For 11th Consecutive Year, Orrick Scores 100% Ranking on 2017 Corporate Equality Index

December.05.2016

Orrick has once again earned a perfect score of 100 percent for the eleventh consecutive year in the 2017 Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) and Best Places to Work survey. Released on December 5, 2016, Orrick's top rating places it among a select group of U.S. businesses and law firms.

The CEI evaluates LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs and public engagement with the LGBT community. To achieve a perfect score, businesses must have fully-inclusive equal employment opportunity policies, provide equal employment benefits, demonstrate organizational LGBT competency, evidence their commitment to equality publicly and exercise responsible citizenship.

"Earning a perfect score for the eleventh year in a row is truly gratifying and further supports our firm objective of being one of the best law firms to work for. We are always striving to provide a fully inclusive workplace that promotes diversity, inclusion and equality, and I couldn't be prouder of once again being amongst the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's best places to work," said Lorraine McGowen, partner and co-chair of Orrick's Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

A recognized leader on diversity and inclusion initiatives, Orrick was one of the first law firms to offer domestic partner benefits, including fully inclusive transgender benefits. Earlier this year, the firm was named one of Working Mother magazine’s and Flex-Time Lawyers “50 Best Law Firms for Women”. This is Orrick's eighth time on the annual list which recognizes law firms for their family-friendly policies and professional and business development initiatives which are designed to retain women and advance them into leadership. Orrick was highlighted for our groundbreaking parental leave program, which provides for 22 weeks of paid leave for a primary caregiver, total leave of up to nine months before returning to work and robust flexible work arrangement options.

For more information on the 2017 CEI or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei.

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Lorraine McGowen Partner, Restructuring, Bankruptcy Litigation

New York

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Finance Sector
Restructuring
Bankruptcy Litigation
Municipal Restructuring and Insolvency
Energy & Infrastructure
Mergers & Acquisitions
Structured Finance
Higher Education and Student Loan Financing
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Lorraine McGowen Partner

New York

Lorraine brings 30+ years of legal experience in bankruptcies, out-of-court restructurings, sovereign debt restructurings and creditors' rights controversies. She interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies, and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents. She also regularly provides commercial law and bankruptcy advice in connection with securitization, M&A, energy & infrastructure and general corporate transactions.

Lorraine has represented various stakeholders in bankruptcies, workouts, distressed debt transactions, sovereign debt restructurings, bankruptcy litigation, derivatives, and distressed acquisition matters such as Suriname, Belize, Puerto Rico, Takata Corporation, Windstream, GTT, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Lehman, MF Global, Indiana Toll Road, Chemtura Corporation, Tronox Incorporated, South Bay Expressway, American Dream School, Detroit, General Motors, and Stone & Webster.

Lorraine is a member of Orrick's Management Committee and is Partner in Charge of its global DEI Initiatives. She previously served two terms on the firm’s 11-member Board of Directors and also previously chaired its Restructuring Group.

As a leading DEI advocate, Lorraine creates programs for the legal profession and the community. She was selected as a 2019 Rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers for 2022, 2018 and 2015 and received Legal Outreach’s Pipeline to Diversity 2017 Champion Award and the New York City Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion 2012 Champion Award. IFLR1000 Rankings named Lorraine a leading lawyer in the U.S. She was selected by Direct Women to be a 2016 Board Institute member. She is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and insolvency and diversity and inclusion.

Among her community involvement, she is a former Vice President and Board Member of the New York City Bar Association and currently co-chairs the City Bar's Digital Assets Task Force. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession and the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, where she is chair of the board, and on the Advisory Committees for Legal Outreach and the Vance Center for International Justice of the City Bar, where she serves as co-chair of the Advisory Committee of the Vance Center.