According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, law is one of the least diverse professions in the nation. Per the Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey report, just one in five law firm equity partners are women and only 9.2% of equity partners are people of color.
The LMJ Scholarship Program, established by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), is a diversity pipeline program that seeks to nurture the academic and professional careers of outstanding law students. The LMJ Scholarship awards up to 6 scholarships of $10,000 to incoming first-year law students.
According to the Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey report, released this October, in 2018 minority representation among associates has topped for the first time the pre-recession level reached in 2009. The 2019 survey results included the highest representation of minority attorneys to date. More than 17 percent of law firm attorneys are members of a racial or ethnic minority group. Law firm populations are slowly becoming more diverse, although demographic changes have been slow to trickle upward in leadership positions. MCCA’s vision is to make the legal profession as diverse as the world we live in and to continue to break down the barriers to entry.
If you have an interest in corporate law and possess a commitment to diversity and inclusion you can learn more about the LMJ Scholarship and apply at www.mcca.com/lmjscholarship.
LMJ Scholarship applicants will be evaluated based on financial need, community involvement, essay content and academic achievements. Scholarship funds will be applied to tuition at ABA-accredited U.S. law schools. The deadline to apply is June 17, 2020 by 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) is the preeminent voice on diversity, inclusion and equity in the legal industry. It was founded in 1997 with a mission to recruit, retain and promote diverse attorneys by publishing research to providing professional development opportunities to offering advisory services. Today, MCCA empowers members with the tools needed to disrupt business as usual – and to blaze a path forward for their company, industry and corporate America.