Winston-Salem, N.c. – Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC will award its first annual Corporate Counsel Work-Life Balance Award to Novant Health’s legal department on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 11 a.m.  Novant’s legal department will receive a crystal trophy and a $1,000 donation in the department’s name to the non-profit organization of its choice.  Novant is going to donate $500 to Charlotte Community Health Clinic and $500 to Community Care Center for Forsyth County.  Both community programs provide essential medical services to the uninsured and people at risk of not receiving proper healthcare.

Guest judges Susan Saab Fortney and Ed Baker selected Novant as the winner because of the company’s philosophy and the department’s approach toward work-life balance initiatives and programs. 

Novant’s legal department has two significant initiatives that foster work-life balance and enables them to attract and retain gifted and accomplished lawyers and support staff.  The first initiative is the Flexible Work Arrangements, which encourages all lawyers, whether full or part-time to take time off during the day or to leave early to attend children’s school events, games or other important family activities.  The second initiative is the Approach to Work and Workload Allocation, which allocates work among the department’s lawyers and balances workloads between Novant’s legal staff and outside counsel.

“We are excited and honored to be selected as the first recipient of this award,” said Lawrence U. McGee, Sr. Novant Vice-President and General Counsel.

Many companies find work and professional demands result in longer workweeks making it difficult for employees to take care of family and personal needs.  They are increasingly cultivating an atmosphere that allows for a better work-life balance. 

“In recognition of our firm’s 60th anniversary, we launched our first annual Corporate Counsel Work-Life Balance award to recognize employers who acknowledge the value of implementing successful strategies to assist their in-house attorneys in pursuit of work-life balance,” said Neil Wasser, Chairman of Constangy’s Executive Committee.  “We received outstanding nominations and our panel of judges had a difficult time in narrowing to one recipient.”

About the Judges:
Susan Saab Fortney - Professor of Law at Texas Tech University and co-author of In Pursuit of Attorney Work-Life Balance: Best Practices in Management.

Ed Baker - Marketing Director of the Business Journals

About Novant Health:

Novant Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system composed of physician medical groups and eight hospitals: Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital Matthews and Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville in the Charlotte region; Forsyth Medical Center and Medical Park Hospital in Winston-Salem; Thomasville Medical Center in Thomasville; and Brunswick Community Hospital in Supply, NC.

About Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC:
Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LL, celebrating its 60th anniversary, has counseled employers on labor and employment law matters, exclusively, since 1946.  The firm represents Fortune 500 corporations and small companies across the country.  More than 100 lawyers partner with clients to provide cost-effective legal services and sound preventive advice to enhance the employer-employee relationship.  Offices are located in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, Missouri, and Texas.

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