Three Touro Law Students Receive NYC Bar Diversity Fellowships

Touro Law Center is pleased to announce that three students received New York City Bar Diversity Fellowships. Julia Capie has been placed with Proskauer Rose, Mickelle Damassia was placed with New York County District Attorney’s Office and Bridgette Nunez-Zapata has been placed with Nixon Peabody.

“The NYC Bar Diversity Fellowships highlight and celebrate the talents and accomplishments of the students who participate in this exceedingly competitive and rigorous program. The Touro Law students chosen for this prestigious opportunity should be commended on their selection. I am confident they will be great ambassadors of Touro Law while gaining invaluable hands-on training and experience at each of their respectively impressive placements,” said Dean Patricia Salkin.

Julia Capie is a second-year part-time evening student from Babylon, NY. She didn’t always want to be a lawyer, but knew she wanted a career that was both morally fulfilling and intellectually stimulating and says law school was the right choice for her. She looks forward to a range of learning opportunities as a fellow with Proskauer Rose, a prestigious international firm with offices in London, Brazil, Hong Kong and Paris and all over the U.S. "I am excited about the hands-on learning practical experience I will gain as well as the workshops and mentoring programs that will provide me with instrumental knowledge and skills as I pursue my legal career."

Mickelle Damassia is a second-year part-time evening student from Huntington, NY. She always dreamed of having a career where she would make an impact. She is looking forward to her internship with the New York County District Attorney’s Office. She stated, “I'm looking forward to working with some of the most brilliant and dedicated prosecutors in the world and to the abundance of invaluable legal experience interns gain in the New York County District Attorney’s Office in trial and appellate litigation in the public sector. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Bridgette Nunez-Zapata is a first-year, full time student from New York, NY. She has a background in Investment banking and an MBA in finance. She stated, “I wanted to attend law school to learn how to fully contribute to a company’s success as well as my own.” She looks forward to working at Nixon Peabody to gain experience in a large commercial law firm that will benefit her future legal career.

The New York City Bar Association Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers has been the proud sponsor of the City Bar's Diversity Fellowship Program since 1991. Since then, more than 300 diverse and talented first year law students from eleven New York City area law schools have been given a rare and valuable opportunity: to spend their 1L summer in a law firm, or corporate or government legal department to better prepare them for careers in the law. The goal of the program is to provide first year law students from underrepresented populations the chance to spend a summer in one of New York’s most exciting legal environments.

The selection criteria for Program Fellows are demanding, including a legal writing requirement, preparing a personal statement and being interviewed by a faculty-dominated screening committee and then, if selected by that committee, interviewed again by a panel of attorneys and other school representatives. The interviewing panel also reviews the candidate's undergraduate and law school transcripts, resume, personal statement and legal writing sample. Only those who pass this final hurdle are assigned to a participating employer.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris and Florida. New York Medical College, Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.