Gay-Friendly Law Firms Ahead of the Game

Gay-Friendly Law Firms Ahead of the Game

gaymarriageSo how gay-friendly is your local law firm?  Or any law firm, for that matter?  The issue of those not only gay-friendly, but generally bisexual-, transgender-friendly as well has been undertaken by the Human rights Campaign Foundation and found that law firms are moving faster than many others to offer ‘equitable benefits’ for so-called “LGBT” rights.
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The survey looked at  688 major U.S. corporations done by the District-based Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

Law firms are outpacing the banking and financial services industries — historically the sectors that offered the best benefits — on improving family leave, partner coverage, retirement options and other benefits, said Deena Fidas of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which consults with companies on policies and benefits for LGBT employees, including diversity managers and leadership committees at law firms, reported the Washington Post.

“Historically, banking and financial services was the leading industry for LGBT workplace equality,” Fidas said. “As soon as we started surveying law firms, they quickly eclipsed that.”

Seventy-one of the law firms got a perfect score on the index, which measures 40 policies and practices, including benefits, companies’ pro bono efforts on LGBT issues such as speaking up for LGBT equality, and internal training and networking opportunities for LGBT-allied employees. That percentage is a dramatic jump from five years ago, when just 30 percent of law firms received a perfect score.

In contrast, 33 percent of the banking and finance companies had a perfect score, followed by retail (19 percent) and consulting (14 percent).

Among the District-based firms with perfect scores are Akin Gump, Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling, Crowell & Moring and WilmerHale.
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