PHILIPS LAW OFFICES, Virginia, USA, (AP) — A law firm in Virginia that specializes in representing clients in civil rights cases will hire about 1,100 legal workers to help handle its operations as it expands its legal team and retires a quarter of its workforce.
The law firm, Harris, Miller & Jones, has already hired a third of its staff to help with its operations after hiring more than 2,300 people in 2015.
The firm’s expansion and retirement plans are expected to cost $100 million a year, or $1 million a month.
The firm is in the process of making the hires.
Harris, Miller, the law firm founded in 1882 by prominent black lawyer John Harris, is one of the few firms that still represents the black community.
The hiring of legal employees is part of a broader effort by the firm to increase its reach and diversify its work force, said Craig Harris, who joined Harris in April as its chief operating officer.
The hiring of a legal workforce will help Harris attract a greater number of talent to its Richmond offices, Harris said in a statement.
Harris’ expansion of the firm’s workforce will result in hiring in Virginia by the end of this year, and by the start of next year, Harris will have expanded its office space from 4,000 square feet to 10,000.
Harris said it will also have to retrain staff to do more work outside of the office.
It will be a challenge for Harris to keep up with its new responsibilities, Harris added.
Harris will also be hiring from other law firms, Harris told The Associated Press by phone.
He declined to provide the names of the firms or the locations in which they work.
The Richmond office is currently home to about 20 attorneys and two paralegals.
The rest of Harris’ law firm is based in Richmond.
Harris said the firm has had to make some difficult decisions in recent years.
The law firm has also been forced to expand its operations and expand its staff.
The expansion has helped Harris to recruit staff for new offices and to hire a third person to oversee its law firm operations.
The firms hiring process, Harris continued, is a slow and arduous process.
He said that it is also difficult to find qualified legal talent in the legal world.