National Association for Legal Placement and Street Law Diversity Pipeline Program

On March 15th, Kirkland San Francisco held a one-day onsite career development workshop for high school students as part of their participation in the National Association for Legal Placement (NALP) and Street Law Diversity Pipeline Program.

The day consisted of three workshops—a copyright mock trial with witness interviews, mock asylum hearings, and mock negotiations—and students joined Kirkland attorneys for lunch, and participated in a business card exchange later that day. Over 25 Kirkland professionals participated in the program, including partners, associates, staff, and alumni.

Priscilla Fallas, a student from Leadership High School, said she enjoyed visiting a professional law firm and, despite fearing it would be “a boring field trip and a lot of lectures” found the hands-on workshop on contracts to be “very fun and educational.”

The goal of the NALP/Street Law pipeline program is to pair law firms with local diverse and disadvantaged high school students to teach them about substantive areas of the law, the legal profession, and legal career pathways. Kirkland San Francisco is one of five NALP member law firms selected to participate in the pilot pipeline program and the Firm will also contribute $20,000 to cover program costs. Kirkland attorney volunteers have already visited three high school classrooms a total of 12 times and presented material related to Copyright, Immigration, and Corporate Law. Participating in the NALP/Street Law program enables Kirkland to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and give back to the communities in which we practice.

NALP is an organization dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers. Street Law promotes practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights.