As a part of the 2003 Strategic Plan, the firm created a Diversity Committee to develop and implement a written Diversity Action Plan and to advise the firm on all issues impacting law firm diversity. The committee is co-chaired by Shannon Antle Hamilton and J. Michael Brown.

The Action Plan was rolled out firm-wide in October 2004 and addresses five key areas:

• Firm-wide commitment. Includes top-down support and ongoing education.

• Entry-level recruitment. Focuses on expanding the firm's minority candidate pool, since Stites & Harbison's entry-level gender statistics exceed national averages. Fifty-five percent of the firm's new associates hired in the past five years are women.

• Lateral recruitment. Includes a lateral hiring strategy designed to build a "critical mass" of minority and women attorneys across all experience levels of the firm.

• Retention and advancement. Anticipates a review and modification of existing parental leave policies, the development of a written alternate/flexible work schedule policy, and a mentoring program that ensures support and development for all associates.

• Community outreach. Foresees, increased support and connection with women and minority-owned businesses, professional organizations and diverse communities.

The goal of the plan is to create policies and programs that will result in the recruitment, hiring, development, promotion and retention of personnel with richly diverse backgrounds, talents and perspectives.

Stites & Harbison's increased focus on diversity has brought immediate results. The 2004 summer associate class included 43 percent women and 29 percent minorities; the 2005 class included 57 percent women and 14 percent minorities. Since 2003 we have attended and participated in minority job fairs as a part of each recruiting season.

The publishers of MultiCultural Law magazine recognized Stites & Harbison as a Top 100 Law Firm for Diversity in 2005.

S.W.I.F.T.

In early 2003, the firm's women attorneys established the S.W.I.F.T. (Stites Women Investing in our Future Together) initiative to enhance mentoring, support and networking opportunities for women in the firm. SWIFT meets four times per year (three times by video-conference and once in person) to address topics selected by the women attorneys. To date, topics and programs have included effective communication and networking. In June 2004, all the women attorneys and the women summer associates met in Nashville to participate in a program by Ann Marie Sabath of At Ease, Inc.

Here is an outline of the topics discussed by Ms. Sabath:

• Strategies for Enhancing Client Relationships

• Four Key Ways for Making a Powerful First Impression

• The Most Commonly Asked Questions About Greetings

• Business Conversation: The Art of Connectors

• Overcoming Mingle-Phobia: How to Work a Room

Here's a list of other ways in which Stites & Harbison supports diversity in our communities and the legal profession:

• Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium - Charter Member

• Kentuckiana Minority Business Council - Member and supporter of KMBC

• Presenter and host of legal seminars for KMBC (Strategic Alliances - Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures; Intellectual Property)

• Kentuckiana Minority Business Council - Member Brian Cromer serves on the Board of Directors

• 2004 Kentucky SHRM Conference - Presenting Sponsor

• Louisville Urban League - Managing Partner, Kennedy Helm, serves on the Board of Directors

• Louisville Urban League Youth Golf Program - Sponsor

• Louisville Urban League Diversity Soiree - Sponsor

• Business Women First (Business First publication) - Sponsor

• Center for Women and Families - Center Circle Sponsor

• Professional Women's Group Steering Committee - Dress for Success

• Women's Business & Leadership Conference - Sponsor

• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law - Sponsor

• Courier-Journal, Civil Rights Educational Supplement - Sponsor