The clients and communities our firm serves represent unique backgrounds and needs. To that end, we strive to field a highly-skilled, diverse team of legal professionals able to empathize, understand, and solve the issues they face. Our deep commitment to diversity takes many forms:
Outreach: We conduct outreach at diverse colleges and legal associations to strive for a diverse applicant pool for lateral hiring and our Summer Associate Program. Our initiatives include working directly with law school affinity groups and career service officers, collaborating with undergraduate pre-law groups to expose them to the practice of law, and actively participating in the Steering Committee for the Diversity Program of the State Bar of Georgia. Additionally, we engage with leaders of diverse legal associations where our firm's attorneys are involved.
Leadership: Parker Hudson achieved Mansfield Rule Certification Plus for 2023-2024, for the second year in a row. The goal of Mansfield is to increase and sustain diversity in law firm leadership through a science-driven method that embeds accountability, transparency, and knowledge sharing into our talent practices. As a key member of the Steering Committee for the State Bar of Georgia Diversity Program, our firm helps guide diversity initiatives at the Bar. We also work directly with the program’s High School Pipeline Program to help students from traditionally unrepresented groups prepare for college and law school. Similarly, we encourage our lawyers and professional staff to participate in and lead legal organizations that share our outlook on the importance of diversity and inclusion. Parker Hudson lawyers and professional staff represent the firm in many such organizations, including the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association, the Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys, the South Asian Bar Association of Georgia, the Jewish Bar Association of Georgia, and the Stonewall Bar Association.
Firm Culture: The firm has had a dedicated diversity committee – comprised of partners, associates, and professional staff – for over 15 years. We live inclusiveness every day in our offices, where we actively work to foster an atmosphere that values and respects our differences and encourages authenticity. We regularly provide our attorneys and staff with diversity and inclusion training, covering topics such as implicit bias, generational diversity, how to effectively receive and give feedback, Muslim Americans in the workplace, gender identity, and integrating work and personal life. We also regularly host discussions regarding many diversity and inclusion topics, and we attend and host community diversity programs. In addition, we have a women attorneys' affinity group that has offered training on a number of professional development topics, including business development and personal branding.