After meeting with Boston Mayor Tom M. Menino and Chief
Justice Roderick Ireland of the Supreme Judicial Court at the Boston Bar
Association's (BBA) Beacon Hill headquarters, 55 students from Boston's public high schools headed off to paid summer internships at prestigious Boston
law firms, private and public legal departments, and legal services agencies. Also
there to greet the students were BBA President Lisa C. Goodheart
and BBA Summer Jobs Program Co-Chairs David Rosenblatt of Burns & Levinson
and Edward Notis-McConarty of Hemenway & Barnes.
This program is conducted in partnership with the Boston Private Industry
Council and the Boston Public Schools. Most of the high school juniors, seniors
and rising college freshmen will today begin their first work experience in
a professional environment. Given the demographics of the Boston Public Schools,
this program is an important pipeline initiative, introducing students of color
to the legal profession.
The academic enrichment component of the program provides weekly seminars in
civic leadership, rights and responsibilities in the workplace, and the
constitution. Thanks to the M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program, a
joint initiative of the BBA and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Massachusetts, the students will also learn about budgeting and prudent use of
credit.
The BBA Summer Jobs Program began in 1993 with 16 students. In 2012 it
reached its high water mark, accommodating more students than ever before, with
the Boston Bar Foundation providing a generous grant that will place 10 of the
students at legal services agencies.
Check our list
of participating students and
sponsoring law firms.