Note to Editors: Reporters are invited to attend a reception at the downtown Denver law offices of Holme Roberts & Owen at 1700 Lincoln St., Suite 4100, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 27. Representatives from the CBA, the specialty bar associations, the CU and DU law schools and the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals will attend.
The University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law and the Colorado Bar Association Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee today announced the development of a new minority mentor program.
The program is the first comprehensive mentor program done in concert with the Colorado specialty bar associations and will provide attorney mentors to first-year minority law students at CU-Boulder and the University of Denver.
Through the mentor program, first-year minority law students will be paired with experienced attorneys who will serve as their mentors for the rest of the academic year.
The goal of the program is to provide first-year minority law students with an attorney mentor who can introduce them to the legal profession. Specifically, the program aims to promote the value of cultural diversity, to assist with transition into practice and to provide networking opportunities in the legal profession.
"Studies through the American Bar Association have documented the effectiveness of these programs, especially as it relates to the professional development of minority lawyers," said Anthony L. Bastone II, assistant dean at the CU-Boulder School of Law.
The specialty bar associations involved in the program include the Asian Pacific-American Bar Association, Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, Colorado Indian Bar Association, Colorado Lesbian & Gay Bar Association, Colorado Women's Bar Association and the Sam Cary Bar Association. Attorney mentors received training on Oct. 24 during a two-hour program held at the Colorado Bar Association offices.
Approximately 150 to 200 law students are expected to participate. These first-year minority law students will be paired with their mentors at a reception hosted by the Denver law firm Holme Roberts & Owen on Nov. 27.
Funding for the development of the minority mentor program came from a grant from Lawyers for One America co-authored by Bastone and Connie A. Zubler, director of the Office of Career Services at the CU-Boulder School of Law.
For more information call CU-Boulder School of Law Career Services at (303) 492-5911.