Six South Texas College of Law Houston students are participating Feb. 10-12 in the American Bar Association’s virtual Judicial Clerkship Program (JCP), designed to foster relationships between judges and law students of color.
The goals of the event include encouraging more law students of color to apply for clerkships positions. Judges and students from around the nation are participating.
The STCL Houston students selected to represent the law school are Junie Dalice, Ayesha Durrani, Maha Ghyas, Jacquelyn Gomez, Eugenia Gutierrez-Rodriguez and Esther Oni.
“This is a great opportunity for our students, and they will represent us well,” said Professor Val D Ricks, chair of the South Texas faculty committee focused on judicial clerkships. “Inclusion is important to us, and this ABA program supports that goal.”
The program takes place at the ABA’s annual Midyear Meeting. During the JCP, students and judges work together on research and writing projects that allow them to explore the judge/clerk relationship and working experience.
The students receive additional information from panel presentations and former judicial law clerks who interact with the students throughout the program. Students hear oral arguments from the host jurisdictions’ highest court of appeals, with an opportunity to engage the justices, clerks and attorneys.
The students are asked to participate in numerous networking opportunities with judges, lawyers, and other ABA members, including the Spirit of Excellence Awards Program — hosted by the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. Students also participate in a resume review session where they receive individual feedback from participating judges.
The JCP program is designed to:
- Encourage more law students of color to apply for clerkship positions.
- Encourage all levels of judges to pursue more diverse representation among their judicial clerks.
- Provide students and judges with opportunities for meaningful interaction in a small -group setting.
- Allow students to learn directly from judges how best to present themselves as clerkship applicants.
- Provide opportunities for students to meet a wide variety of lawyers who are active in the American Bar Association.
- Establish a support system for students of color who are pursing clerkship positions.
