The mission of the Diversity & Inclusion Department of the Oregon State Bar is to support the mission of the Oregon State Bar: by promoting respect for the rule of law, by improving the quality of legal services, and by increasing access to justice. The Program serves this mission by striving to increase the diversity of the Oregon bench and bar to reflect the diversity of the people of Oregon, by educating attorneys about the cultural richness and diversity of the clients they serve, and by removing barriers to justice.
All programs are open to anyone who can help the DI Department advance its mission. Thus, the Oregon State Bar Statement, as described in the DI Department registration packet, is required for most of the programs components and is a critical piece of the registration process. The DI Department will award the greatest preference consideration for those students whose statements can support an intention to practice law in Oregon. However, the DI Department hopes that all law students who may help to advance the programs mission and who might consider practicing in Oregon to register and to apply.
Privately funded DI programs are open only to ethnic minorities.
This program is available to anyone who can assist the DI Department in advancing its mission.
The DI Department annually distributes eight scholarships ($2,000 per scholarship) for which entering and current Oregon law school students who intend to practice in Oregon are eligible. A subcommittee reviews all applications within the pool and determines awards according to evidence of the greatest financial need, the students qualifications to help further the programs mission, and other considerations. The DI Department distributes funds to successful applicants law schools financial aid offices by semester - $1,000 per semester – and the funds do not extend beyond the award year. Interested students must re-apply every year and provide an annually updated Financial Assessment Record.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
All law students are eligible and must register with the DI Department. Applicants must demonstrate financial need (complete Financial Assessment Record annually) and provide a Personal Statement and Oregon State Bar Statement which support their qualifications to advance the DI Department mission. A resume including community activities is also required.
This program is available to any graduating law student or graduate who can assist the DI Department in advancing its mission.
The DI Department awards three bar exam grants in the fall and six grants in the spring to those applicants whose personal experiences, accomplishments, commitment to practice law in Oregon, and financial need demonstrate that they will help the program achieve its mission.
Part of each grant is a reimbursement of all but $25 of the Admissions application fee. After each bar exam, DI Department staff will confirm that the applicant selected for an award did sit for the exam, and staff will process the reimbursement check payable to the bar applicant. The bar applicant is responsible for reimbursing a sponsor, if applicable.
Each grant also includes a one-time committee-approved bar preparation course focusing on Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) testing. Payment for the course will be issued directly to the course in the recipients name. A recipient who chooses not to participate in the course or who previously received this portion of the grant can retain the application fee reimbursement but must forego the eligibility for the course fee. Bar Exam Grant recipients are strongly encouraged to donate the preparation materials to the Bar Exam Library.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
All graduating law students/graduates are eligible and must register with the DI Department. Applicants must submit the Bar Exam Grant Application, Personal Statement, Law School Transcripts, and Legal Writing Sample.
This program is available to any law student who can assist the DI Department in advancing its mission.
Clerkship Stipends provide legal employment opportunities for those law students who intend to practice law in Oregon and who will help the DI Department advance its mission. Applicants are not required to be enrolled in an Oregon law school. The DI Department will rank applications according to economic disadvantage, the potential that the clerkships will advance the students practical experience and networking in Oregons legal community, and other considerations. The students selected for stipends are responsible for finding employment under the program. The employment should be in Oregon although the committee will consider waiving this requirement if the position offers the student special experience not available within the state. If the student does not find a law-related position by the deadline, the student must arrange for an extension or forfeit the stipend to a student-alternate. The stipend period does not extend into the academic year.
Each stipend is $7.00 per hour and each employer must agree to match at least $7.00 per hour. The stipend recipient must inform the DI Department if the total of the stipend and employer portion exceed the hourly rate of a comparable clerks position in the same office. The employer must be in the legal field and the students supervisor must be an attorney. No employer may employ more than two students for summer clerkships at any one time under this program.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
All law students are eligible and must register with the DI Department. Applicants must demonstrate financial need (complete Financial Assessment Record annually) and provide a Personal Statement and Oregon State Bar Statement. An applicant must also submit a resume which includes community activities.
This program is open to any Oregon law student who can assist the DI Department in advancing its mission.
The DI Department collaborates with the Oregon law schools to award a total of 6 Public Honors fellowships to law students who intend to practice law in Oregon and who will help the DI Department advance its mission. Each law school nominates up to 5 students whose career goals lie in public interest or public sector law. The DI Department will rank applications according to economic disadvantage, the potential that the fellowships will advance the students practical experience and networking in Oregons legal community, and other considerations.
The DI Department will award fellowships to the top 2 from each law school and order the remaining applicants as alternates per school. DI Department staff provides the recipients with a list of employers participating in the program. Each student submits a resume and cover letter to prospective employers. The employer selects the student(s) for an interview. The recipient must secure a fellowship by a deadline or forfeit the award to an alternate. There is no guarantee that the six students will secure fellowship positions. Each fellowship totals $4,800 for a maximum of three months summer employment, and does not extend into the academic year.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
All law students who are not in their first or final year of law school are eligible and must submit a completed Page "i." Applicants must demonstrate financial need (complete Financial Assessment Record annually) and provide: a Personal Statement, Oregon State Bar Statement, and a resume which includes community activities. The Oregon law schools will consider the DI Department's mission in nominating 5 student applicants for Public Honors position.
This program is privately funded; it is limited to ethnic minorities.
The First Year Internship Program (FYIP) offers interested first year ethnic minority law students the unique opportunity to spend their first summer in legal settings, as stepping stones into Oregons legal community.
Participating employers agree to offer First Year Interns a comprehensive experience that includes traditional clerkship assignments, networking opportunities, exposure to procedural processes, and mentoring. The FYIP is a foundation building program. Thus, academic performance beyond legal research and writing competence must not appear in any form (i.e., resumes, cover letter, interviews) prior to an agreement between the employer and intern to work together. Participating employers will receive a catalog of students submissions to review and will contact students for interviews. The employers fully fund the salaries of their First Year Interns.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
All Oregon first year ethnic minority law students in Oregon law schools are eligible and must submit the following directly to DI Department staff by the deadline:
The FYIP Personal Statement is limited to two pages, is separate from the Personal Statement submitted for other programs (i.e. Clerkship Stipend or Scholarship), and must respond to the following:
The FYIP Confirmation Form better assures the applicants and DI Department that the applicants are aware of important program details. A signed Confirmation Form is an application requirement. Forms are available through Career Services and the DI Department.
OLIO is the Oregon State Bar Diversity & Inclusion Department ethnic minority law student recruitment and retention program. Grants, donations and the OSB Affirmative Action Program Assessment fund OLIO activities. The Oregon Law Foundation (OLF) is the primary grantor for the orientation.
OLIO begins for first year ethnic minority law students with a Summer Orientation introducing the students to Oregon's legal community, Oregon's environment, the Oregon State Bar's commitment to remedying the lack of ethnic/racial minority diversity in the Bar's membership, the Oregon Bar Exam, law school study skills, and to other ethnic minority law students in all three Oregon law schools. There is no charge to participate. Follow-up activities, in which Oregon upper division ethnic minority law students may also participate, include study/employment workshops and networking events. DI Department staff and a faculty of selected lawyers and judges implement the Orientation agenda.
Upper division law students (not limited to ethnic minorities) committed to the OLIO objectives and the DI Department mission are invited to apply to assist thes faculty. These students reside with the entering students and serve as role models/mentors post-Orientation.
Eligibility and Specific Component Criteria
ENTERING STUDENTS:
Ethnic minority students admitted to Oregon law schools are invited to register for the OLIO Orientation. Orientation seats are limited in number. Interested students may register for the Orientation by returning the registration form to the D&I Department staff by email or fax.
UPPER DIVISION STUDENTS:
Upper division law students (not limited to ethnic minority students) who are committed to advance OLIO objectives and the DI Department mission may contact DI staff for orientation application in January.