Law firm creates scholarship for minority law students

Students at three major Texas law schools will have a new scholarship available to them, thanks to the efforts of Winstead PC. The Winstead law firm, which has offices around Texas including in The Woodlands, has created a new scholarship with the hopes of helping minority law students. The scholarship awarded will be a one-time grant of $20,000, as well as a position with Winstead during the summer. As part of the award, the recipient will be able to select a school organization that will receive $2,000. "The student would have a job offer in hand for the summer, giving them certainly a competitive edge over other students in the class," said Tom Forestier, who chairs Winstead's Diversity Committee. "They'll compete and hopefully demonstrate they're eligible for a permanent offer."

Forestier said the idea for the scholarship originated within the Diversity Committee as a way to attract more attorneys who are minorities. "Our firm is always striving to increase the diversity of our lawyer ranks," he said. "We need to recruit with an eye towards diversity at the law schools." The selection of the scholarship recipient at each school will be based on a written application form, a 500-word personal statement, the student's grades from the first semester and the candidate's resume. Finalists at each campus will be selected, and one person from each school will be awarded the scholarship.

Winstead plans to make a presentation at each of the law schools about the scholarship sometime by the end of this month, and applications from students will be due in February. Finalist interviews will be conducted in March. The scholarship recipients will be formally introduced at the offices they will work for some time in April.

Forestier said the scholarship is one of the first of its kind in Texas."On the national level you'll see a little bit more variety, where some firms offer scholarships to minority law students. The one thing you don't see is this other part, the grant money the student can direct to the organization of their choice, and the job offer," he said. Winstead is one of the larger business law firms in Texas , with attorneys working with mid-market and large businesses. The firm specializes in real estate and financial cases, and has offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and The Woodlands.

Source: The Villager by Jake Muonio