The Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline Project
Howard High School of Technology, Dupont Legal and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
The DELREC Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline Project was built on a program created by Dupont’s Legal Department in 2000 for the Association of Corporate Counsels. The program created a kit titled "Priming the Pipeline to Diversity" which sought to help corporate legal offices and law firms design activities to interest minority students in a legal career. Street Law, Inc. used the kit to develop a partnership with a number of corporations throughout the county and developed a model for a successful pipeline projects. In 2006-2007, DELREC matched Dupont Legal staff and staff from Young Conaway with Howard High School of Technology. We also involved staff and student organizations from Widener University School of Law. During the first year of operation, the Project provided the following activities.
The Model Program
1. Planning – September
Staff from Dupont Legal and Young Conaway develop conference material.
2. Classroom Visits – October and November
As in most Diversity Pipeline programs, we used the classroom visits to pre-teach material that we planned to present at the one-day conference. Topics included torts, contracts, copyrights and employment law.
3. One-day Conference – December
The Conference was held at Dupont and was attended by over 60 students. There was a series of rotating workshops, a career fair during lunch and additional workshops after lunch. At the career fair, students met and talked with different members of Young Conaway and Dupont Legal staff.
4. Mentoring Program – March – May
The mentoring program matches Howard Juniors with Dupont and Young Conaway staff. The mentoring includes teams of staff and students. The focus of the mentoring is to help students direct their future educational plans.
