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Our Industry Commitment

Baird Holm is committed to a firm culture in which attorneys and staff of differing genders, colors, race, ethnicity, religions, disabilities and sexual orientations work well together to deliver superior legal services and enjoy equal opportunities at success in their careers.  The Firm was recently recognized by the Nebraska State Bar Association as a recipient of the inaugural NSBA Diversity Award.

The Firm's attorneys annually take part in a number of diversity initiatives. These include:

  • Baird Holm established two $5,000 scholarships which are awarded annually to students at the University of Nebraska College of Law and Creighton University School of Law. These scholarships target admitted students who have financial need and who are from educationally and culturally disadvantaged backgrounds. The purpose of each of these scholarships is to encourage and enable first-year law students from diverse backgrounds to attend law schools in Nebraska. Click here to learn about our 2011-2012 scholarship recipients.
  • Baird Holm is a Gold Level Sponsor of the Nebraska Bar Association LSAT Prep Scholarship. The LSAT Prep Scholarship Program assists diverse and minority individuals with preparing for the LSAT exam by covering the costs of a Kaplan LSAT Preparatory Course and registration for the LSAT exam with the goal of increasing the diverse student population. Click here to learn about our 2011-2012 scholarship recipient. 
  • Baird Holm also sponsors a similar LSAT program with the University of Nebraska at Omaha though the Goodrich Scholarship Program, an organization established to increase minority student successes at the undergraduate level. The program also includes a 2-day internship at the Firm where students have the opportunity to meet with members of the Firm and explore the workplace and a legal career.
  • Baird Holm invited junior and senior students with career interests in law from the University of Nebraska at Omaha to participate in a tour of the firm and a panel discussion with several of the firm's associates discussing law school, LSATs, and careers in law. Following the panel, the students attended the moot court finals at the Creighton University School of Law. The students are members of the Goodrich Scholarship Program, an organization at UNO established to increase minority successes at the undergraduate level, and Project Achieve, a UNO program that enriches first-generation, limited income, and/or disabled students with academic skills development programs.
  • Since 2008, Baird Holm has been a sponsor of the University of Kansas School of Law's Diversity in Law Banquet held in Lawrence every spring.  The banquet celebrates the ways in which diversity enriches KU Law and affords students an opportunity to share ethnic and cultural differences with the KU Law community, including alumni and local firms.   
  • Baird Holm sponsored the fall 2010 Nebraska Bar Association Legal Diversity Summit for the sixth year in a row. This event focused on the importance of diversity in law firms and hosted minority students from law schools in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas and Missouri.  
  • Baird Holm was a Corporate Sponsor of the 2008 - 2011 ICAN Women's Leadership Conferences. The Women's Leadership Conference is a one-day conference, which aims to empower Omaha women.  Jacqueline Pueppke, a partner with Baird Holm,  serves on the ICAN Board of Directors.

It’s Part of Our Work

Diversity is integral to Baird Holm's legal work, as the Firm represents a wide range of clients and organizations representing diverse communities inclusive of cultural, ethnic, social and racial minorities.

  • Our work not only involves representation of diverse individuals and communities but advocacy to challenge discriminatory practices. A significant example of Baird Holm's advocacy was its representation of the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) as well as several other Nebraska School districts in a lawsuit against the State of Nebraska challenging the funding formula by which the State allocates tax revenue for education. The lawsuit asserted that the State discriminated against parents and students of OPS and other school districts in its funding formulas based on race and national origin.
  • Baird Holm has one of the most extensive immigration practices in the region. Firm attorneys regularly assist clients in overcoming legal barriers to hiring diverse individuals from around the world.
  • Baird Holm advises many clients on the establishment and implementation of Affirmative Action and Diversity plans.
  • Baird Holm obtained a Special Use Permit for Compassionate Memory Care to operate a residential group home for patients with Alzheimer's.  The Firm also represented Compassionate Memory Care in a successful request to the Omaha City Council to approve a permit to allow a group home for Alzheimer patients to expand from eight to 11 patients.  
  • Baird Holm’s David Kramer, along with another attorney, submitted an amicus brief pro bono on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in support of the district court’s decision to uphold the termination of a state trooper due to his knowing and willful affiliation with a group associated with the Ku Klux Klan. The ADL, which fights bigotry by monitoring hate groups and extremists, filed the brief urging the Court to uphold the termination of the state trooper. The Nebraska Supreme Court’s decision was made based in part on the analysis used in the brief written by Baird Holm.

Community Leadership and Diversity

Baird Holm attorneys lead by example in their commitment to diversity. A significant percentage of our attorneys serve on boards of directors and/or provide pro bono legal services to non-profit community service organizations. These include:

  • Latino Center of the Midlands
  • Educare of Omaha, Inc.
  • Head Start (Formerly Child and Family Development Corporation)
  • Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Midlands
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • Worknet Foundation (secure housing for disabled)
  • OneWorld Community Health Centers
  • Nebraska Legal Aid Society
  • ARC of Nebraska (helping persons with disabilities) 
  • Girls, Inc.
  • Heartland Family Services
  • Kids Can Community Center
  • Nebraska AIDS Project