For Tenth Consecutive Year, K&L Gates Earns Top Rating in Corporate Equality Index

Pittsburgh - Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has again earned a top score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s premier benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. This marks the tenth consecutive year K&L Gates has achieved a top score and received the designation as a Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality by the organization for satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria.
 
The CEI rates companies and top law firms on detailed criteria falling under five broad categories: non-discrimination policies; employment benefits; demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ diversity and inclusion; public commitment to LGBTQ equality; and responsible citizenship.

Pallavi Wahi, K&L Gates’ co-managing partner, United States, and chairwoman of the firm’s diversity committee, said: “We’re proud to have received a 100 percent score on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index for the tenth consecutive year. It truly validates the firm’s culture of diversity and inclusiveness and points to the success of the policies and practices we have in place at K&L Gates that continue to foster our culture.”

“The impact of the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index over its history is profound,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “In this time, the corporate community has worked with us to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive policies, practices and benefits, establishing the Corporate Equality Index as a primary driving force for LGBTQ workplace inclusion in America and across the globe. These companies know that protecting their LGBTQ employees and customers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do -- it is also the best business decision.”

K&L Gates has received multiple recognitions in recent months and years for its commitment to opportunities for diverse lawyers, including an eighth Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF); an “Employer of Choice for Gender Equality” certification by the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency; and many individual awards and recognitions for the firm’s diverse lawyers.

The firm also sponsors and participates in a number of other diversity-related programs, including the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), Diversity Council Australia, Equality Campaign Australia, the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the National Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association, the Stonewall (UK) Global Diversity Champions Program, and in various LGBTQ Pride events and initiatives around the globe.

To read more about K&L Gates’ commitment and approach to diversity and inclusion, please visit the firm’s website. For more information on the 2020 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.