Dechert’s Pro Bono Practice and Partner Dennis Hranitzky Shortlisted by Chambers Diversity Awards USA 2016
Dechert LLP’s pro bono practice and complex commercial litigation partner Dennis Hranitzky have been shortlisted for separate Chambers Diversity Awards USA 2016. The awards celebrate the achievements of lawyers from non-traditional backgrounds and shine a spotlight on the firms and individuals affecting positive change in the profession.
Dechert’s pro bono practice has been recognized as a finalist for the “Pro Bono Program of the Year” Award and Hranitzky has been named as a finalist for the “LGBT Equality Lawyer of the Year” Award.
Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, June 16 at the Yale Club of New York City.
The firm’s pro bono program is dedicated to improving access to justice for minority groups and disadvantaged individuals and protecting LGBT and gender rights. Recent pro bono activities include bringing litigation in eight U.S. states challenging overly restrictive voter registration laws that disproportionately affect minorities and fighting for same-sex couples to receive equal benefits from the Social Security Administration following the fall of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Since his appointment to the partnership in 2011, Hranitzky, alongside colleague Katherine Burroughs, has served as co-head of the firm’s global LGBT affinity group. He is also a member of the firm’s diversity committee. In each of these roles, Hranitzky has encouraged and led a number of firm-wide initiatives to implement the firm’s strategic plan of diversity inclusion, including promoting diversity and recruiting new LGBT attorneys to join the firm. Outside the firm, he has taken an active role in furthering LGBT inclusivity in the legal community by involving himself in a number of groups that aim to increase LGBT diversity and promote LGBT rights. In addition to his work with LGBT community groups, Hranitzky has also used his legal expertise to protect LGBT rights and has taken a number of pro bono cases to represent members of the LGBT community.
About Dechert
Dechert is a global specialist law firm focused on sectors with the greatest complexities and highest regulatory demands. We deliver practical commercial insight and judgment to our clients’ most important matters. Nothing stands in the way of giving clients the best of the firm’s entrepreneurial energy and seamless collaboration in a way that is distinctively Dechert.
