San Francisco Startup PracticePro Expands Diversity Program for First-year Law Students to Massachusetts, New York, and Southern California
San Francisco, CA, December 15, 2016 – The legal profession consistently loses great talent, a trend PracticePro’s Diversity Scholar Program aims to reverse by improving access to skills training and mentorship. Starting in 2017, the Program will be expanded to include diverse first-year law students in Massachusetts, New York, and Southern California.
Already available in the San Francisco Bay area, Illinois, Texas, and Washington, D.C., the Diversity Scholar Program was launched in 2014 to support law students from groups that have been historically underrepresented in the legal profession—racial, ethnic, and gender groups, members of the LGBT community, and those with physical disabilities.
“We had a 300 percent increase in applications last year,” said Niki Khoshzamir, founder of the Program and CEO of PracticePro. “We admitted 39 scholars, many of whom are the first in their family to graduate from college or even high school. If we provide these talented students with foundational skills and adequate support, they can thrive as new attorneys and become leaders in all different sectors of the legal profession.”
“My parents were unable to attend school past sixth grade. Since I did not have family members or close friends growing up who were professionals, everything was new, and I had to learn as I went,” said Jose Rico, Diversity Scholar (UC Davis ’18). “PracticePro provided me with invaluable knowledge and insight that I would not have otherwise had, and more importantly, eliminated much of the self-doubt that I previously endured.”
Since the new cycle of the Program started in early November, a number of firms have pledged their support as diversity sponsors. The list includes Diversity Leaders Haynes and Boone and WilmerHale, each sponsoring five scholarships, and new Diversity Benefactors Alto Litigation and O’Melveny & Myers.
Diversity Leaders
Haynes and Boone
WilmerHale
Diversity Benefactors
Alto Litigation
McDermott Will & Emery
O’Melveny & Myers
Diversity Partners
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Ferrari & Associates
Gardere Wynne Sewell
Jackson Walker
Jones Day
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
“The Program really wouldn’t be possible without the partnership of our diversity sponsors,” said Drew Neumann, PracticePro Diversity and Scholarship Relations and a graduate of the Program himself. “We look forward to working with them as we think of additional ways to improve the resources for the participating students in the Program.”
PracticePro is a San Francisco-based legal education startup. Through training, coaching, and technology, it strives to change the way new lawyers learn to practice law and make their transition to practice easier. For more information about the Diversity Scholar Program or how to become a sponsor, visit www.practicepro.cc.
– 30 –
Media Contact:
Niki Khoshzamir
Founder and CEO, PracticePro
niki@practicepro.cc
415-237-3703