Path

I am really loving most of my classes this semester, particularly Family Law, Domestic Violence Seminar, and Negotiations. I was so influenced by the panels at Lavender Law about the legal intersections of gay rights, family law and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that I have decided to write my journal piece about collaborative dissolution in the LGBTQ context. I am certainly on the path to family law, and still happy with that choice. I'm just starting to question the specifics.

There are so many things I would like to achieve with a law degree: on the top of the list is working for securing the rights of same-sex couples on both the state and the federal level. Domestic partnerships (which are currently allowed in both Washington and Oregon) are a step in the right direction, but the law remains unfair until the rights of gay and lesbian couples are placed on the same plain as different-sex couples - marriage. No more, no less. No different names, no different tax consequences, and no reductions of rights.

I would also like to work for children's rights and for bringing collaborative divorces (divorces which use mediation techniques instead of adversarial techniques and very often times reduce the amount of total legal fees) more directly into the line of mainstream practice. The question is, how do I combine all of these interests? More specifically, how do I combine them all while still living in Seattle?

The problem is not so much that there aren't opportunities out there to do all of these things. Probably the best opportunity would come from moving to Washington D.C. and working for a nationally organized gay rights organization - or even to San Francisco, where there are a lot of very prominent gay rights organizations which focus specifically on the intersection with family law issues. However, in the interest of being completely and overly sappy: my heart is in Seattle. When I was younger I thought about moving away for the hell of it, but as I grew older I realized that I am too close to my family to make moving across the country a feasible option without a very good reason to do so. And, of course, there is my man. I honestly want to give myself the opportunity to build a life with him, though there is so much that is still in the air on that one. There are so many things pulling me back to the Pacific Northwest, but I find myself frequently wondering how my professional goals are going to mesh with those pulls. Not to mention how my professional goals are going to help me to get out of debt before I die.

So, in essence: I am happy with the path I have chosen - I continue to feel like it is the path which will be the most interesting, rewarding and consistent with my goals in coming to law school (which were, ultimately, to help those in need of help and to promote positive policy change in line with my values). However, almost half-way through school, I still find myself straining to see specifically where this path will lead me.