Many law firms support LGBT equality by donating money or doing cases pro bono. But one firm has taken it to a higher level—16 stories, to be exact.

Nixon Peabody has donated 2,300 square feet of its 16th floor San Francisco office and partnered with StartOut, a nonprofit LGBT business accelerator, to launch the StartOut Growth Lab. The firm's lawyers provide free legal advice and give critical information on business know-how to the seven LGBT-owned businesses they nurture.

Tom Gaynor, managing partner of Nixon Peabody's San Francisco office, came up with the idea. He said other law firms are not doing anything like it specifically for LGBT entrepreneurs. He's a longtime volunteer on StartOut's board of directors.