OutFox
ArentFox Schiff proudly supports its LGBTQ+ employees and clients. The firm is widely recognized within the legal community for its long-standing position as an industry leader in celebrating an inclusive environment that values, fosters, and supports its LGBTQ+ professionals.
Partner With Us
Join us in our unwavering commitment to stand up for the LGBTQ+ community. While we’ve achieved significant progress in acknowledging the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, there’s a pressing need to address ongoing prejudice and discrimination within our community. Please let us know if you would like to partner with OutFox and our Pro Bono team to champion LGBTQ+ rights and work towards eradicating bias and discrimination.
Our Focus
OutFox recognizes the essential human need to be free and to live authentically without fear. We celebrate the progress made in the fight for equality and justice for all while recognizing that work remains, especially for the most marginalized members of the LGBTQ+ community.
AFS is home to talented professionals who contribute to elevating and supporting LGBTQ+ communities everywhere, and we work to highlight our LGBTQ+ and allies and foster a stronger professional and social network within the firm and the broader community.
OutFox meets for social and networking events, serves as a sounding board on issues of interest to LGBTQ+ employees, works to help integrate new hires, and looks for opportunities to increase the firm’s role as an advocate within the broader LGBTQ+ community.
Leading the Way
Partner Hunter Carter, in partnership with the Vance Center for International Justice, works to support marriage equality across Latin America. In addition, Hunter co-authored a report unanimously adopted by the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates that laid the legal framework for granting marriage equality in New York.
Catholic Charities V. DCFS
The ACLU of Illinois intervened in a case challenging Catholic Charities’ policy of providing adoption and foster care services on behalf of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in a fashion that excludes unmarried couples even if they entered into a civil union.
‘Best Place to Work’
AFS has been recognized as a “Best Place to Work for LGTBQ+ Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI).CEI is a benchmarking survey and report that measures corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.
Strong Roots
Former AFS Partner Robert Bonvouloir “Bon” Foster was the principal founder of LAGBAC, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association. Lambda Legal’s annual Bon Foster Civil Rights Celebration is named after him and has become the organization’s major fundraising event in Chicago. Bon passed away from AIDS complications in 1991, but his legacy as a civil rights leader persists at AFS and beyond.
Active Partnerships
AFS is locally and nationally engaged with the LGBTQ+ community. We regularly sponsor and participate in events for ACLU of Illinois, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Whitman-Walker Clinic, Empire State Pride Agenda, the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, The George Washington University Diversity Conference, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Human Rights Campaign, StartOUT, and GLINTA.
Inclusive Benefits
Our commitment to inclusion extends to our health, well-being, and family-building benefits. We are proud to offer transgender-inclusive health care coverage under our medical plans. We also provide coverage for HIV prevention and care and family planning services. Additionally, recognizing that families are built in many ways, we offer both an Adoption Reimbursement Program and Surrogacy Reimbursement Program. Eligible individuals may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $25,000 for qualified expenses related to adoption or surrogacy, with a lifetime maximum reimbursement of $50,000 combined for the firm’s programs.
Furthermore, we have a gender-neutral parental leave policy: all new parents receive 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Birthing parents are eligible for an additional 8 weeks through short-term disability leave, and 8 weeks of additional leave is also available to those parents forming their families through adoption or surrogacy.
Diversity Scholarship
At ArentFox Schiff, diversity, equity, inclusion, and empowerment are part of our DNA. We are committed to creating a diverse workplace where every individual knows they are valued, seen, heard, and a vital part of our firm.
Each year, the firm awards up to five diverse law students who are joining our Summer Associate Program with a Diversity Scholarship. The Scholarship Program is part of our efforts to increase diversity at the firm and in the legal profession. Since 2006, we have awarded dozens of scholarships to diverse law students across the country.
Learn more about our Diversity Scholarship.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
At ArentFox Schiff, we believe that diversity and excellence go hand in hand. Diversity produces different perspectives, richer thinking, and creative solutions to our clients’ challenges. We are committed to seeking and retaining a diverse group of attorneys and business professionals throughout the firm and believe that it is essential to our success.
