The Allegheny County Bar Association’s Summer Clerkship Program was established in 2005 as a key strategy of the ACBA’s Diversity Initiative to significantly increase the number of diverse lawyers who practice in Allegheny County. The primary goal of the Summer Clerkship Program is to provide a challenging and enriching summer employment experience to first-year diverse law students at law firms, corporate legal departments, government agencies and non-profits. Through the program the ACBA seeks to attract and identify high-potential diverse law students who may become candidates for future employment in Pittsburgh and to integrate them into the legal community, thereby adding to the diversity of the Pittsburgh legal community and the region as a whole over time. Since 2005, the ACBA has placed over 275 diverse first-year law students in summer clerkship positions in Pittsburgh.
Program Objectives
- Foster the development of practical legal skills
- Expose students to a legal organization’s culture
- Contribute to the marketability and competitive advantage of students for critical second-year summer positions
- Promote attorney-student mentoring relationships and networking opportunities
- Demonstrate the ACBA’s and each participating organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion
Accolades
The Summer Clerkship Program is the recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2008 Partnership Award. The ABA Partnership Awards Program honors bar association projects directed at increasing the participation and advancement of lawyers of color as well as other underrepresented constituents: attorneys with disabilities, women attorneys and those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Testimonials from Law Students
“The Summer Clerkship Program gave me the opportunity to work and build relationships in a big law firm. I learned so much just by being in the firm and working on various projects.”
“The position to which I was assigned helped me gain hands-on insight into a career in the legal field that interested me. I was also able to meet other attorneys in Allegheny County with the networking events this summer.”
