Biglaw

One Biglaw Firm's Embrace Of A Transgender Partner

If only this weren't newsworthy.

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DJ Healey

Has the president’s awful early morning tweeting about banning transgender individuals from serving in the military — a move that is only likely to decrease military readiness and increase the risk of suicide — left you deeply upset about the state of the world? Well, there’s not much to be done about the president’s actions (at least not until Robert Mueller gets a swing at him), but maybe this tiny smidgen of good news will help dispel some of the dreariness.

Danielle Joy “DJ” Healey, an IP litigator at Fish & Richardson, recently announced she was transgender and has transitioned to living as a woman. She’s been able to do this with the full support of the firm and her clients, as reported by Law.com:

“They ultimately worked with me and put together a plan on how to do this and how to notify people,” she said, noting that the firm, to its credit, let her have the ultimate call on timing.

“They put an enormous amount of effort and time and energy into it. It just shows that the Fish family is really a family,” she said.

In a statement, the firm affirmed their support of Healey and diversity practices generally:

“Diversity and inclusion are crucial to the positive culture and success of our firm, and we treat everyone with respect and dignity at all times. DJ is a valued colleague and an important part of the Fish family, and we will support her completely in the months ahead,” the firm wrote in the statement.

It is wonderful that Healey is getting such support from her firm — but let’s be clear — this is far from the standard reaction:

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“We’re delighted that DJ was able to transition with the support of her firm. We would not say that is typical in any way, shape or form. Firms have a long way to go,” [executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association D’Arcy] Kemnitz said.

Given the change-averse nature of the legal industry, that seems more in line with what most people expect. There are also benefits to being a partner with an impressive client list when asking the firm to support your transition.

Healey reports generally positive experiences in her professional life to her transition. She recently spoke at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Patent Law Seminar, and she used humor to overcome some initial skittishness of her colleagues:

At the state bar seminar, Healey said, she introduced herself as DJ Healey, formerly known as David Healey, and tried to use humor to put everyone at ease. She said she told the crowd that she needed to figure a few things out in advance of her first time speaking as a woman, such as whether to leave her purse at her chair or bring it up to the podium. She told them that because patent lawyers are a “sketchy crowd,” she brought her purse with her.

Maybe — hopefully — one day such support of transgender lawyers won’t be newsworthy.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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