Boston, MA. Nixon Peabody is once again proud to announce a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. This marks the 16th consecutive year the global law firm has achieved a perfect rating, designating it as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.”
The Corporate Equality Index is an annual benchmark of pro-LGBTQ+ workplace policies—including transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits and non-discrimination workplace protections, among others—by the Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ+ civil rights and advocacy group. Nixon Peabody was one of the first law firms in the country to extend healthcare and welfare coverage to domestic partners.
“So much has changed since the onset of the pandemic, but our enduring commitments to LGBTQ+ equality and diversity, equity, and inclusion have not wavered,” said Rekha Chiruvolu, Nixon Peabody’s chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. “Hybrid and remote work environments emphasize the need for even more innovative resources and support for our people.”
Over the past year, Nixon Peabody has doubled down on its work with legal industry incubator Diversity Lab and its Move the Needle Fund (MTN). Through MTN, Nixon Peabody has committed to surpassing the national averages of LGBTQ+ representation among its equity partnership by 2025. Nixon Peabody has also earned Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Certification Plus status for the fourth consecutive year, indicating that the firm’s candidate pool—for equity partner promotions, leadership and governance roles, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions—comprise at least 30% LGBTQ+, women, and/or attorneys of color.
Moreover, through a recent evolution of the firm’s industry-first Diversity Challenge initiative, Nixon Peabody attorneys can now obtain billable hour credit for engagement in diversity-related activities, such as participation in LGBTQ+ organizations.
Attorneys at Nixon Peabody have long served as vocal advocates for LGBTQ+ equality through client work and pro bono service. Nixon Peabody is currently working with ACLU Iowa and Montana on two separate pieces of transgender rights litigation. In Iowa, NP partnered with the ACLU in striking down as unconstitutional the state’s practice of denying transgender Iowan Medicaid recipients coverage for medically necessary, gender-affirming surgery. In Montana, NP is working with the ACLU to challenge SB 280, a new law that makes it difficult and near impossible to correct one’s sex designation on their birth certificate.
“I am proud of the work our attorneys are doing both inside and outside our firm—in courtrooms and within the LGBTQ+ community,” said Stephen Zubiago, Nixon Peabody CEO and managing partner. “Our 100% rating shows the impactful work our firm and our people are doing, and we look forward to maintaining a perfect score each and every year.”
Click here for the Human Rights Campaign’s full report and 2021 Corporate Equality Index.
