Akin Welcomes 11th Class of Pro Bono Scholars

(Washington, D.C.) — Akin Gump is proud to announce its 2018 class of Pro Bono Scholars. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Akin Gump’s Pro Bono Scholars Program provides top first-year law students the opportunity to develop early and deep experience in public interest law. The skills acquired during this unique two-year program build a foundation for pro bono work and billable practice that will serve participants throughout their careers.

This year, the firm expanded the program to its London office, adding two trainee solicitors to the ranks of Pro Bono Scholars. Since its inception, the program has sponsored 81 Pro Bono Scholars at 36 different organizations across the globe. Twenty-six former Pro Bono Scholars are now associates or counsel at Akin Gump. 

Akin Gump’s pro bono partner Steve Schulman says, “We are thrilled by this talented class of Pro Bono Scholars—including our first two from London—as we celebrate our 10th anniversary of the founding of the program.” 

Starting May 21, the U.S. Pro Bono Scholars will spend the first four weeks of the 2018 program at Akin Gump working on pro bono matters, receiving substantive assignments and training in areas in which the firm focuses its pro bono practice. At the conclusion of the four weeks, all the Pro Bono Scholars will spend three days in Washington, D.C. attending a “Pro Bono Scholars Boot Camp,” which provides additional training with the firm’s pro bono partner organizations and orientation to the firm, as well as an opportunity to serve clients at a divorce and custody clinic in coordination with Legal Aid of West Virginia. After their time at the firm, the Pro Bono Scholars will spend at least seven weeks at a public interest organization of their choosing. 

The London Pro Bono Scholars, who are on two-year training contracts with the firm, are helping the firm develop its UK pro bono practice.  They will join the U.S. Pro Bono Scholars at Boot Camp in Washington in June.

Akin Gump’s firmwide hiring and professional development partner David Botter said of the program, “We are so proud of the Pro Bono Scholars program because it provides each student with an introduction to practice law at our firm as well as an opportunity to serve our community. I am excited to welcome this year’s impressive class to the program.”

The eight U.S. Pro Bono Scholars and their respective office locations are Fatima Bishwati (New York), Jamila Cambridge (Washington, D.C.), Max Hamilton (Washington, D.C.), Pranav Lokin (Dallas), Richard Millett (New York), Nicolas O’Connor (New York), Nick Russell (Los Angeles) and Isaac Webb (Washington, D.C.).  Phil Davies and Emma Richardson are the firm’s first two London Pro Bono Scholars.

Fatima Bishwati (Columbia Law School) will work with Her Justice, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services in family, divorce and immigration law to low-income women living in New York City.

Jamila Cambridge (Howard University School of Law) will work with the Tahirih Justice Center, a nongovernmental organization that provides pro bono direct legal services and social and medical service referrals to immigrant women and girls who are fleeing gender-based violence and persecution.  Jamila will work in Tahirih’s Falls Church office.

Max Hamilton (Georgetown University Law Center), will work at the State and Local Legal Center in Washington, D.C., which provides assistance to states and local governments in connection with Supreme Court litigation.

Pranav Lokin (Emory University School of Law) will work with Texas Appleseed, a public interest justice center based in Austin that works to change unjust laws and policies that prevent Texans from realizing their full potential.

Richard Millett (Harvard Law School) will work with the general counsel of the KIPP Foundation in San Francisco.  KIPP is a network of public schools that help students from educationally underserved communities develop the knowledge, skills, character and habits needed to succeed in college and the competitive world beyond.

Nicolas O’Connor (Georgetown University Law Center) will work at Sanctuary for Families, New York’s leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking and related forms of gender violence.

Nick Russell (University of California, Los Angeles School of Law) will work at Bet Tzedek, a nonprofit law firm in Los Angeles that provides free, comprehensive legal assistance and representation, volunteer and court-based self-help services, and legal education to more than 20,000 people each year.

Isaac Webb (University of California, Berkeley School of Law) will work at American Oversight, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that investigates and exposes unethical conduct throughout the federal government.

Phil Davies (University of Cambridge Faculty of Law) is a 2013 graduate working as a trainee solicitor at Akin Gump. Emma Richardson (Kings College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law) is a 2014 graduate working as a trainee solicitor at Akin Gump.  Together they are focusing on assisting low-income Londoners obtain public welfare benefits.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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