Media Advisory

Summer Jobs Program Inspired Her to Become Attorney
So Says John O’Bryant High School Alum Now at Suffolk Law School

BOSTON –  Tomorrow, June 27 at 9:30 a.m., at 16 Beacon Street, Boston, Nataly Cabrera, now an entering 3-L at Suffolk University School of Law, will tell a crowd of inner city teens that were it not for her participation in the Boston Bar Association Summer Jobs Program in 1999, she would never have pursued a career as a lawyer.  Nataly’s audience will be Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, plus 33 juniors and seniors at high schools throughout the city who tomorrow will embark on paid summer internships at law firms, the Office of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston, the Suffolk County D.A.’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. 

Nataly grew up in Jamaica Plain and is the first in her family to go to college.  In 1999, the BBA Summer Jobs Program placed her at Morgan, Brown & Joy.  There she was mentored by a lawyer, who advised her through her years at the College of the Holy Cross, and is still an important part of her life.  She will be spending this summer doing an internship sponsored by Suffolk at a law firm in Mumbai. 

Admission to the BBA Summer Jobs Program, an essential component of a broader initiative to make the legal profession more inclusive and diverse, has become increasingly competitive.  Of the 33 students accepted, all have expressed an interest in becoming lawyers, and ten are bilingual, demonstrating proficiency in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Vietnamese.  In addition to performing their regular work duties, every student in the program will participate in the M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program, a partnership between the BBA and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts, focusing on making smart choices regarding credit and credit cards, and staying out of bankruptcy.

Also speaking at the news conference will be Ti Ton, a student at Charlestown High School, BBA President Tony Doniger, and BBA Summer Jobs Program Co-Chairs Paula Andrews of Hinkley, Allen & Snyder and Jeffrey Jones of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.

For a list of the 2008 BBA Summer Jobs Program participants click here.