On October 27, 2020, PracticePro, an EdTech social enterprise, kicked off the academic year with a new diversity initiative. Law School Mastery (LSM) is a first-of-its-kind program that combines training, tutoring, life and career coaching, and recruiting to support diverse incoming first-year students during their first semester of law school. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Cooley, Haynes and Boone, Latham & Watkins, O'Melveny & Myers, and WilmerHale joined together over the summer to co-found the program, which launched with an inaugural class of 10 law students from Berkeley, Columbia, George Washington, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Stanford, UC Hastings, UVA, and Vanderbilt.

"Law school can be especially difficult for students from underrepresented backgrounds. PracticePro offers the mentors, support, and tailored guidance needed to help diverse students succeed, starting with their all-important first semester," said Katharine Martin, Wilson Sonsini partner and chair of the firm's board of directors. "The resources and guidance PracticePro provides throughout law school is also critical, considering the prospect of economic uncertainty and a challenging job market."

LSM is PracticePro's second diversity initiative. For the past six years, the small social enterprise has run its original 1L Diversity Scholar Program, which selects law students in their second semester and provides them with a number of opportunities. "As admission has become more competitive with hundreds of applications, some amazing diverse talent gets left behind simply because of their first semester grades," said Niki Khoshzamir, PracticePro founder and CEO. "We wanted to create a program that prevents them from having to swim upstream for the rest of law school and are so grateful that our law firm partners agreed and supported us, especially in the middle of a pandemic!"

"Wilson Sonsini is pleased to be a co-founding member of PracticePro's Law School Mastery Program as part of our commitment to building diversity within Wilson Sonsini and in the legal community as a whole," shared Martin.

For more information, please see PracticePro’s press release.