2009 PHILADELPHIA DIVERSITY LAW GROUP FIRST-YEAR SUMMER PROGRAM

The Philadelphia Diversity Law Group is pleased to invite first-year law students to submit applications for participation in the PDLG First-Year Summer Program for the summer of 2009. The PDLG First-Year Summer Program (the "PDLG Program") offers first-year students an additional route to summer employment in outstanding law firms and corporate law departments. Application through this program will not preclude a student from otherwise seeking or accepting a job at any participating organization or preclude the organization hiring the student outside of the program.

The PDLG Program is designed to identify first year law students who have overcome obstacles in pursuing a legal career or come from disadvantaged backgrounds or from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the Philadelphia legal community and who have demonstrated the ability – based on academic achievement, writing ability and other accomplishments - to succeed in the summer programs run by our member organizations. The PDLG hopes this program will enable a group of those students to get summer clerkships in Philadelphia and thus allow them to experience the law firm or corporate law environment in Philadelphia and, perhaps, help them "kick-start" their legal careers.

The law firms that participated in the PDLG Program in 2008 were Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP; Pepper Hamilton, LLP; Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP; Reed Smith LLP; Dechert LLP; Duane, Morris & Heckscher LLP; Cozen O’Connor, PC.; Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis LLP; WolfBlock LLP, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP; Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP; Fox, Rothschild, O’Brien & Frankel, LLP; Saul Ewing, LLP; Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP; DLA Piper US LLP; Ballard Spahr, White and Williams, Blank Rome LLP, Archer & Greiner, P.C., and Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC. The law departments that were participating this year are those of Sunoco, Inc., Temple University, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, WAWA , Inc., Wyeth, ARAMARK and Comcast Cable. We anticipate that they also will participate in 2009 as will the law firm of Dilworth Paxson LLP and the law department at Vanguard.

• GROWTH AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• STUDENT ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION
• INITIAL SCREENING
• PDLG COMMITTEE INTERVIEWS AND DECISIONS
• SELECTION BY EMPLOYERS, FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT
• PDLG SUMMER EVENTS
• 2L SUMMER SCREENING INTERVIEWS
• 2009 SUMMER ASSOCIATE PROGRAM CALENDAR
• PRINT PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Adobe Reader Required - Get Adobe Reader)

PDLG and Student Contacts for More Information 

The PDLG is committed to increasing the number of attorneys of diverse backgrounds working at law firms and corporate law departments in the Philadelphia area to make our members stronger, more productive, and better equipped to address the challenges of the twenty-first century. We have implemented this program to foster that diversity. We look forward to your participation.