Bar foundation receives federal court grant

Increasing diversity in the legal profession and the health and well-being of attorneys are at the center of two grants totaling $10,000 from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York to the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar.

A $5,000 grant has been designated for the Rochester Legal Diversity Clerkship Program to hire a first-year diversity law student during a ten-week summer internship at a government agency.

The Rochester Legal Diversity Clerkship Program is co-sponsored by the Monroe County Bar Association, through its Diversity Committee; the Rochester Black Bar Association; and the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys. The program aims to increase diversity in the legal profession in the Rochester area by attracting qualified first-year law students from historically under-represented groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, to work in paid positions with Rochester area law firms and other legal employers.

In addition, the U.S. District Court, WDNY, also awarded a $5,000 grant toward establishment of an MCBA health and well-being initiative, tackling tough issues that lawyers face on a daily basis that can interfere with their ability to practice law, from mental illness to post-traumatic stress disorder to stress or simply work/life balance.

“This is the fourth year in a row that the federal court has provided the foundation with dollars for designated programs of the bar and we are delighted that the federal court chose to recognize these two outstanding initiatives this year,” said Bruce Lawrence, president of the foundation. “We are proud of the Rochester Legal Diversity Clerkship Program, a program that is introducing talented law students to Rochester, and we are looking forward to the MCBA’s health and well-being initiative coming to fruition. These dollars will certainly help in moving both of these programs forward.”