TeamWomen is honored to highlight Taft in our Sponsor Spotlight this month! With a proven track record of experience since 1885, Taft is a law firm serving individuals and businesses worldwide. Today, Taft is a modern, progressive firm that is the trusted advisor to many successful clients, as well as an employer of choice in each of its major markets. Taft was also recently named one of the 2021 “Best Law Firms for Women” by Seramount (formerly Working Mother magazine), one of only 50 U.S. law firms to earn this prestigious honor.
Learn why Taft decided to sponsor TeamWomen, how they encourage well-being in their employees, and what they’ve done to persevere during this time of change.
What drew you to sponsoring TeamWomen?
Taft is committed to building the next generation of women leaders. That includes developing leadership skills in the women of our firm and supporting organizations like TeamWomen (who also grow leadership skills in our community). Some of the young women who are engaged with the vital work of Empower Leadership Academy are destined for legal careers, so supporting TeamWomen means supporting future women attorneys. We are proud to be a TeamWomen sponsor and look forward to a long partnership.
How does Taft support other women around them, professionally and personally?
The mission of Taft’s active, firm-wide Gender Advancement Committee is to develop, promote, and advance women attorneys within Taft, the legal profession, and the community. In addition, our Women of Taft affinity groups in each market provide impactful professional development programming by offering business and relationship development opportunities and by creating an inclusive, supportive environment for our female professionals.
Our women attorneys are also highly accomplished leaders outside the firm, giving their legal talents to community and professional organizations to help them and our communities prosper. We also sponsor professional educational programs to benefit our female clients, and we participate in numerous associations devoted to the advancement of women across multiple industries.
Taft’s Executive Committee is composed of 50% women, so women at Taft know they have role models, champions, and advocates at every level of leadership in the firm.
How does Taft encourage well-being in its employees?
Taft believes deeply in encouraging the well-being of all of our employees. We know that our clients receive the best possible service from us when our team members are healthy, well, and engaged. Plus, we want everyone at Taft to know we value them and support their well-being, both personally and professionally. For that reason, we have several well-being initiatives, including monthly virtual events, regular newsletters that are full of resources and wellness ideas, and much more. Taft also offers generous paid leave policies to its employees, including 16 weeks of paid parental leave for all attorneys.
What are some of the big things happening for your company?
The Taft Minneapolis office recently created a Diversity & Inclusion subcommittee that partners with the firm-wide committee. It was crucial to the Minneapolis office that they focus on how to improve those efforts culturally and in the community. The firm continues to become more innovative by enhancing our technology offerings, making it easier for attorneys and employees to work from anywhere while continuing to provide excellent client service.
With it being almost two years since the Taft merger, the Minneapolis office has continued to integrate and cross-collaborate with other Taft offices. The Minneapolis office frequently hosts Taft attorneys who are visiting from other offices, and the Minneapolis attorneys are now members of inter-office litigation and advising teams. The merger has only increased our abilities to deliver quality legal services to our clients across various industries.
To learn more about Taft, visit their website.
