14 | March/April 2023 | BAEC Bulletin Neil Pawlowski Presented with OUTLaw Award
Neil A. Pawlowski has been named as one of the 2023 Honorees of the UB OUTLaw Awards. OUTLaw’s primary objective is to educate about the legal issues surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as the ways discrimination may be compounded by other intersecting identities. OUTlaw also sponsors activities, panels, social events, and service projects that build a network for both members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ legal community. Congratulations Neil!
NEIL A. PAWLOWSKI PARTNER, DUGGAN & PAWLOWSKI LLP
DE&I Committee News A Call for Volunteers
The BAEC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is pleased to announce the formation of an LGBTQIA+ Working Group. This Group will be chaired by Andrew Freedman, a long time DEI Committee member and the Diversity Partner at Hodgson & Russ, LLP. “The purpose of the Working Group is to assess how the BAEC can best serve the LGBTQIA+ legal community and to make recommendations to the DEI Committee and Board of Directors. This is also an opportunity for our LGBTQIA+ attorneys and their allies to be heard and supported in a safe place” says Freedman. The number of openly LGBTQ attorneys at law firms continues to grow slowly, according to a survey from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP Survey). In 2021, the NALP Survey of 849 law offices across the country found that 3,653 lawyers (3.7%) identified as LGBTQ. In 2011, the survey found that just 2,087 (1.9%) of lawyers at U.S. firms identified as LGBTQ. The percentage of law firm Summer associates who report they are LGBTQ is substantially higher. Accordign to the NALP Survey, in 2021, 8.47% of all Summer associates said they were LGBTQ. (Source: https://www.2civility.org/aba-profile-of-the-legal-profes - sion-heres-what-the-legal-profession-looks-like-in-2022/#:~:tex- t=The%20number%20of%20openly%20LGBTQ,3.7%25) The BAEC invites its members to volunteer to serve on this Working Group. The first meeting is being planned for May with details to follow. If interested in serving, you may contact Celeste Walsh at cwalsh@eriebar.org. All are welcome, including student members.
Source: NALP 2021 Report of Diversity in U.S. Law Firms
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