Winston’s 1L LCLD Scholars Gain Valuable Client-Side Experience

Each year, Winston recruits several first-year law students from across the country to participate in our Leadership Council for Legal Diversity (LCLD) Scholars program. During the summer, our 1L scholars spend part of their time at Winston and part of it working directly with one of our clients.

This past summer, Winston’s 11 LCLD scholars gained valuable client-side experience at Accenture, Bank of America, U.S. Bank and VMWare. 

“I absolutely loved the VMWare team. Everyone has been so kind and supportive. Aside from the substantive work, it was really great to see so many women of color in leadership positions,” said Sewit Mehanzel, 2021 1L LCLD Scholar with Winston’s San Francisco office.

“I had a wonderful experience during my time at Bank of America. Having previously worked in investment banking compliance, I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to shadow my mentors within the bank’s Global Principal Investments and Employment groups,” said Caleb Washington, 2021 1L LCLD Scholar with Winston’s New York office.

“I really enjoyed working with U.S. Bank. Everyone was enthusiastic about teaching me the ins and outs of their capital markets practice and I received great mentorship throughout the summer from U.S. Bank attorneys. It was also great to get an inside look at the company’s commitment to diversity within their legal division,” said Eric Doan, 1L LCLD Scholar with Winston’s Charlotte office.

In addition to working closely with Winston partners, associates, and clients, our 1L LCLD scholars participated in a Diverse Summer Associate Roundtable hosted by the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The four-hour roundtable included robust group discussions with diverse partners and associates, along with presentations by Dr. Adia Gooden on embracing unconditional self-worth and by Werten Bellamy, President of Stakeholders, Inc., on becoming a top performer.