Akin Gump Receives Perfect Score on Corporate Equality Index

(Washington, D.C.) – For the second year in a row, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has earned the top rating of 100 percent on the 2009 Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Akin Gump joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that get top marks for their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers.

“We are proud to be recognized once again for our success in fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce,” said R. Bruce McLean, Akin Gump’s chairman.

Each year, HRC invites the largest and most successful public and private companies in the United States to participate in the rating process. This year the Index rated a total of 583 businesses, evaluating LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination policies, transgender health benefits and domestic partner benefits. Akin Gump’s efforts in ensuring LGBT equality in each of the survey’s main criterion earned it the prestigious 100 percent ranking.

“The 2009 Corporate Equality Index shows that corporate America understands that a diverse workforce is critical to remaining successful and competitive,” said HRC Foundation President Joe Solmonese. “In the absence of a federal law that prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, it is up to employers to take the lead and implement policies that ensure all their employees are protected.”

For more information on the 2009 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a leading international law firm, numbers more than 950 lawyers and advisors in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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