Morrison & Foerster has announced that this year, nine accomplished first-year law students from historically underrepresented groups in the legal profession will join the law firm in paid summer associate positions. The nine fellows for Morrison & Foerster’s 1L Diversity Fellowship Program were selected from 419 applications received from law students throughout the United States. The paid summer associate positions will be in five U.S. offices of the law firm.
Speaking on the candidates, Obrea Poindexter, a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Strategy Committee said, “We were incredibly impressed by the quality of this year’s applicants … This year’s fellows stood out for their impressive records of academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement.”
Out of the nine fellowship awards, four were received by students of Stanford Law School, two went to Columbia Law School, and Cornell, New York Law School, and UC Berkeley had one each.
This is the third year of Morrison & Foerster’s Diversity Fellowship Program meant to support the career development of promising law students of color. Assuming satisfactory progress during the 1L summer internship, the fellows have the option to return as second-year summer associates, and receive a total of $15,000 for their first term as intern. The money is paid in two equal installments – the first is awarded at the time of the candidate accepting the offer to return as a second-year summer associate and the second installment is paid when the candidate accepts an offer of full-time employment by the firm after completion of his/her legal studies.
Morrison & Foerster claims to have awarded fellowships to 20 promising law students of color till date, out of whom, one will join the firm as a full-time associate in fall 2014.