Crowell & Moring Expands Endowed Scholarship at UCI Law

The law firm’s generous gifts will have the effective impact of a $1 million+ endowment

Irvine, Calif. (Sept. 13, 2021) – Crowell & Moring has generously committed an additional $250,000 to The University of California, Irvine School of Law (UCI Law) to support the Crowell & Moring Diversity Scholarship.

When combined with last year’s gift, the law firm has now donated upwards of $500,000 to the scholarship fund. Due to a unique matching program offered by UCI, Crowell & Moring’s commitments will qualify for a one-to-one match, doubling its impact.

“We are very grateful to Crowell & Moring for their generosity and strong support of our Law School,” said Bryant Garth, UCI Law Interim Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus. “This scholarship will help our students achieve their dream of earning a law degree, while ensuring greater diversity and inclusion within the legal profession.”

Crowell & Moring’s continued support of UCI Law, including a scholarship the firm previously endowed in 2014 and thanks to the UCI match of the new funds, means that the law firm’s scholarship giving will have the effective impact of an endowment in excess of $1 million. The firm also counts numerous university alumni among its lawyers and staff, including three UCI Law alumni and two alumni of other UCI undergraduate and graduate programs who are members of UCI Anteaters in Law (a chapter of the UCI Alumni Association for all lawyers who attended UCI, whether for their bachelor’s degree, graduate school, or law school). Additionally, Daniel A. Sasse, a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Orange County office and a member of the firm’s Management Board and Executive Committee, is a member of the UCI Law Board of Visitors. Eric Fanchiang ’17, an associate at the firm, was recently awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UCI Alumni Association at the annual Lauds and Laurels dinner.

This gift provides additional support to strengthen UCI Law’s dedication to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), which we view as central to our mission of training the future leaders of the legal profession and in society. We are committed to fostering an environment where students, faculty and staff — regardless of dimensions of our lived identities — are empowered to build and develop our learning community. This approach dates back to our founding. UCI Law is consistently listed as one of the best law schools for diversity in preLaw Magazine and, since our founding, 47 percent of our J.D. graduates have been people of color. We believe that a learning community with a foundational commitment to EDI creates better lawyers, inspires innovation, benefits clients and communities, and encourages solidarity.

“We are proud to deepen our relationship with UCI Law and continue the emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Chahira Solh, managing partner of Crowell & Moring’s Orange Country office. “Law firms and law schools nationwide play a key role in creating a legal community that reflects the identities and backgrounds of the larger world and UCI Law is an important partner in that effort.”   

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia that represents clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and transactional and corporate matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation and government-facing matters, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Visit the firm at www.crowell.com.

Crowell & Moring has been committed to, and is consistently recognized for, its diversity and inclusion. The firm recently achieved Mansfield Rule 3.0 Certification status for affirmatively considering women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers and/or lawyers with disabilities — at least 30 percent of the candidate pool — for significant leadership and governance roles and client pitch teams, as well as promotions to equity partner and senior lateral hiring decisions. Valuing and respecting differences, it has received a 100 percent ranking on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HCR) Corporate Equality Index and has been named one of the “Best Law Firms for Women" by Working Mother and the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) Flex Time Lawyers for the ninth consecutive year.

About the University of California, Irvine School of Law

The University of California, Irvine School of Law is a visionary law school that provides an innovative and comprehensive curriculum, prioritizes public service, and demonstrates a commitment to diversity within the legal profession. UCI Law students have completed more than 123,000 hours of pro bono work since 2009. Forty-seven percent of UCI Law’s J.D. graduates are people of color. At UCI Law, we are driven to improve our local, national, and global communities by grappling with important issues as scholars, as practitioners, and as teachers who are preparing the next generation of leaders. The collaborative and interdisciplinary community at UCI Law includes extraordinary students, world-renowned faculty, dedicated staff, engaged alumni, and enthusiastic supporters. More information on UCI Law is available here. Please follow us on Twitter @UCILaw and Facebook @UCIrvineLaw.