Columbia and Fordham Law School Students Win Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Minority Fellowships

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Mariel Fernandez Photo

ALBANY, NY (04/19/2011)(readMedia)-- New York City residents Mariel S. Fernandez, a first-year student at Columbia Law School, and Danielle D. May, a first-year student at Fordham University School of Law, are the 2011 recipients of The New York Bar Foundation's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Minority Fellowships.

As the winners of $6,000 fellowships, Ms. Fernandez will work this summer in the chambers of Acting Justice O. Peter Sherwood, and Ms. May will work in the chambers of Justice Barbara R. Kapnick. Both are justices of the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, Commercial Division.

"We are pleased to again award the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Fellowships to two very worthy recipients," said Bar Foundation President M. Catherine Richardson of Syracuse (Bond, Schoeneck & King). "Both Ms. Fernandez and Ms. May will gain a wealth of experience under the mentorship of two esteemed judges while working on complicated commercial disputes and their ultimate resolutions."

Section Chair Jonathan D. Lupkin (Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer LLP, New York) said, "We are pleased to have The New York Bar Foundation confer this year's Fellowships on two very worthy recipients. These Fellowships were established to help create student awareness of commercial litigation and foster greater diversity among commercial litigators throughout the State of New York. We are confident that both Ms. Fernandez and Ms. May will come away from their summers working for these respected jurists with invaluable experience and insight into the litigation and resolution of commercial disputes."

Ms. Fernandez is the Hamilton Fellow and Wien Scholar at Columbia Law. She is a member of the European Union Law Moot Court Team. She earned a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Chicago, where she was a University Scholar.

Ms. May earned a B.A. in Spanish at Florida State University magna cum laude and also pursued studies in Panama. She is involved in the Domestic Violence Action Center, Courtroom Advocacy Project.

Recipients were honored at an awards ceremony at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 14.

For further information, contact The New York Bar Foundation at 518/487-5651 or foundation@tnybf.org. Established in 1950, The New York Bar Foundation is dedicated to aiding charitable and educational projects to meet the law-related needs of the public and the legal profession.