Diversity

Our firm is committed to promoting diversity in our workplace and in our community. Diverse perspectives and backgrounds help us better understand and serve our clients. Recognizing and respecting the differences of each individual employee instills a positive work environment and fosters employee retention. The cooperative collegiality of the members of our firm results in a teamwork approach to our practice, which ensures that effective, comprehensive services are provided to each client. Diversity strengthens this teamwork approach. Part of our firm's strategic plan is to continually seek diversity opportunities through our recruiting program, as well as our involvement in professional associations and civic organizations.

Our firm's commitment to diversity is reflected by our election for the first time of a woman as our managing shareholder.

Diversity Committee

Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel's Diversity Committee has created and maintains a set of strong guidelines for diversity recruitment and retention and promotes an environment of acceptance and support at the firm. The group reports to the firm's Executive Committee and works closely with the Recruiting Committee and Human Resources. Our Diversity Committee, whose members include both management and attorneys, also evaluates the effectiveness of diversity initiatives, updates the diversity guidelines as needed, and seeks new opportunities to broaden and retain a diverse group of attorneys and staff.

Recruitment

Our Recruiting Committee is charged with hiring lawyers and staff with a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. We interview annually at local and regional minority job fairs and conduct on-campus interviews at schools with significant minority enrollments. We are a member of the Diversity Section of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). Please visit the Chambliss Bahner & Stophel recruiting page for more information.

Professional & Civic Involvement

Our attorneys are involved in many civic and legal organizations, serving in board positions and volunteering time for projects that promote diversity in the community and in the legal profession.

Most recently, our firm partnered with BlueCross BlueShield to launch Chattanooga’s inaugural Street Law Diversity Pipeline Program, a nationally recognized educational series with the objective to promote diversity in the legal profession. Through this program, our teams of lawyers go into the classroom to talk to students about legal careers. We recently held a one-day conference that provided student workshops that were interactive, real-world examples of careers in the legal arena.

During 2008, members of the firm contributed more than 1,716 hours to pro bono work for clients who could not afford to pay for legal services. The Legal Aid of East Tennessee's (“LAET”) annual pro bono award is named after Bruce C. Bailey, a CB&S shareholder, and our firm received LAET's first ever pro bono firm award, an award the firm has received in subsequent years.

Our firm supports legal and community diversity initiatives and organizations including:

Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga
Children's Home/Chambliss Shelter
Chattanooga Regional History Museum
Chattanooga Times Free Press Newspapers in Education program
Girls, Inc.
Hope for the Inner City
La Paz de Dios
Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Pro Bono Night
National Association for Law Placement, Diversity Section
National Association of Women Business Owners
National Hispanic Bar Association
Street Law Diversity Pipeline Program
Tennessee's Women’s Leadership Summit
Urban League of Chattanooga
Women's Leadership Institute
YMCA
Young Women's Leadership Academy

Work/Life Balance

We are committed to helping our attorneys and staff integrate their professional and personal lives, so that they can satisfy the needs of their personal lives while reaching their full professional potential. Acknowledging the unique circumstances of each employee, we make the following arrangements when practical:

Flex-time
Part-time positions
Job sharing
Telecommuting
Supportive environment for working mothers and single parents.

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