The legal profession’s first LGBTQIA+ practice
How far we’ve come. Back in 2000, LP Legal was a leading full-service Chicago law firm. In what was considered at the time to be a risky and controversial move, the firm’s creative chairman thought the time was right to create the legal profession’s first practice group supporting “Gay and Lesbian” families and business owners.
He asked Fishman Marketing to design and implement the positioning and branding campaign. Our multi-faceted, multi-channel campaign included print ads, a brochure, direct mailers, seminars, conferences, and public relations.
One page of the brochure lays out how stark the need for legal services was within the LGBTQ community. These were the solutions that LP was seeking to provide:
As a lesbian or gay family in Illinois, you have no legal right to:
- marry,
- file a joint income tax return,
- claim your partner as an exemption on your income tax return,
- an unlimited marital deduction for federal estate tax purposes,
- care for your partner’s child,
- visit your partner in the hospital,
- make health care decisions on behalf of your incapacitated partner,
- be given preference in the appointment of a guardian or conservator of an incapacitated partner,
- defer income tax on your deceased partner’s IRA,
- sue for wrongful death, or the loss of support and companionship of a deceased partner,
- inherit from your partner who dies without a will, or
- elect to take against a deceased partner’s will,
- seek support from a partner during or after a relationship,
- have a court equitably divide joint assets,
- not to mention many other things.
We were able to use this unique campaign to garner significant national attention in the legal, business, and “GLBT” (now more inclusively known as “LGBTQIA+”) press, further solidifying the firm’s image as a creative, progressive firm of caring professionals.
The ad headlines:
“All couples need to talk about the future.
Gay and lesbian couples need to talk to a lawyer about it.”
“The law does not recognize your relationship.
But there is a law firm that does.”
The ad copy: “At a time when more gay and lesbian couples are living committed and fulfilling family lives, the legal protections and benefits afforded other families are denied to yours. Where the politicians have failed you, we can help.”
