Diversity: Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Commitment to Diversity

Baker Donelson recognizes that individuals with varying cultures and backgrounds provide unique perspectives and approaches to solving clients' legal problems. Diversity is an integral part of the Firm's culture and values.

Baker Donelson's 2002 strategic plan committed the Firm to increasing its minority population 100% by August 2004. By May 2004, the number of minority attorneys in the Firm had increased by more than 100%. Since 2002, our Firm has more than doubled in size; as of April 2006, our minority attorney population has more than quadrupled its 2002 level. Further, MultiCultural Law magazine has consistently ranked Baker Donelson as one of the "Top 100 U.S. Law Firms for Diversity" since 2005.

Female and minority attorneys have assumed leadership roles throughout the Firm. Women currently serve or have recently served as the managing shareholders in the Atlanta, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Birmingham offices, and chair or co-chair the International Law, Health Law, Labor & Employment Law, Business Litigation, State and Federal Public Policy and New Litigators Practice Groups. Three female attorneys serve on the Board of Directors.

The Firm recognizes that diversity means more than just numbers. The Firm's Diversity Committee, of which the CEO, COO and two Office Managing Shareholders of Baker Donelson are active members, oversees and implements the Firm's diversity initiatives. Following are some of the diversity activities undertaken by the Firm:

• The Firm has increased its minority lawyers by recruiting established and successful attorneys to serve as role models and assist in recruiting and mentoring young minority lawyers. Some of those lawyers are Judge Barry Ford, a veteran trial judge in Mississippi who continues to be involved in recruiting and mentoring our attorneys in Jackson and throughout the Firm; Gerardo R. Barrios, a veteran construction lawyer in Louisiana and Executive Board Member of the George Washington Law Alumni Association; Pamela W. Carter, a former member of the Board of Governors for the Louisiana State Bar Association and former Chair of an ABA TIPS Section; Charles K. Grant, a former President of the Napier-Looby Bar Association and the Nashville Bar Association's 2004 Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year; and Nancy A. Vincent, General Counsel for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Diversity Task Force for the Tennessee Bar Association and former Vice President of Legal Affairs & Government Relations for the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority.

• In April 2004, Baker Donelson welcomed four new African-American attorneys into the Firm, including an of counsel who is a hearing panel member of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, and Charles K. Grant, a shareholder who is a former President of the Napier-Looby Bar Association, an affiliate of the National Bar Association, and the Nashville Bar Association's 2004 Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year.

• In August 2004, the Firm welcomed Pamela W. Carter as a shareholder in its New Orleans office. Ms. Carter is a member of the Board of Governors for the Louisiana State Bar Association and was the 2005-2006 Chair of the American Bar Association's Automobile Law Committee of the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. She serves on the Defense Research Institute's committee to create its Law Firm Retention Manual for Minorities and Women and is Vice Chair of the DRI Diversity Steering Committee. Ms. Carter is a recipient of the ABA Section Officers Conference Continuing Legal Education Task Force's "CLE Diversity Award" and Vice Chair, 2002-2004 of Minorities in the Profession Committee for the New Orleans Bar Association.

• The Firm formed a Women's Initiative Committee to (1) substantially improve the recruitment and retention of women attorneys; (2) increase the representation of women in leadership positions at the Firm; (3) heed the call of our clients to provide a more diversified attorney team; and (4) improve career development for its women attorneys, thereby enhancing the economic viability of the Firm.

• In November 2007, the Firm sponsored the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference, which featured Pamela W. Carter as a panelist speaker and an outstanding line-up of programs developed to engage lawyers in thought-provoking dialogue by spotlighting the critical issues faced by the profession.

• Baker Donelson actively recruits at historically African-American law schools, such as Howard University, North Carolina Central, Southern University and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and strongly considers applications from students at similar institutions.

• The Firm regularly discusses diversity and its progress in this area at attorney and shareholder retreats; the Firm's CEO and Diversity Committee Chair have spoken about how Baker Donelson attorneys and clients increasingly desire and expect a diverse team of attorneys to be engaged in the Firm's work. At the most recent Firm retreat, representatives from three prominent clients served as panel members to discuss the importance of diversity in the legal profession. Also, management communicates to office recruiting chairs the importance of diversity in the Fall recruiting process as well as to practice group chairs seeking lateral hires.

• In November 2007, the Firm implemented a "flex time policy" for its attorneys, which allows lawyers to deviate from the standard billable-hour format. While the Firm expects the highest commitment to the practice of law, it also supports the desire of its attorneys to balance a challenging professional career with their personal lives and other outside interests and responsibilities.

• In November 2007, the Firm committed to funding The Baker Donelson Internship Program at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI). Baker Donelson will provide funding for three interns during 2008, with the intent that Baker Donelson will continue to fund the program into the future. The Baker Donelson Interns will be assigned to positions in education, archives or public relations to support the BCRI mission, which is "to promote civil and human rights worldwide through education."

• In September 2007, Baker Donelson co-sponsored the Nashville Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week. MED Week provides a forum to discuss the continued growth and development of minority business enterprises.

• In August 2007, Baker Donelson was the primary sponsor of the Birmingham Business Journal's inaugural Best in Minority Business Awards, which celebrated the spirit, creativity and resourcefulness of minority business leaders and companies promoting and achieving diversity in their business.

• In June 2007, the Firm was sponsor of the "Diversity for Success" seminar presented by the Defense Research Institute's Diversity Committee, which was chaired by Pam Carter. Approximately 400 lawyers from across the U.S. and more than 25 corporate counsel attended the firm-sponsored event and learned effective ways to recruit and retain minority attorneys.

• In October 2006, members of the ABA's Section of Labor and Employment Law's EEO Committee established a fund to honor College Fellow, Board of Governors' member and Baker Donelson shareholder, Maurice Wexler. The fund, to be used by the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, will establish a series of educational programs and lectures exploring and discussing the impact of the law and lawyers on society in general and the Civil Rights movement in particular.

• In September 2006, Charles Grant was presented with the NAACP Tennessee State Conference President's Award during the Annual Freedom Awards Dinner.

• In September 2006, Mississippi Governor Haley R. Barbour appointed Charles Pickering, a Baker Donelson Senior Counsel and former federal Appeals Court Judge, co-chair of a commission that will plan a national civil rights museum in Mississippi.

• In April 2006, three Baker Donelson attorneys participated in the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA) Diversity Summit in Memphis, which sought to support and advance diversity in the Tennessee legal community. Charles Grant, the TBA Diversity Summit Committee Chair, moderated the event. Firm CEO Ben Adams served as a panelist and Memphis shareholder and TBA President-Elect Buck Lewis led a small group discussion. Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton made the opening remarks, and nationally-known civil rights attorney Fred Gray gave the keynote address, which was followed by a panel discussion led by then-current TBA President Bill Haltom. Panelists included Judge Bernice Donald, Judge Joe Haynes, Jim Barry with International Paper and Mary Beard with Federal Express.

• In November 2005, Baker Donelson co-sponsored an invitation-only "Conference on Diversity in the Workplace," held in Memphis. Event co-chair and Memphis shareholder Maurice Wexler spoke, along with CEO Ben Adams, former Labor & Employment Chair Fern Singer and Senior Counsel Charles Pickering. Other notable speakers were Honorable Tu Pham and Honorable Naomi C. Earp, who is the Vice Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The conference addressed such issues as how diversity differs from affirmative action; designing and implementing a diversity policy and plan; diversity's role in public and private employment sectors; and implementation issues and best practices.

• Also in November 2005, Clarence Risin, former Chairman of the Baker Donelson Diversity Committee, served as a panelist for the "Accountability Metrics within Law Firms vs. Corporate Law Departments" session at the Minority Corporate Counsel Association's 6th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity Conference.