Afro Law Scholars

After our most competitive application cycle to date, we are proud to present our 2024-2025 class of Afro Law Scholars. With great joy, we welcome 30 exceptional incoming law students, united by their shared passion for leadership and their commitment to breaking barriers. Our scholars represent 17 law schools, in a cohort that includes a Rhodes Scholar, division 1 athletes, an Olympic athlete, investment bankers, management consultants, chemical engineers, a political press secretary, Fulbright scholars, a former corporate attorney in Nigeria pursuing a J.D. in the states and more. These scholars are entering their first year at law schools across the country and will receive one-on-one mentorship from attorneys at prominent law firms, professional development training from our career office, recruiting opportunities at our corporate sponsors, and more. We look forward to hosting our scholars in August during our Program Kickoff in New York City.

This week, our 2024-2025 Afro Scholars cohort kicked off in NYC with an inspiring two-day program. The scholars enjoyed an exclusive welcome dinner at Marsanne NYC, hosted by Fried Frank, where they connected with the recruiting team, several attorneys from the NYC and DC offices and met Fried Frank’s Managing Partner, Steve Epstein. Day two was filled with team-building activities and concluded with a memorable reception at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s New York office, where the two hiring partners, the Chief Legal Recruiting Officer, Chief Diversity Officer and several attorneys were in attendance. The kick off begins what will be another immersive year of training, where these talented law students will participate in both virtual and in-person professional development workshops, participate in a job fair, and receive one-on-one mentorship from attorneys at top law firms and corporations. Many thanks to our gracious sponsors and we’re excited for an incredible school year ahead with this talented group! #AfroScholars #NYC #FutureLeaders

Applications for our Afro Scholars 2024-2025 Cohort are now open to students enrolling in law school this Fall as first year students. Our program provides incoming first-year law students with career coaching, professional development tools, recruiting opportunities at major law firms, and personalized mentors from established law firms and corporations throughout their 1L year. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until June 1st, 2024. Please visit afroscholars.org to apply.

Happy to represent Afro Scholars at this Convention this Saturday in Houston. Come learn more about our program before applications open on April 1st.

Last month we hosted the Afro Scholars Cohort in our New York Office. This extraordinarily talented group of law students has a bright future ahead of them and we enjoyed sharing our insights into starting a career in Big Law.

Are you an incoming 1L at an ABA accredited law school? Join us on Sunday, February 18th at 4:00 PM ET as we host an information session for the Afro Scholars program, an organization created to support the success of law students across the diaspora. Our cohorts receive professional development training, recruiting opportunities with our partner law firms and corporations, and one-on-one mentorship from prominent attorneys in the field. Register at afroscholars.org/events.

After a rejuvenating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we reflect on last week, when 30 members of our current Afro Scholar Cohort had the opportunity to interview with law firms that included our name sponsor Kirkland & Ellis, premier sponsor, Mintz, and more at our annual 1L Job Fair. We are consistently thankful for our Sponsors’ investment into the future of our scholars as they endeavor to pursue leadership in organizations like Kirkland & Ellis, Mintz or Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. Beyond their accomplished backgrounds, our scholars are trained to be leaders amongst leaders, and every scholar has undergone professional development training and coaching from the best in the industry. With diversity and inclusion as a goal, we hope to continue to strengthen the nexus between our scholars, which is often a diverse affinity, but also their commitment to excellence.

This past week, our scholars attended our annual Afro Scholars Winter Retreat hosted by Mintz in New York City. Scholars participated in several curated career-development sessions in the Firm’s New York office, which included an address and Q&A session with the Firm’s Global Managing Partner, an in-depth session on recruiting with the Firm’s global recruiting team, interview and resume prep workshops, a day in the life series across various practice groups at the Firm, a pro bono panel, several social dinners across restaurants in the NYC area and more. We remain thankful for our partnership with Mintz, who has supported our organization since its inception.