Fish & Richardson Announces 2016 1L Diversity Fellows

Fish & Richardson today announced that Adam Aquino, Sarah Jack, Juyoung "Jay" Kim, and James Yang were selected as the firm's 2016 1L Diversity Fellows. Fish's 1L Diversity Fellowship Program provides annual fellowships to diverse first-year law students across the U.S., and the four recipients were selected from over 420 applicants. The program, which was launched in 2005, supports Fish's ongoing work to recruit, retain, and advance a diverse group of attorneys. Over the past five years, 80% of the Diversity Fellows who received offers from Fish to join the firm as associates after graduation have returned to the firm.

Each Diversity Fellow receives mentoring throughout their law school education, a paid 2016 summer associate position in one of Fish's domestic offices, and up to a $10,000 academic scholarship. Fish 1L Diversity Fellows are awarded $5,000 upon completion of their 1L summer clerkship, and are given an additional $5,000 if they receive and accept an associate offer with the firm after the completion of a 2L summer clerkship at Fish.

Additionally, Fish's 2016 Diversity Fellows will be named as 1L Scholars for the Leadership Council of Legal Diversity (LCLD). LCLD is a national organization comprising more than 220 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners working to build a more open and diverse legal profession. The 1L LCLD Scholars Program is designed to strengthen the legal pipeline by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse first-year law students.

"We launched this program over 10 years ago and it has been a successful endeavor. We created our 1L Diversity Fellowship Program to increase the number of top-notch, minority attorneys at our firm. By providing opportunities to do substantive work and build meaningful business relationships at the start of their legal careers, we are giving these promising future lawyers a roadmap for success from the very beginning," said Ahmed Davis, national chair of Fish's Diversity Initiative and a principal in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. "I am very proud of this program and Fish's long-term commitment to building a diverse workplace that reflects the diversity we see in our clients across the country and abroad."

Adam Aquino, a student at the University of Chicago Law School (2018), and Juyoung "Jay" Kim, a student at George Mason University School of Law (2018), will work in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Sarah Jack, a student at the University of Iowa College of Law (2018), will work in Fish's Twin Cities office. James Yang, a student at Harvard Law School (2018), will work in the firm's Southern California office.

Three Diversity Fellows from Fish's 2015 program also will return to the firm for a second summer. Ariane Moss, a student at Harvard Law School (2017), will work in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Alexander Pechette, a student at the University of Chicago Law School (2017), will work in Fish's Boston office. Hao Wu, a student at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (2017), will work in the firm's Austin office.