The Dobrusin Law Firm champions efforts to elevate women in the legal profession. For four years, the firm has contributed to the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation to fund an annual scholarship. We are delighted to announce that the 2022 Dobrusin Law Scholarship recipient is Estella Park Riahi, a student at Michigan State University College of Law.
“Estella is a talented, socially-conscious, bright legal mind with an impressive business background,” said Kristen Pursley, managing shareholder of The Dobrusin Law Firm and Chair of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation. “She has distinguished herself in the classroom and the community, and I’m sure she will be a leader in whatever discipline she pursues.”
Originally from Los Angeles, Estella earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego. After college, she spent eight years working for her family’s business, which provides traditional Korean clothing to a racially and ethnically diverse clientele in L.A. There, Estella learned to empathize with and understand the challenges of fellow community business owners, many of them immigrants in her local hometown of Koreatown. The experience instilled in her a desire to understand the law and how it could work to support emerging businesses, especially those who struggle with access to legal services.
This summer, Estella will clerk at a boutique law firm and assist with its intellectual property and transactional practices, focusing on technology startups and new businesses. In the fall, she will participate in Michigan State University College of Law’s First Amendment Law Clinic, where she will educate Michigan high school students regarding student press censorship, privacy issues, copyright, and trademark law involving social media and the internet.
With contributions from The Dobrusin Law Firm and 11 other law firms and corporations, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation awarded $42,000 in scholarships to Michigan’s brightest law students. “Our organization’s mission to advance women in the legal profession is ongoing,” said Ms. Pursley. “Estella and the other 11 recipients have not only demonstrated their excellent academic performance at Michigan law schools, but they also exhibit leadership and a commitment to important areas of the law, including STEM, social justice, equality, child advocacy, and domestic violence.”
Since 1997, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation has awarded more than $730,000 to over 280 women law students. For more information and a list of all recipients and sponsors, please click here.
