In an unprecedented move highlighting its support for the public service activities of the bar, the Boston Bar Foundation (BBF) today announced that it will provide more than $35,000 in funding to permit 10 students to participate in the Boston Bar Association (BBA) Summer Jobs Program in 2012. This marks a significant increase in the BBF’s level of commitment since the summer of 2011 when it provided funding for five students.
“The funding we announce today underscores the BBF’s commitment to creating access to law-related career and educational enrichment opportunities for Boston’s youth,” said BBF President John D. Donovan, a partner at Ropes & Gray. “The BBA, with its dedication to increasing the diversity of the bar and serving our community, has provided invaluable opportunities through its Summer Jobs program.”
“At the same time,” said Donovan, “we announce this funding as a challenge for every law firm and legal department that has not yet signed up to hire a student through the BBA Summer Jobs program to get on board. We call on Boston’s Law firms to do their part in ensuring a strong future for our city. Together we can make a difference in these student’s lives and enhance the future of the legal profession.”
To date, 28 law firms have committed to hiring 32 students through the BBA Summer Jobs Program, with a BBA Committee co-chaired by David Rosenblatt of Burns & Levinson and Edward Notis-McConarty of Hemenway & Barnes actively working to recruit additional firms. The Program, which aligns with the BBA’s diversity initiative and provides many students with their first work experience in a professional setting, provides an 8 week paid internship to high school juniors, seniors and rising college freshman from Boston’s public schools.
The additional 10 students whose jobs will be funded by the BBF will be working in public interest settings, typically legal aid organizations or public agencies without the means to hire them. Established in 1993, the BBA Summer Jobs Program represents a partnership with the Boston Private Industry Council and the Boston Public Schools.
Since the program began in 1993, more than 350 diverse students from Boston’s public high schools have completed the program, with many going on to college, several even going on to law school and careers in the legal field. BBA Summer Jobs alums have also been invited to continue working at law firms during the school year and after college.
Historically, the Boston Bar Foundation has funded four students collectively through the Austin P. Jones and M. Ellen Carpenter memorial funds. Earlier this month, the BBF Board of Trustees unanimously voted to increase funding for Summer Jobs, strengthening the Foundation’s ties to the community.
The Boston Bar Association expresses its heartfelt thanks to the following public spirited law firms and organizations for their support of the 2012 Summer Jobs Program:
Anderson & Kreiger LLP
Boston Bar Association*
Burns & Levinson LLP*
Chu, Ring & Hazel
Choate Hall & Stewart LLP
City of Boston, Office of the Corporation Counsel*
DLA Piper
Donovan Hatem LLP
Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP*
Ferriter Scobbo & Rodophele, PC
Foley Hoag LLP
Hemenway & Barnes LLP
Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP
Holland & Knight LLP
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo P.C.
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
Pierce Atwood LLP
Prince Lobel Tye LLP
Proskauer Rose LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Rubin & Rudman LLP
Sovereign Bank
Shaevel & Krems
Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office
Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, P.C.
Sunstein Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP
Todd & Weld LLP
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
*Hiring more than one student
