Baker Donelson has received a high score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index, a benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
The firm joins 1,142 major U.S. businesses that were also ranked in the 2021 CEI.
Baker Donelson earned a score of 90 on the 2021 CEI report, which rated companies on criteria falling under four pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility.
Noah Kressler, chair of Baker Donelson’s LGBTQ resource group BakerPride and a shareholder in the New Orleans office, says, “At Baker Donelson, diversity and inclusion are our core values, and we are committed to being a welcoming and nurturing workplace for LGBTQ attorneys and staff.
“In 2020, we reaffirmed that commitment by becoming a Mansfield Rule Certified Plus firm and implementing a diversity and inclusion compact, a comprehensive multiyear plan to increase our number of diverse attorneys, including LGBTQ attorneys, and become an industry-leading law firm in diversity and inclusion by Dec. 31, 2025.
“We’re proud of our diversity and inclusion efforts and are gratified by our continued recognition by the Human Rights Campaign.”
Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (the AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.
In a news release, Baker Donelson says it strives to create an inclusive environment for all employees, welcoming people of all races, genders, ages, languages, ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, disabilities, sexual orientations and religious beliefs to assist clients in achieving their legal goals.
As a Mansfield Rule Certified Plus 2020 firm, Baker Donelson considers at least 30% women, attorneys of color, LGBTQ+ attorneys and attorneys with disabilities in the candidate pools for recruitment, governance roles, equity partner promotions and inclusion in formal pitch presentations to clients.
Through BakerPride, an employee resource group for LGBTQ attorneys and staff as well as straight allies in the firm, Baker Donelson sponsors and supports numerous client development initiatives, LGBTQ community organizations and events in the firm’s footprint and provides a means for members to become involved in the firm’s efforts to promote LGBTQ equality.
Source: Baker Donelson