Morgan Lewis Kicks Off Its Summer Associate Program with a Focus on Service
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date:
05/28/2008 -
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Press Releases
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WASHINGTON, D.C. May 28, 2008: From May 28 to May 30, Morgan Lewis’s incoming summer associates will gather in Washington, D.C., to kick off a summer they may never forget. Not only will they learn about the firm and the practice of law as they participate in workshops and mingle with their fellow summer associates and the firm leaders, but they will also make a significant contribution to a deserving community.
To kick off this year’s program, Morgan Lewis summer associates, attorneys, and staff will participate in a pro bono beautification project at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts—the only public school in the District of Columbia that provides professional arts training for high school students, while also preparing them for college. The summer associates, in collaboration with Ellington School students and the rest of the Morgan Lewis team, will spruce up the school by painting exterior and interior areas, doing yard work and gardening, and cleaning up the iconic Adirondack chair in front of the school. This type of community service-focused kickoff is unique to Morgan Lewis.
The Ellington School is a pro bono client of the firm, a relationship that dates back to 1998. The firm has helped the school through significant changes in structure, with issues regarding its identity and branding, and even with its recent updates to marketing materials. This summer, with shovels and paintbrushes in hand, the firm is giving back something a little more tangible.
Following next week’s kickoff, this year’s class of summer associates will work in 12 of the firm’s domestic offices. The 90 associates will be placed as follows: Chicago (5), Dallas (2), Houston (2), Los Angeles (5), Miami (3), New York (12), Palo Alto (9), Philadelphia (17), Pittsburgh (3), Princeton (2), San Francisco (14), and Washington, D.C. (19). Summer associates spend their time learning about the firm’s different practice areas and becoming well versed in what it means to be a Morgan Lewis attorney.
Morgan Lewis summer associates also have the opportunity to participate in the firm’s Public Interest and Community Service (PICS) program, which allows them to spend four weeks of their 10-week program at a nonprofit organization. Among the opportunities offered is participation in the Texas Asylum Project, under which some of the firm’s summer associates will represent clients in trials of asylum cases in southern Texas.
As in years past, the summer associate class of 2008 drew tremendous talent, with the majority of associates coming from the top 50 law schools in the country. The class of 2008 reflects the firm’s commitment to diversity. Nearly 38% of this year’s summer associate class are members of minority groups, and nearly 59% are women.
This year’s class also includes Morgan Lewis’s first Diversity Fellows—highly qualified second-year students who will receive $15,000 stipends in addition to their summer salaries. The firm adopted the program last fall to promote diversity in the legal profession and to attract future leaders who are committed to the importance of diversity. The firm’s inaugural class of Diversity Fellows includes: Toya Carmichael from Georgetown University (San Francisco office); Aurelio Perez from the UC Berkeley School of Law, (San Francisco office); Marisa Tilghman from the University of Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia office); and Juan Valdivieso from Harvard University (Washington office).
About Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Lewis is an international law firm with more than 1,400 lawyers in 22 offices located in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, Houston, Irvine, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Palo Alto, Paris, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. For more information about Morgan Lewis, please visit www.morganlewis.com.