Firm Inclusion
Gordon Feinblatt is dedicated to fostering an environment that embraces diversity, promotes equality, and engenders mutual respect, thereby creating a culture of inclusion where everyone has the opportunity to excel and thrive. Gordon Feinblatt is committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse attorneys and staff, thereby resulting in a variety of perspectives that benefits the firm, our clients, and the communities in which we practice.
Personnel Resource Groups
Gordon Feinblatt recognizes the importance of fostering an environment where personnel with common interests, goals, and ideologies can come together for networking opportunities, to support each other, and to help drive positive change within an organization.
Gordon Feinblatt’s Associates Group
The Associates Development Committee provides the Firm's Associates with mentorship, through the buddy/mentor program, educational opportunities, social activities and stresses the importance of work in our community.
The Firm's Associates Group was founded on four primary components:
- Mentorship: Through the Buddy/Mentor program, Associates are paired with Members with whom they meet on a regular basis. Our Associates have dedicated resources within the Firm to advise them on a range of professional and legal topics.
- Educational Opportunities: Sara Witman, Director of Research Services, provides weekly Associates Breakfasts on specific research topics. Lunch program educational topics have included education on networking, how to present interesting cases/projects, Freestate Justice Training Session for name changes, how to manage money and investing to learning about Baltimore, and hearing from a local District Court judge.
- Social Enrichment: Our Associates have collaborated in a cooking class, attended an Orioles game, and met for happy hours with their mentors and buddies.
- Community Outreach: In carrying forward the principles started by our Firm’s founding partners, the Associates have learned about the importance of board participation and have worked hands-on with several organizations including Habitat for Humanity and Helping Up Mission.
Gordon Feinblatt's UPLIFT Group
UPLIFT is a non-attorney network for professional development. Through the work of our Diversity & Inclusion Committee and feedback from many of our staff, this affinity group has been created. We have found there is a strong interest and desire for more opportunities that focus on professional networking, growth and development. The purpose of UPLIFT is to bring non-attorneys together who share a common interest in learning and developing skills such as networking, communication, presentation and leadership skills. This forum provides interactive and quarterly topics that benefit everyone regardless of their role.
Gordon Feinblatt’s Women's Alliance
Led by Laura Johnson and Chastity Threadcraft, the Gordon Feinblatt’s Women Alliance unifies the Firm's women attorneys, clients and contacts for a variety of networking, leadership and professional development opportunities. The Firm's women attorneys meet regularly for lunch and host other events to strengthen the personal and professional relationships among each other and with our women clients and contacts.
Our women attorneys are also actively involved in a number of women's professional and civic organizations including:
- Alliance of Black Women Attorneys of Maryland
- CREWBaltimore
- Executive Alliance (formerly Network 2000)
- Professional Women in Building Council of Maryland
- Women Environmental Litigators of the Environmental Litigation Commitee of the American Bar Association
- Women United of United Way of Central Maryland
- Women's Bar Association of Maryland
Connecting Events
An important aspect of cultivating an inclusive workplace is providing opportunities for personnel to interact with each other outside of the daily routine. We are committed to developing cohesiveness among our personnel, which we believe is an advantage for the Firm, as well as for our individuals. We encourage attorneys and staff to participate in any number of events and activities throughout the year, including:
- Numerous firm-sponsored volunteer opportunities
- Family days
- Happy hours
- All attorney lunches
- Staff Appreciation Day
