Fish & Richardson Announces 2017 1L Diversity Fellows

Six first-year law school students - Adam Pan, Tracea Rice, James Riddle, Ismael Sarmiento, Veena Tripathi, and Ka-Lo Yeh, - have been selected from over 400 applicants as the firm's 2017 1L Diversity Fellows. Fish's 1L Diversity Fellowship Program, which was launched in 2005, provides annual fellowships to diverse first-year law students across the U.S. The program supports Fish's ongoing work to recruit, retain, and advance a diverse group of attorneys.

Each Fish Diversity Fellow receives mentoring throughout their law school education, a paid 2017 summer associate position in one of Fish's U.S. offices, and a $5,000 academic scholarship. The 1L Diversity Fellows also receive an additional $5,000 scholarship if they receive and accept an associate offer with the firm after the completion of a 2L summer clerkship at Fish.

All of Fish's 2017 Diversity Fellows are given the opportunity to participate in the 1L Scholars Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), which was created to strengthen the legal pipeline by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse first-year law students. LCLD is a national organization made up of more than 265 general counsel and managing partners of the leading corporations and law firms in the country who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession.

"It is very rewarding to work with these incredibly talented and diverse future attorneys as they begin their legal careers at Fish through our 1L Diversity Fellowship Program," said Ahmed J. Davis, National Chair of Fish's Diversity Initiative and a Principal in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. "We are committed to building a more diverse workforce that better reflects the diversity we see in our clients and in the courts. This program is important to both our firm and the legal profession as a whole as we all work to continuously improve diversity among our ranks."

Adam Pan, a student at Yale Law School (2019) will work in Fish's Boston office. Tracea Rice, a student at Wake Forest University School of Law (2019), and James Riddle, a student at Yale Law School (2019), will work in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Ismael Sarmiento, a student at the University of Texas Law School (2019), will join Fish's Houston office. Veena Tripathi, a student at the University of Minnesota Law School (2019), will work in the firm's Twin Cities office. Ka-Lo Yeh, a student at Harvard Law School (2019) and currently a law clerk in the Boston office, will join the firm's Silicon Valley office, where she previously worked as a technology specialist prior to law school.

Three Diversity Fellows from Fish's 2016 program also will return to the firm for a second summer. Adam Aquino, a student at the University of Chicago Law School (2018), will rejoin the Washington, D.C. office. Sarah Jack, a student at the University of Iowa College of Law (2018), will rejoin the Twin Cities office. James Yang, a student at Harvard Law School (2018), will divide his summer between Fish's New York and San Diego offices.