More than 125 Harris Beach attorneys and professional staff participated in a continuing legal education session presented by Shain Filcher, Executive Director of LeGal – the LGBT Bar Association and Foundation of Greater New York.

Shain’s presentation, Creating Safer Spaces for LGBTQ+ Clients and Colleagues, addressed the use of affirming language and terminology, gender identity discrimination, and best practices for providing holistic services to LGBTQ+ clients and colleagues. Their presentation included concrete examples of areas of law where issues surrounding sexual orientation and gender identity can become enormously complex especially when communicating across various language barriers.

Shain advised the Harris Beach group to approach clients and each other with empathy and curiosity, encouraging everyone to ask important questions to gain a mutual understanding – and then putting the feedback they get into use. For example, when a client shares pronouns it is important for attorneys to ask the pronoun preference to be used in legal documents. The goal is to “meet people where they are,” Shain shared.

The CLE from LeGal – the LGBT Bar Association and Foundation of Greater New York was organized by the Harris Beach Council on Inclusion and Diversity as part of LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Harris Beach Partner Pamela B. Goldsmith is a member of LeGal’s Association Board of Directors and serves as vice chair of LeGal’s Judiciary Committee.