Boston Bar Association Summer Jobs Program Aligns with Diversity Initiative

After meeting with Boston Mayor Tom M. Menino and Chief Justice Roderick Ireland of the Supreme Judicial Court at the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Beacon Hill headquarters, 55 students from Boston’s public high schools headed off to paid summer internships at prestigious Boston law firms, private and public legal departments, and legal services agencies. Also there to greet the students were BBA President Lisa C. Goodheart and BBA Summer Jobs Program Co-Chairs David Rosenblatt of Burns & Levinson and Edward Notis-McConarty of Hemenway & Barnes.

This program is conducted in partnership with the Boston Private Industry Council and the Boston Public Schools. Most of the high school juniors, seniors and rising college freshmen will today begin their first work experience in a professional environment. Given the demographics of the Boston Public Schools, this program is an important pipeline initiative, introducing students of color to the legal profession.

The academic enrichment component of the program provides weekly seminars in civic leadership, rights and responsibilities in the workplace, and the constitution. Thanks to the M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program, a joint initiative of the BBA and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, the students will also learn about budgeting and prudent use of credit.

The BBA Summer Jobs Program began in 1993 with 16 students. In 2012 it reached its high water mark, accommodating more students than ever before, with the Boston Bar Foundation providing a generous grant that will place 10 of the students at legal services agencies.

Check our list of participating students and sponsoring law firms.