Dewey & LeBoeuf bags mentoring accolade

US law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf has scooped the Employer of the Year award from the National Mentoring Consortium (NMC).

Dewey won the prize for its work on the NMCs Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Scheme beating 26 professional and Government employer organisations including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Shell, Lehman Brothers and various law firms.

Eight people from Dewey served as mentors for the six month scheme, which saw students from non-traditional backgrounds including those who are also interested in careers outside the law in areas such finance, marketing and human resources (HR) matched with mentors from October/November to April.

Gail Sorrell, Deweys director of legal HR, won the University of College London Mentor of the Year 2008 award and Louise Boyle, graduate recruitment and diversity coordinator, won the Westminster Mentor of the Year 2008 award for their respective work in supporting students in the scheme. Another of the firms mentors, associate Tom Evans, saw his mentee, Nooreen Issany win Law Student of the Year 2008 for her achievements during the scheme.

The NMC is a department of the University of East London and runs mentoring schemes for students at all levels of the education system as well as for the unemployed and young offenders.