News Release

Minzala G. Mvula Honored With 2016 McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship

June 22, 2016

McGlinchey News Release

McGlinchey Stafford PLLC is pleased to announce that it has awarded its 2016 1L Diversity Fellowship to Minzala G. Mvula.

The award, bestowed annually upon a first-year law student, is a distinguished honor that includes a paid summer associate position, a $5,000 scholarship, and formal mentoring from McGlinchey Stafford attorneys throughout the student’s law school career.

“Minzala is an outstanding law student and we are proud to honor her with the McGlinchey Stafford Diversity 1L Scholarship,” said Brad J. Axelrod, who chairs the firm’s Diversity Committee. “Through this and other programs within the firm, McGlinchey Stafford remains committed to improving diversity within the legal profession.”

Mvula is a May 2018 J.D. candidate at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she received The Cynthia & David Heath Scholar in Law Scholarship. She is a member of the Black Law Students Association and the Women’s Law Caucus, and served as the 1L representative for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution. Mvula was also a finalist in her school’s Client Counseling Competition. She received her B.A. in Political Economy and French, magna cum laude, from Tulane University in 2014. At Tulane, she was selected to Phi Beta Kappa and received a JPMorgan Chase Louisiana Smart Start Scholarship.

As McGlinchey Stafford’s 2016 1L Diversity Fellow, Mvula participated in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Scholars Retreat, which brings together diverse law students from around the country to hone interview skills, prepare for the transition from law student to practicing lawyer, and discuss the state of diversity in the legal profession.

The McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship reflects the firm’s active commitment to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace and to promoting diversity within the legal profession. From the firm’s inception, McGlinchey Stafford has challenged the status quo and earned a reputation as a progressive, merit-based business that rewards individual achievement and potential. The firm is a member of the LCLD and actively supports the National Bar Association and Association of Women Attorneys, among other organizations. The McGlinchey Stafford 1L Diversity Fellowship is simply one aspect of the firm’s commitment to attracting, developing, and promoting diverse attorneys.