Five $15,000 awards provided to recognize exceptional minority law students
BOSTON, Jan. 31, 2008 — Goodwin Procter LLP recently announced the five recipients of its 2008 Goodwin Diversity Fellowships. Established in 2005, the fellowships provide annual awards of $15,000 each to minority second-year law students who demonstrate exceptional academic performance, outstanding leadership, a commitment to community service, interest in the private practice of law, and other special achievements and honors.
The fellowships are designed to attract additional attorneys of color to Goodwin Procter and to increase diversity in the legal profession overall by helping diverse, future leaders of the profession defray the increasingly expensive cost of a legal education.
“Goodwin’s most important asset is its people. Each of our 2008 Fellows not only has an outstanding academic record, but also a background in student leadership and community service,” said Regina M. Pisa, chairman and managing partner of Goodwin Procter. “Continuing these efforts to build diversity will tie together with the other initiatives we’ve pursued that are enhancing the firm’s reputation as a truly world-class law firm, with attorneys who reflect the full spectrum of today’s legal community.”
One of the five diversity fellowships awarded by the firm this year is the first ever Goodwin MassMutual Fellowship, created by Goodwin Procter in conjunction with its long-standing client, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). As the first-ever diversity fellowship to be jointly sponsored by a law firm and one of its clients, this innovative program reinforces the commitment to diversity shared by Goodwin Procter and MassMutual.
Mark Roellig, MassMutual’s General Counsel, and Robbie Braceras, the newly appointed Chair of Goodwin Procter’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, introduced the recipients of the 2008 Diversity Fellowships. This year’s fellows are:
- Minh-Chau “Chau” Nguyen Le, Columbia Law School
- Sambo “Bo” Dul, NYU Law School
- Kathleen Roblez, Harvard Law School
- Megon Walker, Harvard Law School
As the first recipient of the Goodwin MassMutual Diversity Fellowship, Minh-Chau “Chau” Nguyen Le will work at Goodwin Procter as a summer associate and will have the opportunity to gain in-house experience with MassMutual’s legal department.
About Goodwin Procter
Goodwin Procter is one of the nation’s leading law firms with more than 850 attorneys in offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm’s core areas of practice are corporate, litigation and real estate, with specialized areas of focus that include financial services, private equity, technology, REITs and real estate capital markets, intellectual property, tax and products liability. Information may be found at www.goodwinprocter.com.