The firm moved up from 10th place in charity Stonewall’s 2012 rankings to ninth position this year, reports The Lawyer newspaper.
The London-based charity – which has offices in Edinburgh and Cardiff – compiled the list of 100 top employers using key indicators from the 376 employers that submitted entries, including a survey of lesbian, gay and bisexual employees. Simmons’ ranking is the highest-ever position achieved by a law firm.

Eight law firms

There were eight law firms included in the top 100, including list newcomer CMS at 62nd. Baker & McKenzie is the second-highest ranked law firm at 19th position, while Pinsent Masons jumped from 41st in 2012 to 22nd this year.
Herbert Smith Freehills also leapt into the top 30, rising 50 places from 80th position last year, while Hogan Lovells was up from 62nd to 40th and Eversheds up from 73rd to 52nd.
The only firm to drop in the ranking was Irwin Mitchell, which fell from 33rd place in 2012 to 72nd this year.

Tribute

David Stone, Simmons partner and co-chairman of the firm’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender network, said: ‘It’s a tribute to improvements for the LGBT community in the legal profession that law firms continue to rank well in Stonewall’s index. We hope to see future rankings for other branches of the profession, such as barristers, legal executives, patent and trademark attorneys and notaries public.’
Global consultancy company Accenture topped the list overall, with housing company Gentoo second and the retailing and financial services giant, the Co-operative, third.