On July 26, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and BASF hosted its 10th annual Bay Area Diversity Career Fair.
The event brought together prominent law firms and government agencies in the Bay Area and diverse second-year law students from distinguished law schools throughout the country to discuss opportunities for minority, women, and LGBT law students seeking summer associate positions in the Bay Area.

This year, 828 students applied to the career fair, and 320 students were interviewed by 50 participating employers with 63 interview schedules.

The night before the fair students and employers attended a welcome reception at Orrick. The students were welcomed by Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie, IP partner; career fair founder Neel Chatterjee; BASF’s Diversity Pipeline Programs Manager Nicole Britton-Snyder; career fair alumni and Silicon Valley summer associate, David Medina and Silicon Valley associate Megan Lawson.

The morning of the fair students attended a breakfast panel in which prominent lawyers from diverse backgrounds discussed their experiences using diversity as a strength to succeed in the legal profession.

Panelists included: Desiree Almendral, associate commercial counsel, Google (career fair alumni); Kevin Fong, partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; Ahmed Ghappour, professor of law, UC Hastings College of the Law; Paul Henderson, deputy chief of staff/public safety, Office of Mayor Edwin M. Lee; Morvarid Metanat, corporate counsel, Pandora Media, Inc. (career fair alumni); and Darren Teshima, partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.