CHICAGO (February 7, 2007) -- Ateet Adhikari and Avani Bhatt have been awarded the first ever McDermott Will & Emery Minority Scholarships in the amount of $15,000 each. Mr. Adhikari is a law student at the University of Illinois and will participate in McDermott's summer program in Chicago. Ms. Bhatt is a law student at the University of Michigan and she will participate in the Firm's upcoming summer program in New York. "Our new minority scholarship program is just one of the initiatives we are taking as a Firm to help achieve greater diversity at McDermott and in the legal profession," commented Harvey W. Freishtat, Chairman of McDermott Will & Emery. "Both Ateet and Avani exemplify the qualities we are looking for in our law school recruits." At the University of Illinois, Mr. Adhikari is a University Law Scholar; a member of the University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy, and a member of the Prisoners' Rights Research Project. He earned his B.A. in economics with a concentration in finance from Northwestern University. This summer he served as a extern with the Honorable Judge Brigid Mary McGrath in Chicago. Ms. Bhatt is at the University of Michigan Law School and is a member of Michigan Journal of Race & Law. She earned her B.A., summa cum laude, in political science and psychology from the University of Michigan. This summer Ms. Bhatt served has a law clerk at the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C. In order to be eligible, students must be second-year minority law students at an ABA-accredited U.S. law school, meet McDermott's hiring criteria, demonstrate leadership, community involvement, and a commitment to improving diversity in the legal profession. Recipients must also be accepted to and participate in the McDermott Summer Program. For more information on the McDermott Minority Scholarship, visit http://careers.mwe.com/. McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Düsseldorf, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Orange County, Rome, San Diego, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. For more information visit http://www.mwe.com. McDermott's commitment to diversity arises from this clear, simple and indisputable principle: diversity is necessary for us to achieve excellence in all aspects of providing services to our clients.

Submitted by UW Law School Newsletter Admin on February 28, 2007

This article appears in the categories: Grants & Competitions