July 2004 Issue

Cover Story

The Changing Face of Gay Legal Issues

When the city of San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples earlier this year, attorney Frederick Hertz re­ceived a call from a client seeking advice on whether she and her lesbian partner should obtain one. Hertz, whose office is across San Fran­cisco Bay in Oak­land, had no easy answer.

“I said to her that when you get married and apply for a loan, the bank’s loan application does not have a box next to ‘Single,’ ‘Married’ and ‘Divorced’ that says ‘Marriage license applied for, validity in question,’ ” recalls Hertz.

That kind of uncertainty is becoming increasingly prev­alent for same-sex couples as more and more states grapple with the question of just what kind of legal recog­nition to give their unions.

A correction has been made to this story.

Feature Section

A Question of Class

It’s unlikely that Scott T. Schutte, the son of a mail­man and a receptionist, will ever get business from family connections. But the Chicago large-firm litigator is OK with that. Over the years, he’s come to terms with having a working-class background, and says he stands out in a profession with many second-, third- and sometimes fourth-generation lawyers.