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The Bar Association of San Francisco has been and continues to be committed to diversity in the legal profession and to creating programs and working with other organizations to help fill the Pipeline to the legal profession. We recognize that critical segments of this Pipeline are college students and law students. Therefore, it is our goal to provide information and resources to students that will help guide them through their: application processes; standardized testing; financial aid research and efforts; summer internship placement; college and law school experiences; networking with attorneys and passing the bar examination.
We at BASF are dedicated to helping students succeed at becoming lawyers!
Resources
Career Fair
The Bay Area Diversity Career Fair brings together prominent law firms and government legal departments in the San Francisco Bay Area with highly qualified diverse second-year law students.
Students from distinguished local law schools, as well as other top schools from around the nation are invited to apply to participate in summer associate programs.
In 2008, the welcome reception and Diversity Career Fair will be held August 8-9. For more information, please visit the Diversity Career Fair web page.
Internship/Job Opportunities
Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) is currently accepting applications for the 2008-2009 Shartsis
Friese Public Interest Fellow. BayLegal is the largest legal services provider in the San
Francisco Bay Area. BayLegal represent clients who have legal problems related to
housing law, family law, domestic violence, access to healthcare, and public benefits. Their staff
attorneys represent clients in state and federal court and in administrative hearings. We provide
legal counsel, advice, and other civil legal assistance to eligible low-income clients and client
groups in the Bay Area. The position will be placed in BayLegal’s San Mateo County Regional
office in San Mateo.
The Office: The San Mateo County Regional Office operates in San Mateo and Redwood City.
In San Mateo, the office provides comprehensive legal services, including representation in
family, housing, and immigration matters, to low-income survivors of domestic violence. In
Redwood City, the office serves the same population and operates a pro se TRO clinic in
partnership with the court.
Job Description: BayLegal seeks an energetic, confident, culturally sensitive attorney or law graduate,
with a strong commitment to public interest law and social justice advocacy. Working together with the other two lawyers in San Mateo, the fellow will provide legal assistance to survivors of domestic violence in family, housing, and immigration law. The Fellowship will begin September 1, 2008 and end August 31, 2009.
Requirements: You must be an attorney or law student who will graduate and take the California Bar exam this year. For law graduates, familiarity with the relevant practice areas is desirable. For attorneys, experience in one or more of the areas is highly preferred. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the capacity to work well independently and as a team are a must. Preference will be given to candidates bilingual in Spanish and candidates who are admitted to the California Bar.
Applications: Deadline to submit an application is April 30, 2008. A hiring decision will be made by early June 2008. Bay Area Legal Aid is an equal opportunity employer. Please submit a cover letter expressing your interest in public interest law and in representing survivors of domestic violence, including immigrants, a resume, recent writing sample and two references, (preferably via email) to: Shartsis Friese Fellowship Search Committee, Bay Area Legal Aid, 405 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612. Fax: 510-663-4711. Email: applicantresume@baylegal.org. Please be sure to reference the Shartsis Friese Fellowship in your application.
For more information, download the flyer. (30KB PDF)
Scholarships and Stipends
Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship
The Bar Association of San Francisco's Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship program was established to reaffirm a commitment to diversity in legal education and the legal profession.
Each scholarship involves a substantial three-year commitment to worthy qualified students. The vast majority of scholarships awarded are $10,000 yearly. This program was created in response to the passage of SP-1, the University of California Regent's resolution to end affirmative action and race-based admissions at UC Schools.
Application submission deadline is May 30, 2008 at 4:00 p.m. Download the application packet. (241KBPDF)
Pacific McGeorge School of Law LL.M. and Fellowship Opportunity in Education Law
The University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law is offering an LL.M. in Government Law and Public Policy with an emphasis in Education Law. Additionally, two Downey Brand Education Law Fellows will be competitively selected from the group of applicants, each receiving a tuition waiver for the program and a $20,000 stipend.
Why take advantage of this opportunity? In a word: Leadership.
The current Downey Brand Education Law Fellows are redrafting education codes, meeting with legislators and policy-makers, and developing law-themed curriculum to educate at-risk, diverse high school students. They are redefining leadership through education law and policy, while gaining practical experience to advance their own legal careers in a rapidly expanding area of the law. As lawyers and educational leaders, these students take seriously the responsibility of actively shaping the educational pipeline, to ensure that our profession and our future leaders are as diverse as the breadth of our population and are given the tools they need for success, no matter their background or personal circumstances.
If you are eager to gain the tools to lead and are committed to educational reform for disadvantaged and diverse students, consider Pacific's LL.M. and the Downey Brand Fellowship program. This is the opportunity of a lifetime to advance your career even as you put into practice the educational theory you learn in the classroom.
Obtaining an LL.M. at Pacific McGeorge is a collaborative process, contact the Educational Outreach Project Manager, Beth Bulgeron, who will be pleased to discuss your vision and your future in education law and policy. She can be reached at bbulgeron@pacific.edu or 916-739-7270.
Visit the web site at www.mcgeorge.edu where you can apply for this exciting program online.
Bar Exam Preparation
For more information visit forpeopleofcolor.org/register.htm.
Networking Events
BASF hosts a number of networking events that are relevant for law students.
Check our calendar for a list of current events.
Continuing Legal Education and The Barristers Club
If you are a member of The Bar Association of San Francisco and also a law student you are automatically enrolled in the Barristers Club. The Club offers a variety of practice-specific sections which offer
a core curriculum of CLE classes and networking opportunities.
For more information about Club activities, please call (415) 982-1600 and ask for the Barristers Club.
Volunteer Opportunities
BASF's Volunteer Legal Services Program offers law students numerous opportunities to volunteer. Some of those projects include the Legal Advice and Referral Clinic (LARC), the Family Law Assisted Self Help Project (FLASH) and the Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP).
Download the flyer (36KBPDF) that lists all non attorney volunteer opportunities with VLSP.
Find out how to volunteer with VLSP.
Additionally, BASF has some diversity pipeline programs that also need volunteers. Those programs include the Law Academy and School-To-College programs.
For more information about volunteering with these programs, contact Jayne Salinger at jsalinger@sfbar.org.
Profiles of Bay Area Law School Deans
The Bay Area is home to several world-class law schools that produce terrific talent valuable to BASF and the legal community. BASF has been profiling deans of some of these law schools, featuring
the great work they’re doing to train new attorneys in San Francisco Attorney magazine (SFAM).
Joining The Bar Association of San Francisco
Law students can join BASF for only $30 a year. Join now.
Organizations
For People of Color, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded by Anthony Solana, Jr. The organization's mission is to empower people of color who want to enter the legal profession. For People of Color, Inc. has vast knowledge and expertise in assisting diverse law school applications gain admission to the law school of their choice. Also, the organization is keenly focused on providing mentorship and professional development opportunities to current diverse law students, and law school graduates.
Web site: http://www.forpeopleofcolor.org/
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is committed to increasing the number of lawyers from underrepresented minority groups. To affirm that commitment, the Council conducts ongoing programs and initiatives designed to increase the quality and quantity of the minority applicant pool.
Web site: http://www.lsac.org/SpecialInterests/minorities-in-legal-education.asp
In 1968 the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) was founded as a non-profit project of the ABA Fund for Justice and Education to expand opportunities for minority and low-income students to attend law school. In 1998, Congress passed the Higher Education Amendments Act, creating the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program, which is administered by the Council on Legal Education Opportunity. CLEO is committed to diversifying the legal profession by expanding legal education opportunities to minority, low-income and disadvantaged groups.
Web site: http://www.cleoscholars.com/
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