Finding Fellowship and Forging Pathways

Sydney Simmons always knew she wanted to help people. It was just a matter of how. Her formative high school criminology class inspired a gravitation toward law, while her courses as a biology major at Davidson College made her consider entering the medical profession. While continuing to pursue her passions at Washington University, where she is a current law student and active member of the Black Law Students Association, Sydney was able to intertwine her love of law and science through Goodwin’s 1L Diversity Fellowship program when she had the opportunity to work with Cerevel Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.

Goodwin sat down with Sydney and Cerevel in-house legal team members Breanna Rutledge, Senior Manager of Legal, and Scott Akamine, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, to discuss the many paths to law, the challenges and opportunities that aspiring law professionals from historically underrepresented populations face, and how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts can produce a tangible ripple effect across the legal industry.