Department of Fair Employment and Housing Partnership Honored with Education Pipeline Award

The State Bar of California has conferred its 2013 Education Pipeline Award to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and its educational partners, including UC Davis School of Law.  The award honors the DFEH's Educational Partnerships that train civil rights attorneys and investigators at five California educational institutions.

The partnerships offer clinics and internship programs that provide supervised lawyering, mediation, and investigative experience to a diverse group of students interested in or preparing to enter the legal field. Partnerships with UC Davis School of Law and UC Irvine School of Law are described in the DFEH news release as "catalysts" for the successful DFEH Civil Rights Fellowship Program, in which selected law graduates work for the Department after graduation as paid legal fellows, and some are ultimately hired as permanent staff counsel.

"Legal education needs more practical programs like the DFEH Educational Partnerships," said Dean Kevin R. Johnson.

The award will be presented to DFEH and its educational partners at the State Bar Annual Meeting Diversity Awards in San Jose on October 12.