News Releases
Students win legal fellowships promoting diversity
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Five incoming Valparaiso University law students have been selected for prestigious legal education fellowships sponsored by the Indiana Supreme Court to promote diversity within the legal profession.
Ilisha Dowell of Gary; Robert Love, Sameer Siddiqui and Nubia Willman of Indianapolis; and Kellen McJunkins of Tupelo, Miss., received fellowships to participate in the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity (ICLEO). Willman graduated with her bachelor’s degree in sociology-criminology from Valparaiso this May and served as president of the student organization Latinos in Valparaiso for Excellence during the 2006-2007 academic year.
Each year, approximately 30 students who will be enrolling in Indiana law schools are chosen to participate in a six-week Summer Institute before they begin law school. This year’s institute is taking place at the University of Notre Dame law school.
“These students represent groups who have not traditionally been represented in the legal profession and would not ordinarily have the opportunity to pursue a legal education,” said Zahra Nwabara, director of admissions-operations at Valparaiso’s School of Law. “Enhancing the diversity of the law school and of the legal profession as a whole benefits the legal system in the United States.”
A recent report co-sponsored by the American Bar Association and the Law School Admission Council show that the legal profession is less diverse than any other in the United States with the exception of civil engineering.
The institute includes classes on subjects such as legal writing and research, understanding and drafting contracts, and torts and civil procedures, along with final exams and a final paper. The fellows also typically visit federal and county courts, law firms and other sites.
The program also provides a yearly stipend and helps each fellow locate summer employment after their first and second years of law school in positions at Indiana appellate courts, trial courts, government agencies, law firms or attorneys in private practice.
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