Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Kilpatrick Stockton's ERISA/Employee Benefits Practice is comprised of lawyers working on behalf of clients throughout the United States and overseas. In Washington, D.C., our office gives us direct access to national policy makers in Congress and regulatory agencies. The practice encompasses all areas of employee benefits, executive compensation law, and ERISA litigation, representing a cross-section of businesses ranging from Fortune 10 to start-ups. The expansiveness of our practice means that we have deep bench strength. The diverse and innovative client base we support provides cutting-edge work that help to keep us at the forefront of critical developments in our field.

One major focus of our Employee Benefits Group is keeping current on changes in, and counseling clients on compliance with, the complex federal and state laws that affect benefits programs, and the services and products that benefit plans use. We offer consultation on benefit plan design, plan documents and fiduciary responsibility, as well as reporting and disclosure obligations.

The firm's commitment to diversity as a core value leads us to pursue initiatives that make every aspect of our work environment more open and fulfilling for everyone. We have adopted as our guiding principle the following statement about what diversity means to us, which we refer to as the Kilpatrick Townsend diversity principle:

"At Kilpatrick Townsend, all persons, without regard to differences among them that do not matter in the workplace, shall be respected and valued fully, so that each person may maximize his or her potential to contribute to the common good of our firm and to benefit fairly from doing so."

Our Legacy

Kilpatrick Townsend has a 135-year history of leadership in inclusiveness -- hiring and promoting diverse attorneys and staff and fostering an environment in which the best legal minds can thrive. It's one of the most important elements of our legacy, and it has contributed directly to our firm's success.

Kilpatrick Townsend:

• was one of the first large firms in the Southeast to have a female partner;
• led the major regional law firms in recruiting and hiring African-American attorneys
• was the first AmLaw 100 firm headquartered in the South to have a female co-managing partner;
• represented Martin Luther King, Sr. when the IRS unfairly targeted his church in the 1960s; and
• provided pro bono counsel to Atlanta’s first black mayor Maynard Jackson’s mayoral re-election campaign in 1989.

For us, diversity in our workplace is about action and continually seeking better ways to empower and energize our diverse personnel for success. Their individual successes enhance both our ability to provide world-class services to clients and our collective and individual contributions to the strength and vitality of the communities in which we work and live.

Our Vision and Values

Commitment is the foundation of a successful effort to build and maintain a diverse and inclusive environment. We are working to attract the widest possible pool of top talent; provide opportunities for all attorneys and staff to maximize their potential and fully contribute to accomplishing our firm’s mission, and ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Promoting diversity and its social imperative for fair treatment in our workplace without regard to racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation and other self-defining factors is a core value of the firm -- a part of the fabric for our institutional life. We recognize both the social responsibility and the business opportunity of promoting diversity. It is the right thing to do, and it is good for business.