Touro Law Student Receives NYC Bar Diversity Fellowship

Touro Law Center Dean Harry Ballan is pleased to announce that second year student Rebekah Gordon has been selected to receive a New York City Bar Diversity Fellowship. She will be spending the summer in the Legal Department at Bank of New York Mellon.

Dean Harry Ballan stated, “These fellowships are fiercely competitive. The Touro community is proud of Rebekah for her hard work and dedication in securing her spot as a recipient. She is most worthy of this distinction, and we know she will serve as a proud ambassador for our school.”

Rebekah is a second-year student in the part-time evening program at Touro Law. She is active in the Black Law Students Association, the Student Bar Association, the Diversity Committee, the Honors Program, Student Co-Director of the Legal Education Access Program (LEAP) and is the recipient of various scholarships and awards. She hopes to graduate and do legal work that bridges the corporate, financial and entertainment sectors. She stated, “I am honored to have been selected as a New York City Diversity Bar Fellow and look forward to working hard this summer. I’m excited to apply what I learned at Touro and from my own past work experiences at Bank of New York Mellon.”

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.

Touro Law’s Assistant Dean for the Office of Career and Professional Development and Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Jim Montes, stated “I am extremely proud of Rebekah. She came to law school determined to succeed and has worked hard for that success. She was the first student to inquire about the Fellowship opportunity and spent a lot of time preparing for it. She certainly earned this recognition and I am confident that she will make a great impression this summer with her employer. ”

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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Patti Desrochers

Director of Communications

pattid@tourolaw.edu

(631) 761-7062