Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has awarded Kutak Rock LLP a perfect score on its 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the national benchmark on corporate policies and practices impacting LGBTQ employees. Earning a score of 100 distinguishes Kutak Rock as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality,” in the U.S.

“No matter how many years we score a perfect 100 at Kutak Rock, earning this badge from Human Rights Campaign is always an honor,” said Steve Likes, partner, and chair of the firm’s LGBTQIA + Allies Affinity Group. “We appreciate that the criteria become more stringent each year and commend HRC on continuing to raise the bar. We must always strive to move forward toward fully equal LGBTQIA rights, never settling for the status quo, and certainly not moving backward.”

Since Kutak Rock opened its doors in 1965, the firm’s culture has embraced diversity and equality in the legal profession, making strategic efforts to hire women and minority attorneys long before laws required it. This early commitment to equality and professionalism is best embodied by founder Robert J. Kutak’s chairmanship, known as the Kutak Commission, which proposed dramatic revisions to ethical rules relating to lawyers and the legal profession.

Over the past five decades, Kutak Rock has reinforced its commitment to LGBTQ rights through its inclusive Equal Employment Opportunity policy, the extension of equal benefits to all employees—including transgender employees and LGBTQ employees in domestic partnerships—and the work of the firm’s LGBTQIA + Allies Affinity Group to provide networking, engagement and educational opportunities.