Peer to Peer Magazine

P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 1 9 31 the Midwest, we had already encountered complicated family issues heterosexual couples sometimes take for granted. For example, it was no surprise when our birthing instructor referred to the other spouses as 'father' and then awkwardly referred to me as the 'sister…relative….friend' before we explained I was the 'other mother'. These experiences were just something we had gotten used to. We learned to prepare for important situations by announcing our 'gayness' ahead of time if there was a chance it would complicate things. Since welcoming our first child was the most important moment of our lives, we knew we needed to prepare more than ever. As much as we prepared, we didn't anticipate the hospital would say, 'I don't know, but that is a great question,' when we asked whether both moms could sign our son's birth certificate. That answer would set the course for several weeks of confusing research and frustrating conversations that ultimately arrived at an imperfect and unequal result. Sadly, two years later, we learned that nothing had changed, and hospitals still didn't know the answer to this simple, yet critically important question, 'Can I sign my child's birth certificate?' Complicating things even further is that, with the thousands of things all expecting parents have to worry about, the appropriateness of a proper birth certificate is generally out of mind until time to sign. From signing school permission slips to making important medical decisions, appearing properly on the birth certificate is an important step to securing parental rights. With this issue affecting so many other families, we knew something had to be done, but didn't know how we could be a part of the broader solution." Finding the Solution T H E G L O B A L L E G A L H A C K AT H O N ( " G L H " ) In February, St. Louis participated in the Global Legal Hackathon for the first time. This event brings together an array of Existing Resources Law firms have quite a few existing resources. Arguably, though, the most important resources that firms have at their disposal are the numerous relationships they have within their communities. Firms already support social justice organizations, but this new model flips the existing framework, asking those organizations to, instead, support the firms with their voice and access to those in need. Additionally, law firms have deep relationships within the corporate community. Clients and vendors of the firm can help amplify, sponsor, and promote diversity efforts, and often, are eager to do so. Through these shared values, firms can build a network of support for their efforts while deepening these relationships. Another resource that firms have in spades is technolo-something that is rarely tapped for diversity & inclusion efforts. Technolo is used with project management, marketing, and even casework, but, admittedly, technolo and social justice issues seem like a strange duo. Perhaps it's because we not only need to rethink the solution, but we also need to rethink the problem. Focus on solvable problems While law firms have so much at their disposal, and a readiness to tackle social justice issues, we cannot solve all diversity & inclusion problems at once. This makes diversity & inclusion seem overwhelming. So we need to break down the tremendous feat of overcoming diversity & inclusion issues, into specific problems that can be solved, practically. Once a singular problem is identified, we can then leverage those multi-disciplinary resources to create an optimal solution. An Issue Was Identified The issue we focused on solving hit close to home for Kristi- here's her story: "Two years ago my wife and I prepared to welcome our first child into the world. As a same-sex, married couple living in people and skillsets to "hack" real world problems affecting either the business of law or access to justice. The hackathon is held over a weekend and is open to everyone. Participants share potential issues to "hack" and form teams on Friday and then rapidly develop prototype solutions and business plans for presentations on Sunday. Winners of the local event move on to national, then global competitions. Here a diverse team came together from Saint Louis University School of Law, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, and Thompson Coburn finding shared values, access to technolo, and the freedom to innovate on a solution to help same-sex parents access justice by informing them of some of the legal issues they may encounter. What We Did M A D E D E C I S I O N S First, we brainstormed. We discussed what we knew and identified knowledge gaps. We defined the problem in the most basic terms and mapped out all the areas of impact. Finally, we decided who on the team should handle the legal research, business plan, and tech development. Law school students focused on mapping Missouri law into a decision tree for later use when programming the application. Others focused on industry research to create a market analysis, put together the business case, and prepare the final presentation. Finally, other team members built the tech solution, incorporating both the legal and industry research previously collected. C O N D U C T E D R E S E A R C H Unfortunately, our research revealed this is a common problem impacting thousands of families a year. When one parent serves as the biological parent, that parent is allowed a place on the child's birth certificate. In heterosexual marriages, the husband is automatically assumed to be the father and is listed as such on the birth certificate. The process is simple, quick, and inexpensive.

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