Continuing to build a future where everyone belongs

We believe that strengthening the diversity and equity within the firm begins with ensuring inclusion and that for us to successfully advance in the DE&I space each member has to lend a hand to ensure that everyone feels included. To give our attorneys and professionals the resources they need to promote an inclusive culture, we began production of our Fostering a Connected Culture video series. The series is a set of learning modules that will provide educational resources to empower our team to help nurture an inclusive firm culture. Our goal is to give each member for Balch access to the resources needed to help them take an active role in supporting an inclusive culture.

In 2022, we were pleased to join the membership of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), an organization of more than 400 corporate general counsel and law firm managing partners—the leadership of the profession—who are committed to promoting a more open and diverse legal profession. The organization’s action programs are designed to attract, inspire and nurture the talent in society and within law firms across the country, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. By producing tangible results, LCLD works to promote inclusiveness within law firms.

Managing Partner Stan Blanton and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Brandi Russell serve as Balch’s representatives to LCLD.

Tashwanda Pinchback Dixon (2022) and David Duhè (2023) have served as the firm’s representatives for the LCLD Fellows Program - a program designed for diverse, high-potential, mid-career attorneys at LCLD Member organizations. 

Irving Jones (2022) and Christina Nuñez (2023) have served as the firm’s representatives for the LCLD Pathfinders Program – a program designed for diverse, high-potential, early career attorneys at LCLD Member organizations. Christina Nuñez was awarded the inaugural Pathfinder Atlas Award at the LCLD Pathfinder Fall Meeting. 

Additionally, Balch consistently participates in the LCLD 1L Scholars Program. This program gives law students the opportunity to work side-by-side with attorneys from LCLD Member organizations. The LCLD 1L Scholars also participate in robust client networking events and career development opportunities throughout the year. 

We host the annual Susan B. Livingston Boot Camp for Success to equip incoming law students with the necessary tools to succeed in law school and throughout their professional careers. The program focuses on attracting promising students from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession and from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as students facing other significant barriers to entering the legal profession.

During this two-day program, students will gain a better sense of the law school classroom experience, receive practical tips and advice from judges, in-house counsel and leaders from a variety of backgrounds, network with Balch attorneys and learn tips to enhance their academic and professional success while maximizing law school opportunities. 

All members of the firm are encouraged to promote and advance diversity, equity and inclusion.  In pursuit of the firm’s goals, the firm will provide up to 50 hours of billable credit annually for significant leadership or participation in approved Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) activities and engagement. 

Balch Business Boost is a pro bono program with a DEI lens dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs of color and/or women-owned businesses and start-ups by providing free or low-cost legal services. Minority- and women-owned businesses and start-ups are critical contributors to our economy - important creators of new jobs and brilliant ideas that make our communities and our economies better. Recent tragedies have refocused our attention on the inequities that remain in our society and, more specifically, at home in our communities. At Balch, we believe it is imperative that we all work together to tackle systemic injustices and to proactively support people who are forced to navigate and overcome unnecessary barriers to achieving success.

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