Law Schools

McGuireWoods And Walmart Partner With The Pipeline To Practice Foundation To Improve Diversity In The Legal Profession

The Foundation aims to diversify the legal profession by cultivating exceptional legal talent.

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“I’m not a businessman /  I’m a business… man.” — Jay-Z

Earlier this month, the Pipeline to Practice Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to diversifying the legal profession, announced major financial support and participation from Walmart, Inc. and McGuireWoods LLP.

The Pipeline to Practice Foundation was established in 2015 with the main purpose of improving diversity in the legal profession — by supporting and nurturing diverse law students and early-career attorneys at key stages of their academic and professional development.

The Foundation’s Board of Directors is the only one I am aware of that is comprised entirely of diverse attorneys working at Fortune 500 companies and associated with the world’s largest law firms. As highlighted on the Foundation’s website, its mission statement reads:

[The Foundation] is committed to enhancing diversity in the legal profession by supporting and nurturing diverse law students and early-career attorneys at key stages of their academic and professional development.

Our purpose is to provide access to programming and coaching that is critical to achieving academic excellence in law school, developing the skills necessary to be successful attorneys, creating pathways to leadership positions, and ultimately, to become role models to the next generation of diverse law students.

Perhaps, the most candid advice on its website for prospective law students is found in the Lawyer Development section. Here, the Foundation identifies three critical stages a majority of law students and lawyers can trace their academic and professional development to:

  1. FIRST YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL

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1L success largely determines initial post-graduate employment opportunities, academic honors and students’ ability to transfer schools in order to improve/expand their career options.

  1. POST GRADUATE BAR EXAM SUCCESS

Law schools graduate lawyers, but they must first pass a bar exam to become practicing attorneys.

  1. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

A mastery of “practical” and “soft” skills are not only the hallmarks of all successful practitioners, but also differentiate young attorneys, making them more attractive to potential employers.

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I wholeheartedly agree with the Foundation’s three key stages. In fact, I detailed just how important the first year of law school is for a law student a few years back.

Second of all, the bar exam remains a high hurdle, and sometimes even a roadblock, for many aspiring attorneys.

Finally, the mastery of “practical” and “soft” skills, or what I call an accumulation of social capital, is the true competitive advantage young attorneys can obtain to differentiate themselves from their competition.

The Foundation aims to diversify the legal profession by cultivating exceptional legal talent via programming to improve academic performance and practical skills as well as coaching to improve decision making and soft skills.

If you are a law school applicant who is planning to begin his or her legal studies in 2018 and meet the Foundation’s scholarship criteria, you are encouraged to submit an application for a Pipeline to Practice Scholarship.

As for law firms, companies, and attorneys who are interested in becoming involved and supporting the Pipeline to Practice Foundation, make sure to visit the Foundation’s Pledge Form.

Renwei Chung is the Diversity Columnist at Above the Law. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn. 

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