Law firms stuff their clients’ stockings

In a show of appreciation for their clients, local law firms are stuffing Christmas stockings with gifts of all shapes and sizes for them. At Kean Miller, presents range from Louisiana-themed cookbooks and festival guides to miniature gumbo pots. Clients are receiving a portfolio of Fonville Winans’ photography of south Louisiana from the 1930s and 1940s, including a dozen frame-ready, 11-by-13-inch prints, with a holiday message to clients and a short biography of Winans. Steve Boutwell, director of client services at Kean Miller, says the nearly 30-year-old Baton Rouge law firm has had a gift program for more than 10 years and spends $25 or less on each present. “A lot of our corporate clients have gift policies of under $25,” explains Boutwell, noting many clients don’t accept lavish presents, preferring to retain transparency with their legal representation. Taylor Porter shares a similar gift-giving relationship with its clients, says managing partner Harry “Skip” Philips. In the past, Taylor Porter has spent more on clients that don’t have policies prohibiting employees from accepting gifts than on those that do. But in celebration of its centennial in Baton Rouge this year, Taylor Porter is sending about 3,500 clients a Christmas card with a list of 12 different charities or organizations to which clients can choose to have a charitable donation made on their behalf. Philips says Taylor Porter plans to donate “several thousand dollars” to hospitals, shelters for veterans and animals, Stuff the Bus, and Pat’s Coats for Kids. “Baton Rouge has been good to our law firm for 100 years, so we thought this was appropriate,” Philips says. —Adam Pearson