Morrison & Foerster Awards Nine 1L Diversity Fellowships

NEW YORK, March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morrison & Foerster announced today that nine first-year law students from some of the country's top law schools will join the firm as part of Morrison & Foerster's 1L Diversity Fellowship Program. The fellows will receive paid summer associate positions in five of Morrison & Foerster's U.S. offices. The nine fellows were selected from 419 applications received from law students throughout the United States.

"We were incredibly impressed by the quality of this year's applicants," said Obrea Poindexter, a partner in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and, along with New York partner Karen Hagberg, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster's Diversity Strategy Committee. "This year's fellows stood out for their impressive records of academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement."

The recipients of Morrison & Foerster's 2014 1L diversity fellowships are:

San Francisco

• Christopher Deetz – Stanford Law School
• Luis Hoyos – Columbia Law School
• Tierra Moore – UC Berkeley School of Law

New York

• Wariz Anifowoshe – Columbia Law School
• Fernando Martinez – New York University School of Law

Washington, D.C.

• Sergio Broholm – Stanford Law School

Palo Alto

• Kyle Canchola – Stanford Law School
• Errol Norman – Stanford Law School

San Diego

• Shandy Pinkowski – Cornell Law School

2014 marks the third year that Morrison & Foerster is recognizing and supporting the career development of promising law students of color. Assuming satisfactory progress during the 1L summer internship, fellows have the option to return as second-year summer associates. Fellows receive a total of $15,000, which is paid in two equal amounts. The first amount is awarded at the time that the candidate accepts his or her offer to return as a second-year summer associate, and the second installment is paid when the candidate accepts an offer of full-time employment as an associate following the completion of his or her legal studies.

"Morrison & Foerster is steadfast in its commitment to recruiting, retaining, and promoting talented diverse lawyers," said Hagberg. "Our 1L Diversity Fellowship Program is an integral part of that strategy."

To date, Morrison & Foerster has awarded fellowships to 20 promising law students of color, one of whom will join the firm as a full-time associate in fall 2014.

Since 2005, Morrison & Foerster has been ranked each year among the top 10 firms for overall diversity on The American Lawyer's Diversity Scorecard. The excellence of the firm's diverse lawyers has also been recognized in publications such as Best Lawyers, Chambers, IFLR, and Legal 500. These independent legal directories rely on feedback from clients and peers, and include the firm's diverse lawyers in their rankings — many in the top tiers.

Details about the 1L diversity fellowships can be found on Morrison & Foerster's recruiting site, www.mofocareers.com. For additional information about the fellowship program, contact Natalie Kernisant, attorney recruiting diversity manager, at [email protected].

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SOURCE Morrison & Foerster