BigLaw firm commits nearly $1M to summer associates, nonprofits in new program

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is launching a new initiative to promote public service by pairing summer associates with nonprofit organizations and government agencies nationwide. The firm will provide public interest organizations a $25,000 stipend for each summer associate they host, along with stipends for the summer associates themselves. Ten 1L associates from the summer 2027 class will work in eight nonprofit organizations, including Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston, the Legal Aid Society in New York City, and the Tahirih Justice Center in Washington, D.C. Eligibility requires associates to commit to spending their 2L summer with the firm. The program compensates organizations due to funding losses and budget cuts that make it difficult for nonprofits to take on students.

"Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is committing nearly $1 million to a new initiative that promotes public service by pairing its summer associates with nonprofit organizations and government agencies around the country."

"As part of its initiative, Wilson Sonsini will provide public interest organizations with a $25,000 stipend for each summer associate they agree to host, Law.com reports. The law firm also will provide stipends to the summer associates."

"Ten 1L associates from Wilson Sonsini's summer 2027 class will work in eight nonprofit organizations, Law.com reports. The organizations include Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston, the Legal Aid Society in New York City and the Tahirih Justice Center in Washington, D.C."

""I feel like when you're not supporting the nonprofit financially, many of them have lost federal funding, so it's really difficult for them to just take on students," Liss said. "We're going to support the nonprofits, too; it's not just the students getting paid," Liss also said."

Read at ABA Journal