Farella Braun + Martel “Open Sources” Award-Winning Diversity Initiative
Law Firm Offers Diversity Pipeline Program Details to Legal Community to Help Encourage Development of Diverse Workforce
SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 25, 2010): Borrowing from the technology industry, Farella Braun + Martel LLP is "open sourcing" its Diversity Pipeline Internship Program curriculum aimed at diverse or disadvantaged high school students. The details of the program are now available to the legal community and firms seeking to adopt similar initiatives to minimize the significant start-up investment involved in developing and launching an internship program.
"An ‘open source' philosophy has helped many software developers in their quest to innovate and build new programs," says managing partner Steve Lowenthal. "In a similar manner, we are publishing the complete materials to this diversity program in the hopes that others will adopt and innovate based on our efforts. Increasing diversity is a business goal that benefits everyone and so we are happy to contribute to these efforts."
Recognized in the State Bar of California 2010 Diversity Award for a law firm and in the California Minority Counsel Program (CMCP) 2010 Drucilla Stender Ramey Majority-Owned Law Firm Award, Farella's Diversity Pipeline Internship Program provides diverse or disadvantaged high school students with a unique opportunity to learn about the legal profession. The hands-on multi-week summer internship program provides the participants with practical law firm / professional office experience while exposing them to the possibilities of a legal career. The mentoring relationships forged during this internship program continue after the school year begins and runs through the college application process.
The program curriculum is composed of weekly seminars focused on three key areas: the practice of law, the college application process, and interview skills and resume coaching. These seminars are geared toward fostering and developing a student's interest in the law and providing the information, tools and confidence to pursue a college education and, if desired, a law degree. To date, 100% of the firm's Pipeline interns have gone on to college or are completing high school and preparing to enter college.
Highlights include: a mock trial; a college panel in which attorneys, law students, and undergraduate students share their college experiences; and a college night where interns and their parents are given an overview of the requirements for college, financial aid and scholarships. Farella currently assists several law firms in San Francisco as well as the Bar Association of San Francisco with their pipeline internship programs.
Farella Braun + Martel represents clients throughout the United States and abroad in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation. Founded in 1962, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry. Farella Braun + Martel lawyers are known for their imaginative legal solutions, dynamism and intellectual creativity. With an unwavering service ethic and interdisciplinary team approach, the firm is committed to advancing clients' objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner. Farella Braun + Martel is a green business. www.fbm.com
Contact:
Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433
[email protected]
