ND Law student Samantha Contreras receives Michael Best Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship

Samantha Contreras, a second-year student at Notre Dame Law School, has received a generous scholarship from Michael Best & Friedrich LLP in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The scholarship will provide tuition assistance for Contreras’ third year of law school. In addition, scholarship recipients are offered a summer associate position at Michael Best. Contreras will focus on transactional matters, specifically wealth planning, in her position at Michael Best this summer.

The Michael Best Diversity & Inclusion Scholarship seeks to demonstrate the firm’s commitment to encouraging and supporting future lawyers from diverse backgrounds and to foster development of students committed to practicing at Michael Best.

Contreras was selected based on her excellent academic credentials and an interview process.

“I am proud to be a part of a firm that has made a sustained commitment to recruiting and training talent from a pool of diverse candidates. I know that Michael Best is going to give me the opportunity to grow into an exemplary legal professional, while encouraging my unique outlook and allowing me to be myself,” said Contreras.

Last summer, Contreras worked at Catholic Charities Legal Assistance of the Archdiocese of Chicago in a fellowship sponsored by Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State & Society. In her role, she provided legal assistance to marginalized groups, primarily in the areas of housing, family law, and immigration law.

At Notre Dame Law School, she is vice president of the Hispanic Law Students Association and admissions liaison to the Black Law Students Association. In her role as admissions liaison, she is responsible for prospective student outreach and is a contact point for first-year students.

She said, “I did this with the intention of promoting diversity within admissions and ensuring a smooth integration into law school for underrepresented students.”