McDermott Minority Scholarship

One of the greatest challenges facing law schools and law firms alike is the desire and need to improve diversity within our respective institutions and the legal industry generally. McDermott Will & Emery has been committed to increasing the number of minority lawyers at our firm for years. We are proud to once again rank among the top 5 firms nationally in number of Minority Partners, as reported in the March 2007 Minority Law Journal.

To further our efforts to recruit and retain more racial and ethnic minority lawyers, McDermott is pleased to announce the McDermott Minority Scholarship. McDermott awards a $15,000 scholarship to two second-year minority law students from ABA-accredited law schools who have received and accepted a position in a McDermott Summer Program. Students who meet McDermott’s hiring criteria and demonstrate leadership, community involvement, and a commitment to improving diversity in the legal community should consider applying.

Click here for the 2008 Minority Scholarship Application

Press Release - Annual Minority Scholarship Recipients Announced

2007 Recipients

Nithya Abraham ‘09
University of Illinois College of Law
Chicago

Nithya was a member of the Jessup International Moot Court in 2007. Additionally, during her undergraduate study, also at the University of Illinois, she was the All American Top Scoring Trial Attorney in the Nationwide Mock Trial Competition. She earned her B.A. cum laude in political science and speech communication. This past summer, she served as an intern at Equip for Equality, an independent, private, not-for-profit organization responsible for implementing the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) System in Illinois.

Karen Yuanhwey Lam ‘09
University of California - Los Angeles School of Law
Los Angeles/Washington, D.C.

Karen is earning her J.D. and master’s degree in public health. She is the 2008-2009 co-editor-in-chief of the Asian Pacific American Law Journal. She earned her B.A. in economics and mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with highest honor in mass communication. Karen worked as a research compliance program analyst at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare Systems and served as a law clerk at the Health Services Division of County Counsel for the County of Los Angeles.