V&E Awards Eight $10,000 Diversity Fellowships to First-Year Law Students

Each V&E 1L Diversity Fellow for 2020 receives $10,000 and a clerkship as a summer associate in the firm’s Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Richmond, San Francisco or Washington, D.C. office following their first year of law school.

V&E’s diversity pipeline efforts began in 1990 with college scholarships for diverse high school students. In 2008, the firm launched its Diversity Fellowship Program to attract and retain the finest lawyers from all backgrounds and perspectives. Since the program’s inception, V&E has awarded 72 Fellowships to underrepresented students, including racial/ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ individuals.

More information about V&E’s Diversity Fellowships can be found here.

The following students are this year’s 1L Diversity Fellowship recipients who will be V&E summer associates in 2020:

• Insiya Aziz, a student at The University of Texas School of Law, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Dallas office. Prior to law school, Aziz was a policy and parliamentarian intern for the Texas Office of the Speaker of the House. Aziz is also a V&E Law Preview Scholar.
• Shub Chandrasekaran, a student at Harvard Law School, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Houston office. Prior to law school, Chandrasekaran was a Reservoir Engineer at Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Chandrasekaran is currently a member of the Journal of Law and Technology at Harvard.
• Andreina “Andie” Escobar, a student at The University of Texas School of Law, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Houston office. Prior to law school, Escobar interned for Texas House Representative Tan Parker and was a student intern at V&E’s Houston office for three summers.
• Najib Gazi, a student at Harvard Law School, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Dallas office. Prior to law school, Gazi was a Moot Court Assistant Coach at the University of Texas at Dallas. Gazi is a member of the Journal on Legislation and the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review at Harvard.
• Tatiana Hyman, a student at Fordham University School of Law, will be a summer associate in V&E’s New York office. Prior to law school, Hyman was a Compliance Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Hyman also was an SEO Law Fellow in V&E’s New York office last summer.
• Danny Moreno, a student at the University of Chicago Law School, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Houston office. Moreno is currently a Research Assistant at the Chicago Project on Security & Threats. Moreno is also a 1L Representative for Latinx Law Student Association and OutLaw at U Chicago.
• Hannah Thai, a student at The University of Texas School of Law, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Houston office. Prior to law school, Thai worked as a paralegal at an employment law firm in New York. Thai is also a V&E Law Preview Scholar.
• Waleed Vohra, a student at University of California, Berkeley School of Law, will be a summer associate in V&E’s Houston office. Vohra currently volunteers at the California Asylum Representation Project, assisting international clients seeking asylum to the U.S. Vohra is the publishing editor for Berkeley’s Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law.

“V&E’s commitment to diversity is an extension of its warm and welcoming culture. In addition to investing in its diverse talent, V&E is intentional about including every attorney’s unique contributions into the fabric of the firm. I am excited to join V&E as a Diversity Fellow this summer, and I look forward to being integrated into its impressive team and contributing to its complex matters,” said Hyman.

“I am honored to be a Diversity Fellow at V&E. The firm’s attorneys are remarkably knowledgeable, approachable, and passionate about their practice, “shared Moreno. “I look forward to working alongside them on sophisticated legal matters and upholding V&E’s reputation for excellence and innovation.”

Thirteen former Diversity Fellowship recipients currently are attorneys at V&E, including Tukeni Obasi (Energy Transactions and Projects); Danial Abbasi and Arthur Munoz (both Finance); Desi Baca, K.J. Pedersen, Bo Shi and Natalie Steen (all M&A/Capital Markets); Michelle Arishita, Shelby Hart-Armstrong, Elizabeth Matthews, Caroline Stewart and Seth Yost (all Commercial Litigation); and Lauren Lundy (Restructuring). Additionally, three of our 1L Diversity Fellowship recipients from last year will be joining V&E as 2L summer associates and all five 2L Diversity Fellowship recipients from last year will be joining as new attorneys in 2020.

“V&E’s 1L and 2L Diversity Fellowships have enabled us to meet and hire some of the brightest law students from across the country. This helps us further strengthen the firm with top, diverse talent,” said Steve Gill, V&E’s Talent Management Chair. “We are excited these eight students are joining V&E and we look forward to getting to know them even better throughout this summer’s program.”

To learn more about scholarships and fellowships available from Vinson & Elkins for diverse students – from high school seniors to rising second-year law students in the U.S. – visit the Diversity & Inclusion section of our website.