SAFETY HARBOR, FL – November 6, 2017—It has been an exciting year for attorney Chelsie M. Lamie and her team at the Personal Injury Law Office of Chelsie M. Lamie, P.A.
One year ago, Lamie opened the doors to her law office with a unique office model she calls a “culture of compassion.” At the heart of this compassionate culture is an in-office daycare, where Lamie brings her own sons, and team members can bring their kids—from newborns to preschoolers. “We allow baby-wearing so that from zero to crawling, babies can be worn by mom or dad at their desk versus going straight into the nursery. The children usually enter the nursery around age one,” says Lamie.
When Lamie had her first baby, she was a partner in a law firm and was torn between the typical options—staying at home or putting her child in daycare. Instead, Lamie took the road less traveled—she brought her newborn and her nanny to the office. For most working women, this is not an option; so when Lamie launched her law firm, she was determined to create a similar environment.
According to Lamie, “Our team members are happy, they are rested and focused because they are given the time and space to take care of their personal issues. That happiness flows over to our clients, who are treated with enormous respect and consideration.”
Initially, Lamie was concerned that clients might think it’s unprofessional to have children in the office. However, their faces light up whenever they see the kids going out in their wagon to the park, or riding bicycles to the pier to see the manatees. Clients who come in with their own kids are also happy to have the firm’s nanny care for them… while they take care of business.
This culture of compassion extends to many other aspects of Lamie’s office. Her firm’s paid time off (PTO) includes time off to care for seriously ill loved ones and to volunteer for a charity. She offers flex-time that allows employees to attend their children’s school functions and care for them when they’re sick. One of the most-loved features of the firm is its quarterly office retreats. But, these retreats are earned when team members meet their goals. “That’s part of the important work of goal-setting and my office—when we achieve a goal, we go on the retreat,” Lamie adds. Recently the team went to Hawaii. Next stop: Thailand!
“My hope for our legal community is that we are brave enough to change the status quo—that we make the necessary changes to dramatically shift how we view our team members and how they work,” says Lamie. “I do see this model becoming the standard in our legal community. It’s important to retain the best and brightest and not lose them to the ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’ track.”
Lamie shares her model with anyone who will listen; she wants everyone to adopt this office culture. To that end, Lamie created a webinar that teaches other lawyers how to offer a firm retreat to their team, which is available for purchase on her website. Another webinar “Briefs to Bottles: Creating a Baby Friendly Law Office” will be live on 11/30/17 1pm EST. You can register on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/briefs-to-bottles-creating-a-baby-friendly-law-office-tickets-38754536863