Press Release
June 7, 2010

Goodwin Procter Announces 2010 Public Interest Fellowships for Law Students of Color

BOSTON, June 7, 2010 – Goodwin Procter recently announced the three recipients of its 2010 Public Interest Fellowships for Law Students of Color.  The fellowships provide annual awards to minority first-year law students who demonstrate outstanding academic performance, leadership skills, commitment to community service, interest in the private practice of law, and other special achievements and honors.

The fellowships are designed to increase diversity in the legal profession by helping cover expenses while students work in a public interest law position during the summer after their first year of law school.

“Goodwin Procter is committed to attracting and retaining the best talent from a wide spectrum of backgrounds,” said Regina M. Pisa, chairman and managing partner of Goodwin Procter.  “These students have shown extraordinary achievement, dedication and ability, and we are proud to assist them as they launch their legal careers.”

In addition, the firm has partnered with its client, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, to provide the MassMutual/Goodwin Procter Public Interest Fellowship for Law Students of Color.  This joint fellowship will also provide an award to a first-year law student of color to cover their expenses while working in a public interest law position. 

The recipients of the 2010 Diversity Fellowships are:  Jennifer Holmes, Stanford Law School, Brandon Pratt, Boston University School of Law, and Katy Yang, Harvard Law School.  Holmes will work at the Public International Law & Policy Group, a global pro bono law firm providing free legal assistance to states and governments involved in conflicts.  Pratt will assist prosecutors in the Superior, Appellate, and District courts with legal research, writing, and case preparation at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.  At Sanctuary for Families in New York, Yang will support the organization’s Immigration Intervention Project by providing immigrant victims of domestic and gender-based violence with legal services to formalize their immigration status, protect them from removal, and reunite them with their children abroad.

With an increased interest in the fellowships and an extraordinary pool of candidates, the firm also offered finalist awards to nine first year minority law students in addition to the three fellowships. 

About Goodwin Procter
Goodwin Procter LLP is one of the nation’s leading law firms with offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, 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, products liability and mass torts. Information may be found at www.goodwinprocter.com.