Small Firm, Big Culture
When we started Eimer Stahl nearly twenty-four years ago, we wanted to build a better law firm—one with a caring and supportive culture based on mutual respect. We did it.
What is Eimer Stahl today?
- We’re real people who really like each other.
- We’re a team, working together and supporting each other to win for our clients.
- We’re collegial—we compete in the courtroom, but not against each other.
- We’re entrepreneurial — we help every lawyer build their business and make the most of their abilities.
- We trust each other to make good judgments within our firm, when representing our clients, and in the community.
- We’re a welcoming workplace that celebrates individuality.
- We commit to those who commit to us. Many of our lawyers have been with the firm since we opened our doors.
- We treat everyone with dignity and respect, within the firm, in the courtroom, and in the community.
- We’re a workplace of open doors, where our colleagues walk the halls, engage with each other and develop lasting relationships beyond the case or project at hand.
- We’re a firm that values balance. Although we work hard and hold ourselves to a high standard, we also go home to our families at night.
- We operate as an efficient, cohesive unit, which means we can react quickly and change course easily, unconstrained by layers of administration.
- We’re fortunate to do exciting, high-end, challenging work for some of the best clients on the planet.
Beyond Our Walls: Eimer Stahl in the Community
Ask anyone at Eimer Stahl about our involvement in the community and you’ll hear a similar refrain. Since our founding, it’s been a huge part of who we are. From serving on boards to collecting and matching donations to leading life-changing pro bono cases, our attorneys and staff are always looking outward—driven by our professional and civic duty.
The organizations we support are many and their impact is inspiring.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
From day one, we’ve championed the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee and its efforts to secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all. In fact, an Eimer Stahl attorney has held a board seat every year since our founding. On the pro bono front, we’ve protected voter rights in Indiana and Illinois, represented victims of hate crimes in civil and criminal proceedings, and prevented the closure of a top-rated elementary school serving a minority population in Chicago’s South Loop. In a case involving disability discrimination, we obtained (and donated back) the largest attorneys’ fees recovery in the organization’s history. As a result of the many years of successful pro bono representations and institutional support, in 2020 Eimer Stahl was the recipient of the Committee’s “Pro Bono Champion Award” award.
Greater Chicago Food Depository
It’s not hard to get behind an organization whose purpose is to provide food and hope. Since 2010, Eimer Stahl has held a holiday fundraising challenge that includes a spirited competition between floors and a matching donation by the firm. In 2020, two individuals also made matching contributions, pushing our grand total to nearly $35,000—a huge number for a firm of less than 60 people.
Chicago Sun Times Charity Trust Letters to Santa
Since 2007, we’ve come together as a firm each December to help make holiday wishes come true for Chicagoland students. Year after year, the Letters to Santa program is one of our most rewarding and beloved community initiatives.
Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA)
If it’s important to our clients, it’s important to us. In partnership with longtime client CITGO Petroleum Corporation, MDA’s largest corporate sponsor, we donate to the Shamrocks campaign every year and attend CITGO’s annual MDA fundraising gala in Houston.
Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF) Investing in Justice Campaign
Each spring, we join our peers in the legal community to support the CBF’s citywide fundraiser. Thanks in part to the firm’s matching program, Eimer Stahl consistently achieves a 100% attorney participation rate, making us a standard bearer among local law firms.
Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services
Eimer Stahl has always encouraged our people to support causes that resonate with them personally. Sometimes that commitment goes above and beyond. Case in point: In 2010, the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services created the Scott C. Solberg Pro Bono Award to honor Scott Solberg, a founding partner of Eimer Stahl, for his longtime commitment to the organization. The award is given annually to a Chicago lawyer or law firm displaying a strong commitment to the fundamental principles of equal protection and equal justice through outstanding pro bono service.
So Much More
Community service at Eimer Stahl extends well beyond these noteworthy examples. Below are just a few of the many other organizations we support through board leadership, fundraising, pro bono legal services and other involvement.
“We have a responsibility to provide a challenging and welcoming workplace—and not just this week or this year but for the long term. We bring people into the firm who are consistent with our culture and have a place for them to spend the next 30 years if that’s what they want.” — Nate Eimer, Partner and Co-Founder of Eimer Stahl