Diversity
Diversity Overview
Balch & Bingham LLP is committed to diversity and inclusiveness. Our commitment is supported by the resources, skills and attention of our attorneys and staff. After several years as an ad hoc committee, we recognized in 2005 that the firm’s Diversity Committee should be made a permanent fixture in the management of the firm as the process of diversifying is, by its very nature, always evolving.
Our Diversity Committee reports directly to the firm’s Executive Committee. It is chaired by a female partner with twenty years’ legal experience. Other members of the committee range from a partner serving on the Executive Committee to a first year associate. The members of the committee are representative of the firm’s diversity. The Diversity Committee devotes special resources to three initiatives in specialized efforts to attract and retain diverse attorney talent and to mesh the interests of our firm with the expectations of our clients. The Hispanic/Latino, African-American and Women’s initiatives are responsive to the needs and opportunities of our firm’s cultural and business contexts.
Our diversity and inclusiveness efforts are focused in three areas: (1) hiring and retaining highly qualified attorneys; (2) maintaining legal expertise for the counseling of increasingly diverse clients; and (3) making meaningful contributions to the civic and charitable fabric of the communities we serve.
The Committee
The Committee is chaired by Kate Musso, a partner in the Birmingham office. The African–American Initiative is co–chaired by associates, Steven Parker and Houston Smith. The Hispanic–Latino initiative is chaired by lobbyist Wendy Padilla Madden. The Women’s Initiative is chaired by partner Kimberly Powell. The committee includes representatives from each office and includes partners, associates, lobbyists, staff and management. Committee members are Mike Edwards, Stephen Fusco, Doug Kauffman, Willie Phillips, Michelle Rothenberg-Williams and Barrie Wilson.
Hiring and Retention
We participate in a variety of targeted recruiting functions including the Southeastern Minority Job Fair, National Black Law Students Association Job Fair and the Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium. We hold special functions at law schools offering diverse candidates and provide mentoring workshops and pre-law study scholarships to targeted colleges and universities. To support our attorneys in the development of their careers, we provide individual mentoring with an emphasis on fostering early client contact and development of subject matter expertise.
Supporting Clients
Balch & Bingham LLP has seen generations of attorneys mature and season alongside their counterparts in our most important clients. This process continues today and as we present a more diverse picture, so do our clients. We firmly believe this makes us better able to serve our clients and enhances the merit of our counsel. One example of this is the coordination of our female partners with the launch of Southern Company Services’ “Women in Business & Technology,” an organization that has gained 500 members in its first year.
Civic and Charitable Goals
Our attorneys and staff support more than 100 charitable and civic organizations in the communities we serve. Our people serve in leadership positions in pivotal groups like the Urban League, YWCA, The Women’s Fund, The United Negro College Fund, The Sickle Cell Foundation, The Magic City Bar Association, YMCA, Operation New Birmingham, Leadership Birmingham, the Urban League, the United Way, and Girls, Incorporated.