Diversity & Inclusion
The professionals who walk our halls, the clients we serve and the organizations we support are evidence of Turner Padget’s commitment to diversity.
We hire and retain diverse individuals who bring varied talents, backgrounds and life experiences to both the courtroom and the boardroom. Here are a few ways we promote diversity:
- We actively seek to hire attorneys with diverse backgrounds through our recruiting efforts.
- Our formal Diversity & Inclusion Committee seeks opportunities to enhance and develop the skills and talents of the firm's attorneys, identifies opportunities to work with diverse clients, educates the firm's attorneys and staff on diversity-related issues, and seeks ways to create and maintain an inclusive workforce that values and respects diversity, enhanced by openness, trust, teamwork, accountability and involvement.
- We host a women’s leadership conference for all female attorneys and directors. This is a day-and-a-half retreat focused on leadership issues, achievements and goals for the following year.
- We represent Columbia College, a private liberal arts women’s college, and actively support the college by sponsoring speakers for the Leadership Institute of Columbia College.
- Turner Padget is a member and supporter of the South Carolina Diversity Council, which promotes and encourages diversity in workplaces throughout South Carolina.
- We support the Black Law Students Associations at the University of South Carolina and the Charleston Law School and, sponsor their annual banquets.
- Several of our attorneys individually support and are involved in organizations such as:
- Defense Research Institute
- Sumter Society for Human Resource Management
- Columbia Society for Human Resource Management
- Work-In-Progress
- Riley Diversity Leaders Initiative, affiliated with the Riley Institute at Furman University
- Leadership Academy of the South Carolina Bar
Our Diversity Statement reads as such:
Turner, Padget, Graham & Laney is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce, including attorneys and support staff, and conducting business with diverse clients.
The firm broadly views diversity as all differences that make us unique and special—life and work experiences, culture and beliefs, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, marital status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, education, military service, differing abilities, and other distinguishing characteristics and aspects of life. The firm strives to foster and maintain a culture that values and embraces these differences, and includes diverse people in the life and work of the firm, so that our diversity strengthens and improves the entire organization.
All employees share the responsibility for creating a workplace that values and respects diversity and inclusion and is enhanced by openness, trust, teamwork, accountability, and involvement.
The firm encourages everyone to contribute their unique perspectives, backgrounds, and capabilities to maximize client satisfaction, maintain strategic relationships with business and community leaders, create a unified and personally rewarding team culture, and generate superior business results.