National LGBTQ+ Bar would like to inform you about a new complementary program we are launching in spring of 2023. While Lavender Law® is the LGBTQ+ Bar’s largest program, with an unparalleled Career Fair hosting over 190 top employers each summer, the Bar has long wanted to provide additional opportunities for students who are interested in recruiting with smaller firms and/or local employers, rather than the larger firms and agencies which typically recruit at Lavender Law®. We are excited to launch an entirely virtual career fair, hosting smaller firms, as well as local nonprofits and government agencies from medium markets around the country.
Our anticipated date for this program is Saturday, March 11, 2023. This programming is intended for students who are looking for smaller regional firms, an opportunity to practice in or close to their hometown or school, or a niche area of practice in a boutique firm setting.
We will welcome all LGBTQ+ law students to this event, but especially those whose GPA may be outside of the range of your school’s typical OCI recruitment. We will also welcome small employers from throughout the country; however, we will focus our outreach this year on firms in the following cities: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charleston, Dallas, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix/Tempe, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham, Seattle, San Diego, and South Florida. Most recruiting law firms at this virtual fair will have 50 or fewer attorneys. In addition to the career fair, this program will hold a 1-2 hour virtual session for students before the Career Fair starts, to support their career / LGBTQ+ legal education and advocacy work. Participating firms will likewise have access to a separate virtual program on LGBTQ+ Best Practices in the Legal Workplace to help support their inclusion efforts.
We stress that this opportunity is truly complementary – it does not replace the multitude of educational panels, in-person networking, and direct opportunities to interface with legal LGBTQ+ leaders in the movement found at the Lavender Law® Conference and Career Fair. Please continue supporting your LGBTQ+ students to come to Lavender Law® as the best way to jump start their careers, regardless of their intended practice area.
Whether your students are interested in public interest, private practice, or non-profit sector work, our new virtual career fair is the perfect opportunity to provide access to LGBTQ+ friendly employers and increase diversity within your local legal community, as well as round out career access to students not traditionally recruited or seeking large firms.
We look forward to speaking with you more about this virtual career fair as it draws closer, and ask that you share information with your students as we send it to you in the coming months. We are also sharing this information with our law student members and Law School Affiliates, but if you choose to forward this message to your LGBTQ+ law students please be sure to have them fill out our Pre-Registration Form.