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  • Press Release
    June 16, 2000

    News Release June 2000: First-year law students participate in minority clerkship program

    For Immediate Release
      CONTACT: Patricia Morgan
    State Bar of Wisconsin
    1-800-444-9404, ext. 6107
    *

    First-year law students participate in minority clerkship program

    June 16, 2000 - Nineteen first-year law students will gain valuable legal experience this summer as participants in the State Bar of Wisconsin's minority clerkship program. The program promotes minority placements in settings where minorities traditionally have been under-represented.

    This year, three students from Marquette Law School and 16 from UW-Madison Law School have been matched with law firms, corporate legal departments, and governmental agencies.

    "We're very excited about the caliber of the students participating in this year's clerkship program," says Cory Nettles, chair of the State Bar's Committee to Encourage Placement of Minority Lawyers.

    This year's employer roster includes new as well as returning organizations in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. Nettles notes, "In addition to our regular cast of first-rate employers, this year we're pleased to welcome Quarles & Brady LLC's Chicago office as well as the Minneapolis office of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP to the program."

    According to Nettles, the committee is always working to increase the number of clerkship opportunities for minority first-year law students and expand and round out the number and types of employers in the program. "This year," he says, "we're delighted to welcome the Madison City Attorney's Office and Habush, Habush, Davis & Rottier as new participants and two returning employers, Law Offices Stilp & Cotton and Hinshaw & Culbertson."

    "Our list of participating employers is impressive," says Nettles. "The clerkship program has been wonderfully successful, and we thank all the participating organizations for making diversity a priority."

    Quarles & Brady LLP, a staunch supporter of diversity efforts in the legal profession, has participated in the bar's clerkship program since its inception. Recruiting committee chair James D Friedman notes: "Quarles & Brady LLP is pleased to continue its long-standing support of the State Bar's Minority Clerkship program. We're honored to be the first employer to commit to placing a State Bar clerk outside of Wisconsin, in the Chicago office of Quarles & Brady LLP.

    "The State Bar program continues to play a very important role in our diversity initiatives. With the bar program's two clerk participants, 25 percent of our summer associate class is composed of minority law students."

    Participating employers include: American Family Insurance; Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field; DeWitt Ross & Stevens SC; Foley & Lardner, Michael Best & Friedrich LLP; Madison City Attorney's Office; Stafford Rosenbaum LLP; Wisconsin Department of Justice; Godfrey & Kahn SC; Habush, Habush, Davis & Rottier; Hinshaw & Culbertson; Law Offices Stilp & Cotton; Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.; Quarles & Brady; Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Rieselbach, SC; Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek & Robins; and Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP.

    Marquette law students participating in the Summer 2000 Experience include: Odalo Ohiku, Elaine DeFranco, and Andrew Pham. UW-Madison law students include: Hassan Allen, Randolph Amaro, Raphael Choi, Heidi Frechette, Crystal Fu, Owen Herne, Autumn Howell, Anna Hysell, Benjamin Lockhart, Michael Naranjo, Adam Nathe, Odalo Ohiku, Nilesh Patel, J. David Pedraza, Juan Ramirez, David Smith, and Jessica Vianes.

    For information on the clerkship program, contact Cory Nettles, Quarles & Brady LLP at (414) 277-5000, or Patricia Morgan, committee project coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin at (608) 250-6107.



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