Chip Cannon Quoted by Bloomberg on LGBTQ Lawyers’ Progress Toward Inclusion

Chip Cannon, head of Akin Gump’s energy regulation, markets and enforcement practice, has been quoted in the Bloomberg article “It’s Gotten Better to Be LGBTQ in Big Law, but Struggles Remain.” The article looks at the progress that has been made across the legal profession with respect to inclusion for LGBTQ lawyers as well as some of the barriers that still remain.

Cannon, who co-chairs Akin Gump’s LGBTQ+ affinity group “Out + Allied,” spoke of how, when he graduated from law school in the early 1990s, “There was probably no faster way to not get an interview,” than by mentioning his involvement with his school’s new gay law school association.

Cannon said he began to notice a cultural change in Big Law in the early aughts. “All of a sudden,” he said, “I started noticing that people were putting OutLaw and other LGBTQ organizations on their resume.”

While the article reports that many Big Law firms now tout their inclusiveness through the creation of affinity groups, filing amicus briefs in favor of gay rights causes and holding annual Pride celebrations, there are still some hurdles in the workplace for some LGBTQ lawyers.

“Big Law is much more inclusive than probably most other industries for gays and lesbians, but I think that for our transgender and nonbinary communities, there are still a lot of barriers.” said Cannon. “In some ways we as a society are just starting to educate ourselves on the other groups within the LGBTQ community.”