National Bar Association – Commercial Law Section Launches Inaugural ‘Black Lawyers Matter’ Virtual Internship Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Andrew Nunes, NBA-CLS Chair
(416) 865–4510
anunes@fasken.com
Applications now being accepted for the NBA-CLS’ BLM Internship Program that seeks to promote quality job opportunities to build a more inclusive legal profession
March 24, 2021—The National Bar Association – Commercial Law Section (NBA-CLS) is excited to announce the launch of the second installment of our NBA-CLS Black Lawyers Matter (BLM) Internship Program, designed to positively impact diversity in the legal profession. The BLM Program will be a virtual program that provides training, exposure, and opportunities to diverse students facing the challenge of securing quality employment, by partnering with corporate legal departments and law firms that are dedicated to taking more meaningful steps towards promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Last year, we launched this program in response to the unprecedented challenges to the Black community including, but not limited to, quality job opportunities being delayed, revoked, or eliminated due to the global pandemic. While certain pockets of industry have rebounded, the economic hardship has persisted. 2020 was a year of racial reckoning and NBA-CLS continues to prioritize strengthening the pipeline of law students further our mission of increasing the diversity of outside counsel ranks and expanding the pipeline of African Americans entering the legal profession. In 2020, we received 160 student resumes and had over 24 placements. Participating law students represented 20 law schools across the country and 15 entities partnered with us in our inaugural BLM Internship Program.
“The success experienced in 2020 demonstrated the strong desire and need for the BLM Internship Program. While we are happy to see the positive impact that the program has had in the careers and lives of the many African American law students who participated, more needs to be done to address the continuing presence of barriers to entry into the profession,” said Andrew Nunes, current NBA-CLS Chair. “Although the egregious racial events of 2020 may no longer dominate current news cycles, we cannot back down in our efforts to impact positive change in our industry and society. As a result, we are eager to re-launch our BLM Internship Program to increase opportunities for racialized law students and to help cultivate an industry that is more demographically representative of the population.”
This year, NBA CLS will partner with the National Bar Institute in the administration of the BLM Program. The BLM Program will provide opportunities for law students to interview with corporate legal departments or law firms in a range of practice areas, including, but not limited to Commercial, Corporate, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Employment, Regulatory, Compliance, and Governance. NBA-CLS will provide $10,000 scholarships (up to the amount of $40,000) to a limited number of interns determined by the BLM Internship Selection Committee. Students will not be required to submit additional information for consideration. The BLM Program will begin in late May 2021 with rolling start dates and will end in August 2021 (or as otherwise agreed with the host corporation or firm). Hiring decisions are made strictly by the participating entity. Internships may range from 6-10 weeks at sole discretion of the participating entity.
According to the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), racial minorities remain underrepresented in the leadership ranks of legal services organizations. People of color made up about 26.48% of associates but accounted for less than 8.1% of equity partners among all firms who participated in a 2020 NALP survey. Black attorneys surpassed 2% of Partners for the first time since NALP began collecting data, while black women continue to account for less than 1%. In 2020, NALP announced that for the first time, the number of Black associates in Big Law exceeded 5%.
If your firm or corporation is interested in partnering with NBA-CLS by providing or sponsoring an opportunity for a student in the BLM Program, please contact LaTanya Langley or Rashida MacMurray-Abdullah at info@nbacls.com for more information.
If you are a law student and you are interested in the BLM Program, please submit your resume and cover letter no later than Friday, April 16, 2021 to info@nbacls.com.
About National Bar Association – Commercial Law Section
The mission of the NBA Commercial Law Section is to bring its outside counsel members together with in-house counsel who seek to increase the diversity of their outside counsel ranks and to provide networking and education forums to address the interests of NBA members practicing in the area of commercial law. The NBA Commercial Law Section is also committed to serving the community and expanding the pipeline of African Americans entering the legal profession. For more information visit www.nbacls.com.
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