Sidley Austin LLP Announces 2008 Class of Sidley Prelaw Scholars

Sidley Austin LLP has announced the selection of 27 students as its 2008 class of Sidley Prelaw Scholars. The Sidley Prelaw Scholars Initiative, now in its third year, seeks to encourage greater diversity in law schools by providing financial support during the law school application process to racially and ethnically diverse undergraduate students.

The 2008 Sidley Prelaw Scholars, like the two previous classes, were chosen from a wide variety of undergraduate colleges, including Ivy League schools such as Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard, historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, Howard, Jackson State, Morehouse and Spelman, and state schools such as UCLA, University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. The firm pays up to $2,500 per student to cover tuition in a commercial LSAT preparation course, registration fees for the LSAT, and application fees for five to seven accredited law schools. Each student will also receive $2,500 in scholarship assistance, and a pre-law school seminar from Sidley lawyers to introduce students to the structure of legal education and teach them how to thrive in that competitive atmosphere. Sidley lawyers will also be available to mentor the students.

Sidley Prelaw Scholars have matriculated at law schools such as Harvard, Duke, University of Chicago, UCLA, University of Virginia and Stanford.

“Sidley created the Prelaw Scholars program because of our commitment to increasing opportunities for diverse and talented students,” said Tom Cole, chair of Sidley’s Executive Committee. “It is deeply gratifying to add this new class of deserving students to the roster of our successful previous recipients.”

“This program makes it just a little easier for some people to consider law as an option,” said Carlos A. Rodriguez, co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. “While the program doesn’t send the scholars to law school or promise associate positions, it does help us get closer to that goal by widening the doors.”

More information on the Sidley Prelaw Scholars Initiative can be found at www.sidleyscholars.com.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business’ Global Elite, their designation for “the 15 finest law firms in the world.” BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row.

For purposes of the New York State Bar rules, this press release may be considered Attorney Advertising and the headquarters of the firm are Sidley Austin LLP 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300 and Sidley Austin LLP One South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000. Prior results described herein do not guarantee a similar outcome.