get CBs on the spot or did you get it some time after the mini-screener?

[Wustlmike19]

There generally isn't a line because there are so many firms. And people stay a few feet away from you. I heard back days to weeks after.

[Anonymous User]

Does each major office send its own interviewer? If not, would it be awkward or pointless to interview with someone who's not from the office I'm interest in?

[Anonymous User]

Not LGBTQ but it's helpful to see the firms attending listed in terms of actually being active in pursuing diversity

[lawdawg4]

I'm officially going as of an hour ago. I received complementary registration for offering to volunteer, so others who are financially tight should look into it! Check the LGBT Bar email sent out this morning for more information! Pretty excited! Never been to California before.

[Anonymous User]

CB from V&E in a TX location

[Anonymous User]

T30 TOP30%
Lavender Law is awesome! 3 CB from band 1 firms in SF/DC/NY so far, despite lack of tie. Got nothing so far from OCI.

[Anonymous User]

I went to Lavender law several years ago. While I support the LGBT-Q community, i'm a heterosexual male and was quite comfortable at the convention and found several of the seminars helpful. The funny thing is, during one of my interviews, I had a good rapport with the interviewing attorney. I told him about my, then, current firm internship and he asked me "what did they say/how did they react when you came out to them?" To which I replied that I wasn't gay.

He turned bright red, although I was very matter-of-fact that if I were and came out to my boss and they didn't like it then i'd move on. Still...no callback

[Anonymous User]

T30 TOP30%
Lavender Law is awesome! 3 CB from band 1 firms in SF/DC/NY so far, despite lack of tie. Got nothing so far from OCI.

Opposite experience here. Have done very well at OCI as Top 25% at a T30. But I have heard crickets so far from Lav Law. Targeted exclusively Los Angeles (with ties, though from across the country), so I did not have terribly high hopes. The conference was great nonetheless!

Also, I don't even know where to start with that anon post directly above this.

[Anonymous User]

T30 TOP30%
Lavender Law is awesome! 3 CB from band 1 firms in SF/DC/NY so far, despite lack of tie. Got nothing so far from OCI.

Opposite experience here. Have done very well at OCI as Top 25% at a T30. But I have heard crickets so far from Lav Law. Targeted exclusively Los Angeles (with ties, though from across the country), so I did not have terribly high hopes. The conference was great nonetheless!

Also, I don't even know where to start with that anon post directly above this.

Yeah, I saw the last anon's post and thought I'd just let it sit and simmer or let someone else deal with it.

[Anonymous User]

Anon here that you two apparently don't know how to deal with - what's the issue?

[grand inquisitor]

isn't lavender explicitly for allies as well as acronym'd people?

[Anonymous User]

The career fair is not intended for allies. http://lgbtbar.org/annual/career-fair/

"The National LGBT Bar Association’s annual Lavender Law® Career Fair is designed to achieve a sense of community and inclusion for LGBT candidates within the legal profession’s recruiting efforts. By participating in this career fair, candidates will talk directly to LGBT-friendly recruiters from law firms, government agencies, LGBT rights groups, and corporate legal departments."

Additionally, despite recruiting at LavLaw numerous times, I have never outright asked a student if he or she was LGBTQ or about his or her "coming out to the firm" story. Some have volunteered it, but it's a borderline inappropriate question to ask.

[grand inquisitor]

that's fucked up, then. agree that it's weird to ask people their summer associate coming out story in an interview.

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone hear from Lav Law firms so far?

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone hear from Lav Law firms so far?

I received a callback from one firm's office located in Houston.

[Anonymous User]

Did anyone hear from Lav Law firms so far?

I received a callback from one firm's office located in Houston.

Nice! Anyone else? When did you receive a callback?

[Anonymous User]

The career fair is not intended for allies. http://lgbtbar.org/annual/career-fair/

"The National LGBT Bar Association’s annual Lavender Law® Career Fair is designed to achieve a sense of community and inclusion for LGBT candidates within the legal profession’s recruiting efforts. By participating in this career fair, candidates will talk directly to LGBT-friendly recruiters from law firms, government agencies, LGBT rights groups, and corporate legal departments."

Additionally, despite recruiting at LavLaw numerous times, I have never outright asked a student if he or she was LGBTQ or about his or her "coming out to the firm" story. Some have volunteered it, but it's a borderline inappropriate question to ask.

Anon here who was asked the semi-inappropriate question - I really didn't take issue with it (perhaps a member of the LGBT community would?) but rather took it as a sign that I was having an honest, open discussion. I would presume that being a member of the community entails dealing with certain issues, and discussion of those is at least tangentially related to the convention.

While LavLaw is intended for inclusion of LGBT candidates, I would also presume that a group who is fighting for equality wouldn't begrudge a heterosexual person attending the event. In fact, there were a fair number of us who were there who were straight (the women more so) and it was met with general appreciation and acceptance. All in all, I had a good experience.

[Anonymous User]

Anon here who was asked the semi-inappropriate question - I really didn't take issue with it (perhaps a member of the LGBT community would?) but rather took it as a sign that I was having an honest, open discussion. I would presume that being a member of the community entails dealing with certain issues, and discussion of those is at least tangentially related to the convention.

While LavLaw is intended for inclusion of LGBT candidates, I would also presume that a group who is fighting for equality wouldn't begrudge a heterosexual person attending the event. In fact, there were a fair number of us who were there who were straight (the women more so) and it was met with general appreciation and acceptance. All in all, I had a good experience.

I agree that heterosexual students and lawyers should attend LavLaw. Progress does not happen through living in a bubble and excluding allies. But, I'm conflicted about whether non-LGBTQ students should expect a different response from a screener than not getting a callback. 99% of the screening process is being memorable, particularly in a cattle call environment like LavLaw. These screeners may speak with 30+ candidates in a day, generally with the marching orders of expanding the firm's diversity profile. The screener is in control - if you make him or her uncomfortable, then you are memorable for a bad reason. If I were advising an ally going to LavLaw I would encourage him or her to network as an ally, to try to make very clear connections during mixers and sessions and events, but to leave the career fair to its intended audience.

To me, it's a judgment question -- I would consider you a strong ally and very mature if we were at a mixer and you told me that you weren't going to participate in the job fair; and, I may consider you opportunistic if our screener conversation revealed that you were straight. Consider a parallel -- If it were a job fair intended to advance women (assuming you're male), would you go? Would you be surprised if you didn't get a callback despite a good conversation?

[Anonymous User]

Hetero anon here (never thought i'd type that). So I guess I should be clear, I wasn't expecting a call back - but just dismayed that I didn't get one, just as I would have been had I not received one at OCI (I received many). All in all, I had multiple 'brief' interviews at LavLaw and only in one of them did my orientation come out (the odd interaction I noted above).

In law school, there were many women's groups and events that my male counterparts attended (I never had any interest so I didn't attend) and, as I recall, the prevailing thinking was all are invited even though the group is meant to promote x. I attended la raza, middle eastern and asian-pacific american events despite being affiliated (by race) with any of them.

So, though I never said I expected a call back, I didn't expect my orientation to get me any special consideration, but I didn't once consider it to hinder me either. To be honest, I never felt that it did either. Even the awkward interaction I had with the screener, he ended up knowing my interim roommates and we all went out for drinks afterwards.

[Anonymous User]

The point of a place like LavLaw is for LGBTQ people who otherwise do not have the same privileges that you do (male hetero anon) to be in an environment where their differences are celebrated. It is assumed that the students who go there identify on the non-hetero spectrum of sexuality. For you to show up in a space like that is unfair. It is exactly what so many people are always talking about, people with a certain privilege taking up space in an environment specifically created to prevent that. Think about all the other places you could go to, why take up space even as an ally?

[Anonymous User]

Baker Botts NYC CB via phone call (from TX number)