September 1, 2023
The process to becoming a lawyer can be intimidating. Forman Watkins & Krutz started its Diversity Pipeline Program to unveil this process and help underrepresented diverse students from Mississippi’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) confidently apply for law school and pursue careers as civil defense litigators. Initiated in 2021, the FWK Diversity Pipeline Program is a collaboration between the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and Tougaloo College’s Reuben V. Anderson Pre-Law Society and Jackson State University’s Bob Owens Pre-Law Center. The program includes two phases of development, the Pre-Law Program and the Law School Program. The Pre-Law Program is curated to provide students with the information and preparation needed to make their law school experience more manageable and less stressful. Students who attend the Pre-Law Program are eligible to transition to the Pipeline Program’s second phase, the Law School Program. This phase begins with a bootcamp offered in the Summer prior to students attending law school. As they make their way through law school, the program fosters mentor relationships with firm attorneys and offers a host of professional development opportunities geared towards preparing them for their legal career upon graduation, as well as a mini-clerkship during their December holiday break. Students who complete the Law School Program will then be in consideration for a Summer Associate position with the firm. “The mission of the Forman Watkins & Krutz Diversity Pipeline Program is to expose diverse students to the legal environment so that they can see a path to life as […]