Success = Perseverance + Community

Terri Stewart, Regional Managing Partner, Atlanta

I was set to be an advocate from the start.

When I was young, I didn’t make a dance company I was hoping to be a part of.  My parents didn’t fight my battles for me. They said, “If you feel like you want to make a case, you can go and make it yourself.” So, at 10 years old, that’s exactly what I did. I went in and had a conversation about why I should make the team. And it worked. The rest was history – it set me on a path to become an advocate for others.

Fisher Phillips is a place where I can live my life.

Attorneys here embraced me and became mentors in my career and personal life. The legal career is a long game, and it takes a long time to become well versed in your craft. So, it’s important to look for a firm where you can lean in and learn more and lean out if you have personal reasons to do that. I have a young daughter, she’s six years old, and I don’t miss a thing. No questions asked. It’s important to the firm to have happy lawyers with happy lives.

I aim to help clients long before there’s ever a problem.

Getting to be an integral part of a client’s business is especially important to me. I’m a litigator, so I usually meet clients when there’s some type of crisis. But my goal is to counsel them beforehand, so they don’t have to deal with similar issues in the future, and that’s sometimes 50% of what I do. Labor and employment defense work is very different from looking at contracts day in and day out – it’s dealing with the people who make up an organization and helping that organization move forward. I really relate to that. There’s never a dull day.

It has been an honor to be a part of Fisher Phillips’ Women’s Initiative.

Within the firm, I’ve been on the Steering Committee of our Women’s Initiative since it began. It’s so rewarding to have helped develop that in our Atlanta office and then nationally. It’s been very exciting to make not only Fisher Phillips a great place to work for women and men but also to help women grow and succeed in other organizations. “We all rise together” is our motto.

First and foremost, I’m a mom.

I’m involved with all my daughter’s extracurricular activities, everything from dance to soccer to the PTA. I’ve been a part of Lead Atlanta, a division of Leadership Atlanta, which helps Atlanta non-profits grow and the city itself to be a more welcoming and better place to live by solving social issues. I’m also a Georgia Bulldog at heart, so I love all things Bulldog. One of my most treasured memories is being part of my UGA alumni’s 40 under 40 class. I love music and hosting friends. Art is a new-found interest of mine, too; I just love to learn find, learn about, and help promote new artists.

I grew up as a classically trained dancer.

Before my legal career, I danced in college and professionally. It’s particularly fun to see my daughter following in those footsteps. I think dancing builds confidence for young members of the community. I support some charities like Moving in the Spirit that use dance to motivate kids to have a different type of outlet and give them confidence to move forward, and deal with whatever comes at you.

I feel I’m as close to some of my partners in San Diego, Ohio, and Florida as I am to those here in Atlanta.

I’ve loved the sense of community I get from those around me and I want to continue that for our newest associates. I think that’s what makes you want to invest in and stay at a place. I’ve been through so many experiences with the people here at Fisher Phillips. We’ve laughed together, cried together, and it just doesn’t feel like work. It feels like a place where you live and have a career that you really love. It’s been a truly wonderful place for me and it will continue to be.