Dentons and its Atlanta-based team were recently awarded the goBeyondProfit Champion Award for the firm’s enduring commitment to civic engagement. 

Beyond a traditional definition of business generosity, Dentons showcases what it means to be civically engaged. In this interview with Dentons’ senior leaders, Eric Tanenblatt, Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation, Sharon Gay, Senior Counsel, and Mark Silver, Partner, they share specific strategies, synergies and mutual benefits when a business takes civic engagement seriously.   

A History of Meaningful Civic Impact

Eric Tanenblatt: “I’ve been at the firm for almost 25 years, and I remember when I first started, I was just surprised by how everyone around me was involved. Whether it was serving on a governmental board, a business organization’s board, working for a nonprofit, or doing pro bono legal work, it wasn’t a requirement; it was just part of the firm’s culture, and it has remained so for decades.

The legacy firm of Dentons here in Atlanta was Long, Aldridge, & Norman, which later became McKenna, Long, & Aldridge. Clay Long, a founder of Long, Aldridge, & Norman, truly exemplified civic engagement.

It really starts at the top; you set the tone and the example. And it wasn’t just him; it permeated throughout the firm.”

Sharon Gay: “It’s one of the reasons I chose this firm over others. The modeling of Clay Long, Bill Stevens, and John Aldridge—all the people who were so engaged in the community—was inspiring. Lawyers at this firm were instrumental in the creation of MARTA, helped us secure the Democratic convention one year, were involved in Super Bowl bids, and worked on natural resource protection. That broader commitment to civic and community engagement truly tilted the balance for me.”

Defining Civic Engagement: A Call to Action

Sharon Gay: “To me, civic engagement is about paying your civic rent. I’m a big believer that business and industry need to pay civic rent. Our businesses and firms aren’t successful on their own. Someone built an airport for us; someone provides roads, streets, and bridges; someone ensures the stability of an economy.

All those things are done by both the public and private sectors. I believe, at my core, that it’s important for business and professional leaders to find meaningful ways to give back to the community that has supported and nurtured them, their careers, and their businesses.”

Mark Silver: “Civic engagement in a law firm means recognizing that as a lawyer, you have to be part of the community and understand that the community will be better if the law firm treats the community as one, as interrelated.

You can’t just come to a large or small law firm and exist in a silo, then go back to your family. You have to help the community be better and make a positive difference for everyone involved. It’s about finding what you’re passionate about and then helping improve that part of the community.”

Sharon Gay: “For lawyers, an obvious avenue is bar activities, whether it’s the Atlanta Bar, the State Bar, or being involved in committees or doing pro bono work. But for me, it’s always been much broader than that. What does our city need, what does our ecosystem need that we could help contribute to?”

From Global to Local: A Commitment to Improving Lives

Eric Tanenblatt: “There are so many organizations the firm has been involved in. We’ve been the pro bono counsel for Points of Light for almost 20 years, and it’s been a really strong and important relationship for the firm. Points of Light, as you know, promotes volunteerism.

We’ve also been working with CARE on a pro bono basis for a number of years, helping them around the globe. In addition to Points of Light and CARE, we have a long history with Habitat for Humanity and the Georgia Justice Project. We were also involved in the early stages of the creation of the Westside Future Fund to help with the redevelopment of our historic neighborhood here on the west side of Atlanta.

There are also business groups we’re very much involved in that do so much for the community, whether it’s the Chambers of Commerce here in Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, and the Buckhead Coalition. All of those things are important because they’re all making a big difference in the community.”

Sharon Gay: “For me, the one that stands out the most is the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (AVLF). A few years ago, they realized, through conversations with the city and philanthropic communities, that there was a greater need than just the typical one-off Legal Aid case.

This led to a partnership among the city, Atlanta Public Schools, and AVLF to embed volunteer lawyers in some of the schools and school clusters deemed to have the greatest need—those with the highest student turnover or the greatest number of students either not coming to school or moving from school to school during a calendar year. They realized a lot of that was driven by housing insecurity.

So, they embedded these teams in these schools to work with families to help prevent eviction, negotiate rent relief, and address all sorts of things related to housing stability, and sometimes other related issues like job challenges. The goal was to help families overcome immediate challenges so that the children could stay in school. It’s a great way for lawyers to help support the needs of our neighborhoods and communities in a lawyer-specific way, but in a way that responds more broadly to the challenges we face.”

Eric Tanenblatt: “Everyone who works here, we live here in the community. So, we want to make sure that the quality of life is the best it can be for our families. Being engaged in civic organizations helps improve the whole climate of the community.”

Mark Silver: “The community is asking for help. You just have to be open to seeing that. Lawyers have specialized knowledge that we can use for good and let that good help everyone.”

The Business Case for Investing in Community

Sharon Gay: “I can give you the philosophical view, but the practical view is what’s good for the community is good for business, and what’s good for business is good for the community. Healthy, thriving businesses and a stable economic climate help lift all boats. A healthy community contributes to the stability of our businesses and our economy. You really do need to invest in the notion that helping the community is good for business because it is.

The data shows that companies that are more philanthropically engaged have a more satisfied workforce, a greater connection to their communities, a greater sense of satisfaction, and often it positively impacts the bottom line.”

Mark Silver: “When the community is better off, your attorneys and your employees are happier. If I’m making the community better, then people are going to want to come to Atlanta and work for law firms. People are going to want to be lawyers.

I meet people every day working pro bono who say, ‘Wow, that’s exciting that you can do that and still work at a law firm.’ And I’ve had a few people tell me, ‘I want to be a lawyer because of how your law firm or other lawyers have treated us. And I want to fight for what’s right in the community.'”

Eric Tanenblatt: “I think it’s critically important. You want your employees to feel good about the place that they work, and if they know that they’re working for an organization that is committed to seeing the overall environment be the best that it can be, I think it’s going to make employees more enthusiastic about coming to work every day.

We’re talking about civic engagement and corporate generosity, and that occurs here at Dentons through all the people who work here.