Perkins Coie Selects 2023 Racial Justice Fellows

NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 21, 2023)—Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that this year's fellows have been chosen for the firm's Racial Justice Fellowship program. The fellowship was created as part of the firm's broader Commitment to Racial Equality, a series of actions announced by Perkins Coie in 2020 to help improve racial equality and create a more just and equal society.

Current first-year associate Marya Carter and incoming first-year associate Junior Dufort were selected as fellows for 2023, and both will spend one year providing legal counsel for civil rights and criminal justice organizations. Marya will spend her fellowship with Mobilization for Justice, which offers free legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers. Junior will complete his fellowship with the Maryland Office of Public Defender's Decarceration Initiative defending juveniles and helping incarcerated individuals gain parole. Following their fellowships, Marya will re-join Perkins Coie's New York office, and Junior will join the firm's Washington, D.C. office.

"Through their work in our fellowship program, Marya and Junior will provide meaningful legal counsel to two influential organizations dedicated to achieving racial justice. They will also gain invaluable insights that will help shape their future careers with the firm," said Genhi Givings Bailey, Perkins Coie's chief diversity & inclusion officer.

The fellowship program builds on Perkins Coie's core commitment to pro bono legal work and its continuing work to end racism and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. It offers current and incoming first-year associates the opportunity to work for up to one year supporting legal work in a civil rights or criminal justice organization or other group that promotes racial equity and equality.