Ward and Smith will welcome the North Carolina Bar Association's Minorities in the Profession Committee (MIP) on Friday, February 15 for the Program's 1L Interview Day.
During the day, more than a dozen law firms and corporations will each interview first-year law students from Campbell, Duke, Elon, NC Central, and Wake Forest.
Last year, Ward and Smith engaged with the MIP to expand our recruiting efforts to find talented, diverse law students. That resulted in the hiring of then 1L student Justin Hill, which marked a shift in the firm's 2L-centric summer associate program.
"We're hoping for another great match," remarked Melissa Forshey Schwind, Ward and Smith's Director of Attorney Recruiting, Diversity and Inclusion. "Last year was a tremendous success. We are eager to work with MIP to identify and recruit the next rising star."
Interview Day is one of many ways the Minorities in the Profession Committee strives to increase the presence of minorities in the legal profession. Ward and Smith supports that endeavor. Forshey Schwind commented, "A firm that fails to focus on diversity and inclusion will lose talent, or miss out on recruiting top talent completely." She continued, "Having people with different backgrounds and perspectives can lead to greater creativity in problem-solving and innovation. In turn, that generates better results for clients. That's why Ward and Smith seeks to build a workforce that is reflective of our diverse communities, and working with MIP helps us do that."
To learn more about Ward and Smith's summer associate program, visit our Law Students page.
About Ward and Smith
Ward and Smith is a full-service law firm in North Carolina with offices in Asheville, Greenville, New Bern, Raleigh, and Wilmington. The firm has nearly 100 attorneys knowledgeable in more than 35 practice areas, from agribusiness to zoning.
