WASHINGTON – June 11, 2020 – As with so many around the world, BakerHostetler is outraged by the events of the last several weeks, including the senseless killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and the appalling use of racial privilege against Christian Cooper. Even before these horrific events, racial disparity was evident in the disproportionate infection and death rates faced by the African American community in the fight against COVID-19. These recent incidents demand that we, as a firm, ensure we are doing our part, both to support our African American colleagues and for the community at large.
BakerHostetler is actively developing plans to help our African American colleagues heal, and to continue to help our firm become a more inclusive, diverse and successful place to work and thrive. We are exploring partnerships with other law firms and leading civil and human rights organizations, safe spaces for candid conversation about race, discrimination and lived experience, and resources to educate all of our colleagues to help us effect lasting change. As a start, the BakerHostetler Foundation is making a $100,000 contribution to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit that works to challenge racial and economic injustice, to protect human rights, to end mass incarceration and excess punishment in the United States, and to reform policing in America. In addition, we continue to acknowledge that, like many other law firms, we have work to do to increase diversity among our attorneys and leadership, and we will not stop working to address these issues.
While we as a firm will be doing and announcing more in the coming weeks, we encourage everyone to take action with us. Today and every day, BakerHostetler stands against discrimination and for equality; against hate and for love.
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About BakerHostetler
Recognized as one of the top firms for client service, BakerHostetler is a leading law firm that helps clients around the world address their most complex and critical business and regulatory issues. With six core practice groups – Business, Digital Assets and Data Management, Intellectual Property, Labor and Employment, Litigation, and Tax – the firm has nearly 1,000 lawyers located coast to coast. For more information, visit bakerlaw.com.
Contact
Despina Kartson, 212.589.4264 (dkartson@bakerlaw.com)