In recent years, many areas of the legal profession have made pursuing diversity a priority objective. Business law presents many distinct diversity challenges, as law students are often unfamiliar with the field and perceive it as conservative and unaccepting. This realization is troubling, particularly for the American Bar Association Section of Business Law because its mission is: to encourage diversity in the Section by fostering a welcoming environment for all lawyers and promoting full and equal participation by all lawyers, including lawyers of color, women lawyers, gay and lesbian lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities ("Diverse Lawyers"). To help address this problem, the Section of Business Law has created a summer program providing business law internship placements for qualified diversity candidates who are first or second year law students and are otherwise excluded from the process, and at the same time providing support and mentoring to the student participants to give them the exposure to business practices that many of them lack.In considering a student's diversity, the Section will give special consideration to individuals who have overcome social or economic disadvantages such as physical disability, financial constraints, or cultural impediments to becoming a law student. The initial pilot project will place up to nine students in business court clerkships in the Philadelphia Commerce Court and the Delaware Court of Chancery. If successful, the Section foresees expanding the number of students in the program, expanding the program to other locations, and including other types of placements.
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