Haynes and Boone, LLP has earned a 100 percent rating in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, reflecting the firm’s equitable, inclusive workplace policies and practices for all staff, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees.
“Haynes and Boone has long been recognized as a pioneer in the area of diversity and inclusion,” said Managing Partner Timothy Powers. “The Corporate Equality Index perfect score affirms our dedication to making the firm a supportive environment for all of our lawyers and staff.”
Reinforcing the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts, Haynes and Boone hired Jennifer Reddien in 2018 to serve as its inaugural Director of Diversity and Inclusion.
“Diversity is an integral part of our culture, and we believe it enhances innovation and the delivery of quality legal services to a diverse marketplace,” Reddien said. “Our lawyers must reflect the diversity of our clients’ businesses, as well as the communities in which we live and serve, to be responsive to our clients’ needs.
“Our diverse team of lawyers play a pivotal role in our firm’s past, present and future development,” she added.
Haynes and Boone is widely recognized for its diversity and inclusion efforts. It received the 2018 AT&T Legal Department Diversity and Inclusion Progress Award and the Diversity Law Institute Award in 2017. Haynes and Boone also was ranked in the Top 10 in the country for minority attorneys by Law360.
About the Corporate Equality Index
Launched in 2002, the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is an annual report published by the HRC Foundation that rates American businesses on their treatment of LGBTQ employees, consumers and investors. Its primary source of data are surveys, but researchers cross-check business policy and their implications for LGBTQ workers and public records independently.
The CEI rates private employers, including many of the nation’s highest-grossing firms, on a scale of 0 to 100 based on several factors, including written non-discrimination policies and training; parity in domestic partner benefits and transgender-inclusive health insurance benefits; LGBTQ employee groups; appropriate and respectful advertising to the LGBTQ community; and rejection of any activities that would undermine the goal of equal rights for LGBTQ people.
One of the driving forces behind Haynes and Boone’s diversity and inclusion efforts is the Attorney Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which is comprised of partners, associates, counsel and key members of management, including Reddien. The committee sets goals for its policies and programs related to the recruitment, retention, promotion and professional development of the firm’s diverse lawyers – and the next generation of diverse lawyers that it hopes to recruit to the profession.
“The top-scoring companies on this year’s CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their global operations and impacting millions of people beyond our shores,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Time and again, leading American businesses have shown that protecting their employees and customers from discrimination isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s also good for business.”
Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., London, Mexico City and Shanghai, providing a full spectrum of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity. With 575 lawyers, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest U.S.-based firms by The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and The Lawyer.
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