Promoting inclusion top priority for new president of LGBTQ law group

Minneapolis attorney Lousene Hoppe in June began a two-year term as president of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, with plans to lead its efforts to make the legal profession more welcoming and inclusive.

Resources are available to guide organizations in adopting LGBTQ+ best practices, said Hoppe, a shareholder at Fredrikson & Byron.

Those include the National LGBTQ+ Bar's Association's Lavender Law 365 program, described as the only LGBTQ+ coaching and consulting program.

"You might not even realize there are people there that aren't themselves, they aren't out at work," Hoppe said. "It continues to surprise me how often you come across this, that people are not fully comfortable bringing their whole selves to work. To the extent that legal employers understand that that could be happening even in their own organizations, I want them to know that we're here to help."

The association, which recently added "Q+" to its name, promotes "justice in and through the legal profession for the LGBTQ+ community in all its diversity." Continuing to expand the association's LGBTQ+ advocacy and programming is a priority, Hoppe said.

Hoppe and the association are preparing for the yearly Lavender Law Conference & Career Fair, the largest such legal conference nationally, which will take place virtually on July 28-30.

Hoppe is the first female to serve as Fredrikson & Byron's general counsel. She also is chairwoman of its practice quality committee. She is one of few female attorneys serving on the Firm Counsel Connection, a group of general counsels from some 20 larger law firms.

A litigator and criminal defense attorney, Hoppe represents companies and people facing health care fraud, financial or tax crimes and state and federal felony and misdemeanor cases.

Q: How does the Lavender Law 365 program work?

A: We have trained professionals who will go into a law firm or legal organization and help them work on being a more welcoming, inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ lawyers through helping to analyze their procedures, their policies, giving some advice. Are you giving the right education internally to make sure your LGBTQ+ lawyers feel valued and included? That's just a couple of things. It's not a change but it's certainly an enhancement of our mission and what it's been over the past 20-plus years.

Q: What has motivated you to pursue leadership roles with the National LGBTQ+ Bar?

A: It's an organization that has greatly benefited me personally in my career. This is a way I can give back and make sure we continue on the track of all the good things that the organization has been doing in recent years to expand its focus. I wanted to be part of that.

Q: What do you do as the firm's general counsel?

A: I also act as our ethics counsel, so I counsel our attorneys on making sure they are complying with their responsibilities under the rules of professional conduct. If there's litigation involving the firm, I'm heavily involved in that and managing that. Privacy and security have taken a lot more of my time and attention recently, especially during the pandemic, when things like cyber attacks have been increasing. I still practice some, I do white-collar and regulatory defense work, but it's a smaller percentage of what I do now as I'm more and more in an internal role as we grow, as Fredrikson continues to grow.

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Lake Elmo. His e-mail is todd_nelson@mac.com.