Bracewell - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Bracewell is High Risk.

Bracewell is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. Bracewell implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. The company embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	High Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Bracewell received a score of 70 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. The company recruits employees based on sexual identity issues. The company discriminates against vendors that do not promote divisive sex and gender policies, indicating it prioritizes sexual issues over merit (1)(2). The company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its ESG page: “Bracewell is one of the few firms that offers a full suite of ESG capabilities. We are recognized internationally as a leading firm on ESG matters” (3). However, the company has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (4).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Bracewell‘s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2). The company does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (3).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Bracewell‘s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology (1)(2). The company is a member of The Diversity and Flexibility Alliance, indicating its support of DEI in its recruitment, retention, promotions, and leadership composition (3)(4). Bracewell does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (5).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Bracewell supports DEI within its business practices, employing a DEI Committee (1). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its ESG page: “Bracewell is a pioneering firm on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. We have been at the forefront of legal and policy developments concerning climate change, social responsibility and corporate governance for over two decades, and we were among the first law firms to recognize the importance of these issues for our clients” (2). Bracewell has a history of using reputation to support divisive practices. However, the company removed DEI language from its webpage. To date, the company has not publicly addressed this change, leaving shareholders without clarity regarding the company’s reasoning or future direction (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Bracewell‘s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). The company is partnered with the Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity, the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance, the Trevor Project, and the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York (3). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Bracewell using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (4).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Bracewell is a part of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, committed to work on initiatives that fight “systemic racism (1)(2). The company has not used its PAC donations for ideological purposes and does not engage in lobbying at this time (3)(4)(5).