For the ninth year in a row, Carlton Fields earned a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2018 Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for its LGBTQ-inclusive policies, earning the distinction of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”
Carlton Fields Chief Diversity Officer Nancy Faggianelli said, “We are truly honored to receive this recognition. Carlton Fields embraces diversity and inclusion as a way of life. We are dedicated to maintaining a collaborative, inclusive, and inspiring work environment for all of our employees, including those who are part of the LGBTQ community.”
CEI is a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality, administered by HRC. Carlton Fields is one of 127 law firms in the country that scored 100 percent.
CEI rates law firms on 40 specific policies and practices. To achieve a perfect score and the coveted distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality,” law firms must have fully inclusive equal employment opportunity policies, provide equal employment benefits, demonstrate organizational LGBTQ competency, evidence their commitment to equality publicly and implement internal guidelines prohibiting philanthropic giving to organizations that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
In addition to this ranking, Carlton Fields has received additional honors this year for its commitment to diversity. The firm was chosen as a top law firm, ranked 11 in the country, by the Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms for “Overall Diversity.” The firm was also named a top law firm, ranked 10th for “Diversity for Minorities” and 11th for “Diversity for LGBT Individuals” and “Diversity for Disabilities.” The 2017 American Lawyer Diversity Scorecard ranked Carlton Fields 17th overall out of the top 200 law firms in the U.S. Law360’s Glass Ceiling Report ranked Carlton Fields 4th in its tier of 300 to 599 attorneys for its percentage of female equity partners. And its Diversity Snapshot ranked the firm 2nd in its tier of 300 to 599 attorneys for its percentage of minority equity partners. Most recently, the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) named Carlton Fields a 2017 Top Performer. The firm is one of only 52 LCLD organizations that earned this distinction for its participation in and support of the organization’s mission.
The 2018 report rated 947 private employers in various industries. The full report is available at www.hrc.org/cei.