ABA Section of Business Law

In recent years, many areas of the legal profession have made pursuing diversity a priority objective. Business law presents many distinct diversity challenges, as law students are often unfamiliar with the field and perceive it as conservative and unaccepting. This realization is troubling, particularly for the American Bar Association Section of Business Law because its mission is:

To encourage diversity in the Section by fostering a welcoming environment for all lawyers and promoting full and equal participation by all lawyers, including lawyers of color, women lawyers, gay and lesbian lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities ("Diverse Lawyers").

To help address this problem, the Section of Business Law has created the Diversity Internship Program. This is a summer program providing business law internship placements for qualified diverse candidates who are first or second year law students, and will provide support and mentoring to the student participants in order to give them the exposure to business practices that many of them lack. In considering a student's diversity, the Section will give special consideration to individuals who have overcome social or economic disadvantages such as physical disability, financial constraints, or cultural impediments to becoming a law student.

The initial pilot project will place up to nine students in business court clerkships in the Philadelphia Commerce Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery. If successful, the Section foresees expanding the number of students in the program, expanding the program to other locations, and including other types of placements.

The Section of Business Law Diversity Internship Program will focus initially on judicial clerkships, where diversity among judicial clerks remains disproportionately low. For recent law school graduates, serving as a judicial law clerk is a mark of distinction and honor that advances their future career opportunities in law practice and academia, in government as high-level appointees, and in securing appointments to the bench. Clerkships in business law courts provide another unique and highly important benefit to law students: the ability to see a microcosm of business practice, and allow the student to become familiar with business issues. Such a background will prove invaluable to a career in business law, whether it be litigation or transactional work. It is hoped that after a summer's experience in the business court system, we will be able to assist participants in finding other business law placements, in law firms or corporate law departments.

The Section of Business Law Diversity Internship Program encourages students to pursue business court clerkship opportunities and to consider careers in the practice of business law. The mission of the Program is to expose law students to the practice of business law and to provide them with work experience and foundations in business law that will further their careers.

The objectives of the Program include:

• To encourage more diverse law students to apply for clerkship positions.
  
  
• To foster relationships between business court judges and diverse law students.
  
  
• To provide students with a foundation in various aspects of business law.
  
  
• To provide opportunities for students to meet a wide variety of lawyers who are active in the practice of business law and are members of the Section of Business Law.
  
  
• To establish a support system for diverse students who are pursuing business court clerkship positions and a possible career in business law.
  
  

• Introductions to commerce court / chancery court practice (possible introductory training session).
  
  
• Welcoming Reception (with area judges and Section members).
  
  
• Breakfast roundtables on emerging business issues (hosted at area law firms) and introductions to business law practice (both litigation and transactional).
  
  
• Establishing a mentoring network of current and former participants (students, judges, and practitioners).

The Process

Membership in the ABA and the Section of Business Law is required of students applying for the program. Membership and can be obtained at the time application. Section of Business Law membership is free to ABA law student members. Applications for the internships will be solicited from all ABA accredited law schools, and a committee within the Section will screen and interview the applicants, and make the selection for summer placements. Judges will be asked to participate in the program and to accept those candidates selected by the internship selection committee. The Section will select up to nine interns and will provide a summer stipend of $6,000 to each intern. Additionally, during the course of the internship, there will be both substantive programming and networking opportunities designed to enhance the learning experience for the interns and to strengthen their interest in business law.

Please check back soon for the 2009 Application

All questions and comments can be directed to Heather Scheidt at 312-988-5584.