Social Mobility Initiatives at Reed Smith US

Our Diverse Scholars Program is a national program that recognizes first-year law students who exhibit academic excellence and a demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion through their life experiences by awarding them a $20,000 scholarship and a position in our summer program at one of our U.S. offices.

In 2016, for the sixth consecutive year, Reed Smith partnered with client Kaiser Permanente on a joint 1L Diversity Fellowship. This fellowship provides a first-year minority law student in California with a summer associate position during which the individual splits his or her time between Reed Smith and Kaiser Permanente, and affords a $5,000 scholarship toward the second year of law school. Our Philadelphia office participates in the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG) First-Year Summer Program.

This Program offers first-year students an additional route to summer employment in outstanding law firms and corporate law departments. The PDLG Program is designed to identify first-year law students who have overcome obstacles in pursuing a legal career, or who come from disadvantaged backgrounds or from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the Philadelphia legal community.