Building a Diverse Firm
Foulston actively seeks opportunities to develop the next generation of diverse attorneys in the communities where we practice and invests its time and financial resources in diversity and inclusion efforts.
We start early by participating in the Wichita Bar Association’s “Grow Your Own Lawyer” program (high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors) and its Summer Intern program (high school juniors and seniors). These programs expose diverse students to the practice of law and show them the panoply of jobs available in the legal profession.
Foulston contributes to the Wichita Bar Association’s LSAT Exam Scholarship program to make sure that diverse college students committed to returning to our communities after law school have an opportunity to prepare for the LSAT exam. Better LSAT scores mean that these students become eligible for more robust financial support. Additionally, Foulston contributes annually to the Washburn University School of Law Diversity Law Scholarship, the KU School of Law Diversity Scholarship, and the Foulston Siefkin Legal Writing Fund. The firm also contributes to the WBA’s Judge Gregory L. Waller Public Interest Fellowship, which supports lawyers to work within the justice system.
More directly, in the past several years, Foulston broadened the scope of its recruiting efforts to include schools outside the region and schools where diverse students are more likely to attend. We have recruited attorneys from the Heartland and Sunbelt regional diversity job fairs, and we continue to implement new ways of expanding the pool of students from which we recruit. We are seeing steady results in having more diverse attorneys participate in our summer program and ultimately, join our firm.