Four Top Law Firms Support Public Interest Scholarship Program; New Memorial Scholarship Launched

San Francisco — September 20, 2011 — The California Bar Foundation today announced it is awarding scholarships totaling $100,000 to 23 aspiring public interest lawyers through its Public Interest Scholarship Program. Four of the top awards are named after sponsoring law firms — Latham & Watkins LLP; Milstein Adelman LLP; Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP; and Seyfarth Shaw LLP — that have made multi-year commitments to the Scholarship Program, including $10,000 gifts in 2011. A fifth award is named in honor of the Foundation's founding executive director, Jim Pfeiffer, and a new award created this year honors Daniel S. Goodman, a longtime prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles who passed away in 2010.

"Giving back to the community is central to our firm's core values, and our support of the California Bar Foundation's Public Interest Scholarship Program is one way we demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that all Californians, regardless of income, have access to the justice system," said Charles Crompton, chair of the Pro Bono Committee of Latham & Watkins LLP, a new sponsor of the Public Interest Scholarship. "The Foundation's Public Interest Scholarship recipients represent some of the best and brightest aspiring public interest lawyers and give us great hope for the continued vitality of our justice system."

Public Interest Scholarship recipients, who are nominated by their law schools and demonstrate a commitment to public service, academic excellence, and financial need, receive scholarships of up to $7,500 to assist with tuition and related education expenses. This year's winners include Evan B. White, a former housing rights counselor who is pursuing dual degrees from UC Berkeley's law and public policy schools, Angela Haren Kelley, an aspiring environmental law specialist committed to marine conservation, and Emmanuelle Soichet, whose experience on the front lines of education politics in Los Angeles led her to law school.

"The 'justice gap' — the gap between the need for legal services by low-income Californians and the supply of legal aid attorneys who provide those services — is greater than ever, but the increasingly high cost of law school, which can leave recent graduates with more than $100,000 in student loans, prevents many new lawyers from pursuing rewarding but modestly-paying public interest jobs," said Foundation President Douglas A. Winthrop, managing director and chair of Howard Rice. "We are privileged to join with many prominent California law firms and other donors to support these community-minded lawyers-to-be as part of our efforts to ensure meaningful access to the justice system for all Californians."

A new award was created this year to honor the memory of Daniel S. Goodman, the former deputy chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles who was known for his integrity, professionalism, and commitment to mentoring younger attorneys. Funded by contributions from Mr. Goodman's colleagues, family members, and friends, the Daniel S. Goodman Scholar is awarded to a Public Interest Scholarship recipient planning to pursue a career as a prosecutor. The inaugural Daniel S. Goodman Scholar, Anna Lee, is a former teacher who attends the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Since 2006, the Foundation has recognized one scholar who has demonstrated a deep commitment to children's issues as the Jim Pfeiffer Scholar, in memory of the Foundation's founding executive director. A group of longtime Foundation supporters provides funding for the Jim Pfeiffer Scholar through multi-year commitments to the Public Interest Scholarship Program.

The Foundation will present the Public Interest Scholarship awards at a reception featuring Hon. Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California, on Thursday, September 22, at the offices of Reed Smith LLP in San Francisco. The Foundation will also award $157,500 in Diversity Scholarships to 21 California law students at the reception.

Since 1992, the Foundation has awarded nearly $2.6 million in Public Interest Scholarships to more than 600 students attending 28 California law schools.

The complete list of 2011 Public Interest Scholarship winners, by law school, is as follows:

Golden Gate University School of Law
Angela Haren Kelley
Luthien L. Niland

John F. Kennedy University School of Law
Michelle Domingo

Loyola Law School
Jamaica Abare
Deborah E. Bergman
Brendan Hamme — Jim Pfeiffer Scholar

Stanford Law School
Meredith A. Johnson
Shira Levine

University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Swati Prakash
Eve Weissman — Milstein Adelman Scholar
Evan B. White — Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP Scholar

University of California, Davis, School of Law (King Hall)
James Beck — Latham & Watkins Scholar
Michael Wu

University of California, Hastings College of the Law
Nedda Black — Board of Directors Scholar

University of California, Irvine, School of Law
Emmanuelle Soichet

University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
Margaret Buitrago
Brittany Goodnight
Christian Kurpiewski
Almas Tabassum Sayeed
Siobhan Waldron

University of Southern California Gould School of Law
KeAndra D. Dodds
Anna Lee — Daniel S. Goodman Scholar

University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Etan Zaitsu — Seyfarth Shaw Scholar

About the California Bar Foundation
The California Bar Foundation is committed to building a better justice system for all Californians. We champion full and equal access to the justice system, invest in the next generation of California's lawyers, educate Californians about their rights and responsibilities under the law, and promote philanthropy throughout the legal community. A nonprofit founded in 1990 and affiliated with the State Bar of California, the Foundation annually awards grants to California organizations conducting innovative law-related projects and scholarships to outstanding California law students.

Media Contact:
Leslie Hatamiya
Executive Director
(415) 856-0780 ext. 303
lhatamiya@calbarfoundation.org