Summer Law Internship Program Wins ABA Partnership Award

For release: April 30, 2009
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

The Memphis Bar Association’s High School Summer Law Internship Program has been selected to receive the 2009 ABA Partnership Award. The award will be presented July 31 in Chicago at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.

Yolanda Ingram and Sue Ann McClellan, assistant deans of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, were instrumental in planning and organizing the events for the High School Summer Law Internship Program. The events included professionalism and business etiquette workshops and undergraduate and law school admissions seminars presented at the Law School.

The Law School also was the location for the interviews for the selection process, as well as serving as a placement site for an intern. Ingram and McClellan, along with other members of the Diversity Committee, helped welcome the participants at the opening ceremony. The primary goal of the program was to introduce diverse high school students to the real practice of law and encourage them to pursue a career in law.

“It is indeed an honor to be recognized at a national level for helping local minority high school students take a step toward fulfilling their dreams and goals of one day becoming a lawyer,” said Ingram. “It was truly rewarding to be a part of a phenomenal program that gives back to the Memphis community and to really make a difference in the lives of the high school interns who participated.”

McClellan added, “Being involved with the Memphis Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my professional career. Everyone involved from the student applicants to the members of the Memphis Bar Association has restored my faith in what we can do as a community. The youth of Memphis are talented, and this is one of the few programs in Memphis that provides the opportunity for exposure to a professional career at a young age. It has been my honor to be involved in this program, and it is my hope that it is the beginning of an ongoing and long-term relationship with the University of Memphis for high school students who participated as summer interns.”