[news/opinion] Ropes & Gray Explores Options for Circumventing Mass. Anti-discrimination Laws for Catholic Church

From our Friends:

I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up on an issue. A story appeared in the Boston Globe last week that the Catholic Church had retained Boston-based law firm Ropes & Gray to explore legal and political options for circumventing Massachusetts' anti-discrimination laws and disallowing adoption by gay couples by the church's non-profit arm, Catholic Charities - full info. in two articles linked below.

We were pretty shocked/upset that a prominent and generally respected firm would take on such a visible and harmful anti-LGBT cause (this is paid representation), assisting the church in denying needy children loving foster parents. We were waiting on action until we could confirm that the story was true, as the two articles were somewhat vague on whether Ropes & Gray had already taken on the case. We've just learned from the firm itself that Ropes & Gray has in fact taken on the case, and now we are attempting to formulate the best response possible.

For now, we're focused on an information campaign. We feel this case is something that LGBT students and allies should at least know about when they're making decisions about which firms to work for in the fall. When fall interviewing occurs, next year's group will consider more targeted actions such as a protest or boycott of the firm.

Firms are generally scared of bad PR and anything that hurts their ability to recruit at law schools, so I feel making a very public response to Ropes & Gray's actions can send a message to law firms, small and large, about the negative publicity and consequences that can accompany their taking on these types of cases. And just to clarify: I don't take issue with R & G's right to take on the case, and I don't think we want to ask them to drop it (not only is the church's endeavor likely to fail, but we don't want to give others the opportunity to say we've intruded in the attorney-client relationship), but I do think that firms are responsible for choosing their cases, and attracting and turning off students based on the identity they create for themselves. Above all, I think it's important for LGBT and sympathetic law students to be able to make informed choices about the communities they'll be joining.

For more information:
Bishops to oppose adoption by gays (here)
Bishops dealt setback in pursuit of gay adoption exemption (here)