Two Law Students Receive 2022 Susman Godfrey Prize

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Law School students Sydney Daniels ’24 and Fernando Rojas ’23 are two recipients of the 2022 Susman Godfrey Prize, awarded to students of color who have demonstrated academic excellence and overall achievement.

“We are thrilled to once again recognize a class of incredibly talented and impressive diverse young law students,” Co-Managing Partner Kalpana Srinivasan said. “Our firm believes in the importance of broad representation of lawyers in the courtroom.”

Daniels and Rojas were among 12 recipients of the prize for 2022 from across the country. Recipients are awarded $2,500 and an opportunity to accept a 2023 summer clerkship in one of Susman Godfrey’s four offices. Accepting the summer clerkship is not a requirement.

Clerkships can be completed the summer after the recipients’ second year of law school or the summer between law school graduation and the start of a federal judicial clerkship. For second-year students, a federal judicial clerkship is not a requirement but is required for those who choose to participate in the summer clerkship after their graduation.

Winners were nominated by a law school professor or administrator and selected based on resumes, transcripts, letters of recommendations, and virtual interviews conducted by Susman Godfrey lawyers, according to the firm.

“We developed the SG prize with the goal of encouraging more bright, young minority lawyers to explore civil litigation as a career,” said Vineet Bhatia, Co-Managing Partner of the firm. “We are excited to celebrate their achievements and hope to welcome them to our firm next summer.”

The Susman Godfrey Prize was created in 2020 as part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to enhance diversity in the legal profession and within the firm with a goal to increase the pipeline of diverse attorneys interested in civil trial litigation.

Susman Godfrey is a nationwide law firm of more than 140 trial lawyers that handle high-stakes litigation in a broad range of practice areas and industries, for both plaintiffs and defendants.