The State Bar of New Mexico is partnering with major New Mexico law firms and governmental law departments to provide excellent employment opportunities for diverse and deserving law students at the University of New Mexico School of Law. The Summer Law Clerk Program provides law students who have capable research and writing skills with the opportunity to demonstrate the drive and excellence that law firms and agencies value most in making employment decisions.
The State Bar and its participating firms and agencies recognize that differences in the social, educational and economic backgrounds of individual law students can often create barriers to employment that have nothing to do with performance or the potential for success as an attorney. The rigorous application and interview process combines a unique learning experience for law students with a unique insight into the qualifications and potential of our applicants.
Working with law firms and agencies that are committed to the ideal of diversified applicant pools, the Summer Law Clerk Program has been bringing down artificial barriers to employment, producing quality law clerks and diversifying attorney applicants for nearly a generation.
Law firms or agencies interested in participating in the 2008 Summer Law Clerk Program should contact Art Jaramillo, ajaramillo@aol.com.
2007 Summer Law Clerks
Aaron Choneska State Regulation & Licensing Division
Elizabeth Clapp Freedman Boyd Daniels Hollander Goldberg
Bree Cole Keleher & McLeod, PA
Monica Ewing Sutin Thayer & Browne
Jacob Gallegos State Insurance Division
Kelley Grosso State Gaming Control Board
Phyllis Jankowski Butt, Thornton & Baehr PC
Lauren Koller Montgomery & Andrews PA
Christopher Lopez Comeau, Maldegen, Templeman & Indall
James Moffitt City of Albuquerque
Katrina Richards Robles, Rael & Anaya
Jennifer Rogers Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb
Patrick Schaeffer State Bar of New Mexico
Sherrise Summers State GSA Risk Management Division
GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES
A. Organizational Design:
The State Bar of New Mexico created the Summer Law Clerk Program ("Program") in 1992 in recognition of its responsibility to promote equal employment opportunities for persons who have historically been under-represented in the legal profession and in New Mexico's large law firms.
The State Bar recognizes that differences in the educational, economic, social, family or personal backgrounds of attorneys can create barriers, both real and perceived, to equal employment opportunities in the legal profession. Moreover, because law firms and other major employers of attorneys traditionally emphasize grade point averages and class standing in developing law clerk and attorney applicant pools, law students and attorneys who are not in the top tier of their law school class typically find it more difficult to obtain such employment, even though many of these applicants are highly qualified, motivated and capable of performing quality legal services.
The State Bar is concerned that, for a variety of reasons, a law student's grade point average and class standing may not fairly reflect his or her competency, motivation to succeed or potential to excel in the legal profession. Many qualified law students who are not in the top tier of their class are often reluctant to apply for positions with large firms, or are overlooked in the application or interview process.
As a first step in addressing this concern, the Summer Law Clerk Program was developed to create employment opportunities in large firms, public agencies and corporate law departments by providing law clerking experience for motivated and deserving law students who meet the Program's eligibility criteria.
B. Eligibility:
Students meeting the following criteria shall be eligible to apply for participation in the program.
1. First Year UNM Law Students in Good Standing with Capable Legal Research and Writing Skills
Effective legal research and writing is a fundamental aspect of the summer law clerk positions offered by the Program. Students in good standing who are completing their first year at the University of New Mexico School of Law and who have capable legal research and writing skills as demonstrated by the student’s legal research and writing grade, references, or legal writing sample are eligible to apply for participation in the Program.2. Absence of an Equal Opportunity
While an objective of the Program is to encourage the participation of eligible minority students, the Program is not limited to minorities. Any first-year law student at the University of New Mexico School of Law who meets the requirements of subparagraph 1 of this section, and who can demonstrate with reference to his or her educational, economic, social, family or personal background an absence of equal opportunity that may limit his or her ability to compete effectively for future employment opportunities with large legal employers in New Mexico, is eligible to apply for participation in the Program.
Example #1: A student with financial difficulties may have had to both work full-time while in college and devote time to various family obligations. Such a student may not have been able to achieve academically at a very high level, and this, in turn, might have a negative impact initially on law school performance. While the student is working hard in law school to overcome this obstacle, the student's initial grade point average may be a limiting factor in competing for a position with a large law firm.Example #2: Despite diligent preparation, a law student's sub-par performance on one or more final examinations may have resulted in a grade point average that is not fairly representative of that law student's overall learning experience, academic effort, or his or her potential to achieve at higher academic levels. The student's grade point average may be a limiting factor in applying for a position with a large law firm.
Example #3: A law student has a respectable grade point average, but his or her personal, social or family background is such that the student had no exposure to the legal profession or personal contacts with anyone in the profession. The student is motivated to seek a position with a large law firm, but the lack of personal contacts or other law-related references may place the student at a competitive disadvantage in competing for such a position.
In each case, the student should describe the situation in his or her Personal Statement and explain how he or she has-- and will continue to-- overcome specific obstacles. The Personal Statement should describe with particularity the student's qualifications and the characteristics that make the student an excellent choice to serve as a law clerk for a large law firm or a corporate or governmental law department. Emphasis should be placed on the student's personal traits, communication skills, academic background, community involvement, business background, personal goals, motivation and the student's legal research and writing proficiency.
C. Selection Committee:
The State Bar of New Mexico will establish a Summer Law Clerk Program Selection Committee ("Selection Committee"). The Selection Committee will apply these guidelines and procedures and will be solely responsible for the selection of law clerks for the Program.
D. Application:
Interested students are required to complete the attached Application Form and submit supporting documents, including a Personal Statement and a representative legal research and writing sample not to exceed five (5) pages in length; the sample can be part of a larger document.
E. Recruitment:
The Selection Committee will explain the Program and answer questions concerning the summer law clerk positions at a general orientation session. Copies of the Program Guidelines and Procedures and the Application Form will be made available to all interested first year law students.
F. Selection Procedure and Criteria:
1. Eligible law students will be selected for the summer law clerk positions by the Selection Committee on an individual, case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the quality of the student's legal research and writing skills, overall academic background, employment history, community involvement, professional interests, communication skills, references, Personal Statement, writing sample, and interview.
2. The Selection Committee will further consider whether and to what extent the student’s educational, economic, social, family or personal background reflects an absence of equal opportunity that may limit the student's ability to compete effectively for future employment opportunities with large legal employers in New Mexico.
G. Application and Interview Required:
Both a completed Application and an interview of the applicant by the Selection Committee are required for eligibility.
H. Selection:
The Selection Committee, in its sole discretion, shall make a final determination as to those individuals selected for participation in the Program. To be selected for participation, a student must receive at least a majority vote of the Selection Committee members who are present at the selection process. The number of students selected for participation in the Program shall not exceed the number of positions available in the Program for that year. Alternates may be selected at the discretion of the Selection Committee in the event a clerkship position may subsequently become available. Alternates will be advised of their status following the selection process. Students who are interviewed and selected for a position, by their application, must agree to accept the position offered and to withdraw all other applications for summer employment.
I. Assignments:
The law clerks selected to participate in the Program will be assigned in the sole discretion of the Selection Committee to the participating law firms, agencies, and corporate legal departments. After the law clerks are assigned, the law firms and agencies will be informed and will initiate contact with the clerks.
J. Timetable:
Applications for the Summer Law Clerk Program, complete with all supporting materials, will be due on a date specified by the Committee.
II. Participating Law Firms:
A. Participating Employers:
Any private law firm, public agency, or corporate legal department that regularly employs at least ten lawyers may participate in the Program.
B. Salary:
The terms and conditions of employment for the law clerks selected to participate in the Program, including salary, shall be determined individually by each respective employer.
C. Training:
Law clerks participating in the Program will be expected to participate in the same manner as the employer's other law clerks in any training programs conducted by the employer.
D. Evaluation:
Law clerks participating in the Program will be evaluated by their employer in the same manner as the employer's other law clerks. In addition, the Selection Committee will conduct exit interviews with the law clerks and their employers to assess the benefits of the Program.
E. Second Year Clerking:
Participating employers are not required to extend an offer for a second year clerkship, but may do so if they wish. Participants in the Program should not expect such an offer.
F. Employment as an Associate:
Participating employers are not required to extend an offer of employment as an associate to any participant of the Program, but may do so if they wish. Participants in the Program should not expect such an offer.
G. Identification of Clerkship Program:
Law clerks may, if they wish, identify participation in the Program when listing employment on their resume.
III. Selection Committee:
The Selection Committee shall be comprised of representatives of the participating employers and such other members as may be appointed by the State Bar of New Mexico. The Selection Committee, when scheduling permits, will organize a "get acquainted" luncheon for law clerks and participating employers and conduct exit interviews with selected law clerks upon completion of each Program.