Transgender Lawyer Gives Locke Lord Props for Health Plan

This week, Locke Lord attorney Sara Schnorr made headlines when Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker appointed her to be the first transgender woman to serve on the state’s commission on the status of women.

The group, comprised of 19 members, aims to advocate for policy changes to improve opportunities and equality for women.

“I thought it was a real winner for a Republican governor to appoint not just a Democrat, but a transgender woman, particularly in this period when transgender issues are front and center and causing a lot of flap in the press,” said Schnorr.

The Boston Business Journal has more on the appointment . What piqued our curiosity was the path that led her there: starting as a lawyer at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge before it became Edwards Wildman and then merged into Locke Lord more than a year ago.

What was it like to be a transgender lawyer in Big Law? And how did her clients and partners receive the news of her transition in 2009, when Tom became Sara?

Schnorr told Big Law Business that she was lucky.

“If truth will be told, my therapist told me, ‘Transitioning at a big law firm, are you crazy?’ I said, maybe I should look around. I talked to several friends: former partners of Palmer and Dodge, who went to careers at smaller firms where they were happy. We had lunch and I said, ‘What do you think? What if I were to come over?’ It was 2009 and they said, ‘Well, you know, it’s not a time for commercial real estate lawyer to be moving, but we know your work, we know you’re good.’ But they said there’s no way in hell to figure out all the impact that will have on clients. Sorry, that just won’t work. So, I knew that if i would transition and retain my good will with clients in the housing and government community, I’d have to stay and transition at Edwards Angell Palmer and Dodge.”

[Image “Sara Schnorr” (src=https://bol.bna.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sara-Schnorr-e1461777017420.jpg)]

Immediately after, Schnorr approached her three biggest clients over lunch. She recalled when she broke the news to the chief legal officers of Boston Community Capital, Genzyme and the regional Community Development Advisory Council, jaws dropped. But all agreed to continue giving Schnorr legal work.

“Each one of my clients said essentially the same thing. It will probably be a little awkward at first, but changing your gender presentation and expression certainly isn’t going to change your legal skills. You’re a damn good lawyer, your staff likes working with you, you are responsive. They said that isn’t going to change.”

Overall, though, she said that Big Law faces serious challenges in accepting transgender lawyers. She doesn’t think she would have been able to make the transition if she had been a trial attorney handling bet-the-company matters.

“People are afraid,” she said, referring to friends who she declined to name that have been forced to exit Big Law because of their gender identity change. “Being a member of LGBT is still considered something you have to hide because the profession is still too conservative.”

Schnorr explained that while many of the problems exist in other industries, some of the issues are unique to the legal profession.

“The last thing that a lawyer wants to do in high stakes litigation is to have someone stand up and confuse the judge or the jury. Socially and culturally, we are nowhere near acceptance to the fact of gender expression.”

The number of transgender lawyers she could think of who continued to work in Big Law were limited. She pointed to at least one other transgender attorney who has traveled a similar path: Maryellen Madden, of counsel at Buchanan Ingersoll, was in the news just last year .

She gave Locke Lord props, though, calling out managing partner Jerry Clements by name. After the Locke Lord, Edwards Wildman merger in January 2015, she said Locke Lord adopted a more progressive health coverage plan that covered transgender related treatment.

She remembers meeting with Clements in the Boston office, leading up to the merger:

“I said ‘Hi, I’m Sara Schnorr. I just want to tell you the two things that are important to me: I want to continue to support pro bono work, and I’m hoping that you’ll come around and provide health care benefit for transgender lawyers. She looked at me and said, ‘Matthew McTygue told me who you were. You are the very first trans lawyer this firm has ever had.’ And she said, ‘You know what? We’re going to learn how to do it right.’ She told me that to my face and they delivered. They did not only change health insurance but the firm has supported me. It has supported transgender equal rights in Massachusetts. It’s a Texas-based firm, a state that has politicians that consider transgender people to be the devil’s advocates.”

She added, referring to tough coverage of the Locke Lord, Edwards Wildman merger in the press: “I know Locke Lord has been hit pretty hard, but in my opinion, they have been so incredible on diversity issues that it deserves a pat on the back.”