Latham & Watkins Awards Diversity Scholarships

March 10, 2014- Latham & Watkins LLP¹ is pleased to announce the scholarship recipients of the Latham & Watkins Diversity Scholars Program for the current academic year. Now in its ninth year, the Latham & Watkins Diversity Scholars Program is designed to increase the number of diverse law students studying at ABA-accredited law schools who want to pursue a career at a global law firm and intend to practice law in the United States. The program was launched in 2005, and for the first six years, the firm selected four Diversity Scholars each year to receive $10,000 scholarships. In 2012, the program was expanded to award six $10,000 scholarships to second-year students.

The 2014 Latham & Watkins Diversity Scholars² are:

Adam Amir of Stanford Law School

Precious Eboigbe of Boston College Law School

Pierre Hines of Georgetown University Law Center

Cecilia Oyediran of Stanford Law School

John Pyun of University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

Damien Rose of Cornell Law School

Candidates for the Diversity Scholars Program submitted written applications, detailing academic and leadership achievements as well as their life and work experiences. The firm received more than 350 applications from students at 105 US law schools.

“Every year, we’re delighted and impressed by the applicants to our Diversity Scholars program, all of whom demonstrate enormous talent and potential,” said Sharon Bowen, Co-Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Diversity Committee. “This year’s group impressed us by showcasing a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, along with a demonstrated commitment to serving others.”

Robert M. Dell, Chair and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins, added: “At Latham, we value excellence, character and energy, among other core values. The recipients of this year’s Diversity Scholars scholarships wholly embody these values, along with tenacity and great ambition. We are thrilled to support these students as they start their incredibly promising legal journey.”  

Ora Fisher, Co-Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Diversity Committee and a firm Vice Chair, noted: “Latham has a long-standing commitment to diversity that has allowed our firm to recruit and retain the best lawyers, professional staff and paralegals. The Diversity Scholars program is one of several ways in which we share this commitment with the broader legal community. We congratulate these scholars on all their accomplishments thus far, and we look forward to seeing those to come.”

Following are biographical sketches of the 2014 Diversity Scholars:

Adam Amir: Currently enrolled at Stanford Law School, Amir previously attended the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, earning first-year high distinction, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, Political Science from the University of Florida. He is a member editor of the Stanford Law Review. For nearly two years, Amir served as a policy and communications associate for New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, specializing in pending federal and state legislation regarding guns, immigration and gay marriage. Amir volunteers with the Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people.

Precious Eboigbe: Eboigbe obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in History and Science at Harvard College. She now attends Boston College Law School, serving as vice president of the Black Law Students Association. Her professional experience includes spending nine months in Accra, Ghana, working on the Clinton Foundation’s Malaria Control Team as a volunteer country analyst. She also co-authored the Ghanaian Ministry of Health’s successful application to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, helping to increase access to malaria treatment there. Eboigbe works as a volunteer citizenship advocate for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

Pierre Hines: A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, Hines is earning his law degree at the Georgetown University Law Center. While an undergraduate, he was a member of the semiprofessional soccer club FC Tucson and captain of West Point’s varsity team; he still enjoys playing soccer. A former captain with the US Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, Hines traveled to army bases in the US and abroad to oversee the training, quality assurance and development of intelligence sensors. This spring, Hines will work at a legal externship at the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cecilia Oyediran: At Stanford Law School, Oyediran serves as the professional development chair for the Stanford Black Law Students Association as well as the mentorship chair for Women of Stanford Law. Her previous education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Yale University, during which she participated in a year-long study abroad program at Oxford University, as well as a Master of Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. This past summer, Oyediran worked as a legal intern at Google as part of the Products and Agreements Team.

John Pyun: Pyun focuses on the intersection between law and psychology known as neurolaw. His specialized knowledge in this field is a product of his Bachelor of Science degree, with distinction, in psychology from Yale University, as well as his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, where he was awarded the Prosser Prize for the second highest grade in his class. Five years ago, Pyun attended Sogang Univeristy in Seoul, South Korea, for an 8-week intensive Korean language program as a Richard U. Light Fellowship recipient. More recently, he has served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Richard Clifton.

Damien Rose: At Florida’s International University, Rose obtained both his Bachelor and Masters of Science in Civil Engineering in the same year. During that time, he was a Latin American and Caribbean Scholar as well as an NCAA Division I finalist as a member of the university’s varsity men’s soccer team. At Cornell Law School, Rose serves as an associate at the Cornell Law Review, chairs the Black Law Students Association and belongs to the Intellectual Property and Technology Association. Before pursuing law school, Rose was an intelligent transportation systems engineer at Gannett Fleming.

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm with approximately 2,100 lawyers in its offices located in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, including: Abu Dhabi, Barcelona, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Doha, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. For more information on Latham & Watkins, please visit the website at www.lw.com