Published by Holland & Knight

Holland & Knight has made an early commitment to partner with Thrive Scholars as it formalizes its new Thrive Scholars Law Track program. Thrive supports high-achieving, low-income students of color so they can succeed at top colleges and achieve their full career potential.

The newly-announced Law Track program aims to create a greater pipeline of Black and Latinx attorneys. Holland & Knight has agreed to sponsor four Scholars.

Thrive Scholars will provide these students with the full range of support based on its proven program model – to start early by supporting the students in their junior year in high school, get them into the right college, and ensure they succeed academically so they can apply to top law schools and become attorneys. In addition to providing financial support, participating law firms agree to provide mentorship and internships during college to enhance the students’ exposure to opportunities in the legal profession. While not required, participating law firms may choose to hire one or more of the students from law school.

“We are very proud to be sponsoring four Thrive Scholars in three cities,” said Steven Sonberg, managing partner of Holland & Knight. “This program gives us a unique opportunity to support high-potential students early in their academic careers and continue that support through college and law school. Our hope is to help improve the number of traditionally-underrepresented candidates who enter the law firm recruiting pipeline, and ultimately create a more diverse and inclusive profession.”

Among law firm equity partners in the larger law firms, only 2% are black and only 3% are Latinx. According to Thrive Scholars, there are more than 50,000 low-income high school students of color in the United States who have the academic qualifications to get into a Top 100 college, and many are interested in the law profession.

“We created Thrive Scholars Law because there is potential for a deeper pipeline of students of color attending law schools, and there is a hunger among law firms to increase diversity in the legal profession,” said Steve Stein, CEO of Thrive Scholars. “Data from our 20-year experience in supporting high-achieving, low-income students of color to succeed in top colleges and in meaningful careers shows the talent pipeline expansion starts at the high school level. We are committed to grow this program through partnerships with law firms that are seeking to increase diversity in their firms and in the profession.”

Media contact responisble for this story: Olivia Hoch at olivia.hoch@hklaw.com