MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Karli Celestin, a West Virginia University College of Law student, has been named a 1L Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Scholar.
The 1L LCLD Scholars Program is designed to strengthen the legal pipeline by expanding the number of opportunities for diverse first-year law students.
As an LCLD Scholar, Celestin will work 10 weeks this summer at two companies in the Pittsburgh area. The opportunity will expose her to various legal issues while building her professional network.
Celestin will first work in-person at the international law firm of McGuireWoods, and then she will work virtually with lawyers for FedEx Ground.
McGuireWoods and FedEx Ground are members of the LCLD, a group of more than 350 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners that aims to create a more diverse generation of attorneys in leadership positions.
“I wanted to be an LCLD Scholar because I wanted to work alongside attorneys that truly share my same core values of diversity and inclusion. Beyond that, I knew it would provide me with great learning opportunities and help expand my network,” Celestin said. “A split summer also appealed to me because I’m not yet sure what my exact path is in the law, so getting different experiences from different perspectives in one summer will be beneficial in trying to narrow my interests."
Celestin is a member of LCLD’s Success in Law School mentoring program at WVU Law, which pairs attorneys with diverse first-year law students to provide mentorship and support as they pursue law school.
As part of the mentoring program, Celestin will attend a virtual specifically for 1L Scholars that will focus on leadership, relationship building and career development strategies. She will also have an opportunity to participate in virtual mock interviews, social hours and other online networking programs with attorneys from LCLD member law firms.
Celestin is from Wintersville, Ohio. She is enrolled in WVU Law’s 3+3 Program, which allows qualified WVU undergraduates to earn their bachelor’s degree and their J.D. in six years instead of seven. Celestin is expected to graduate with a bachelor's degree in journalism in December 2021 during the middle of her second year of law school.
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CB/3/26/21
