Competition for top talent at the country's premiere law schools is increasingly being waged over how gay-friendly law firms are. Recruiters for law firms report that even straight graduates are looking to see if firms have LGBT-supportive policies as they weigh job offers. On the flip side, LGBT lawyers largely remain fearful that coming out at work will hinder their ability to become partners in their firms. And surveys have shown that the problem persists even at Bay Area-based legal houses, despite the region's progressive reputation.

"Increasingly applicants are looking at culture as well as compensation in their calculus of making decisions on employment," said Steve John, a gay man who oversees diversity recruiting with Major Lindsay Africa. Kelly Dermody, an out lesbian and a lawyer with Lieff Cabraser Heinemann & Bernstein, added, "If law firms are not focused on fairness to LGBT lawyers they are going to lose not only LGBT law students but straight law students as well."