(New York, August 18, 2004) – The New York City office of top 25 law firm Reed Smith LLP has selected Lavanya Mahendran of Columbia University School of Law, as the second recipient of the prestigious Reed Smith NYC Fellowship.  The Fellowship is awarded annually to a first-year law student at a New York City law school who has surmounted economic or social adversity in pursuit of a legal education. The Fellowship provides tuition for Mahendran's final years of law school as well as employment at Reed Smith during the summer after her second year of academic preparation.  The Fellowship begins in the 2004-2005 academic year.

As a female in a family rooted in the Sri Lankan culture, Mahendran had to challenge strong gender stereotypes to pursue higher education and a legal career. In her Fellowship application, Mahendran noted that, in her culture, women were never expected to achieve grand things, even though her mother was at times solely responsible for the financial support of the family.

Mahendran also cited a range of other family circumstances as barriers to her success – including their social isolation and a variety of economic hardships.  Mahendran’s achievements come despite these difficulties, including discrimination in the workplace that denied her mother an opportunity to qualify as a CPA, even after passing the CPA examination the first time she took it.

"Lavanya has met significant challenges head on and surmounted each of them in a most remarkable fashion," said Andrew B. Messite, a partner in the Reed Smith's NYC office and a member of the Fellowship Committee.  “We applaud her many academic accomplishments and her record of service to others in the US and abroad. We know she will make very good use of the NYC Reed Smith Fellowship and become an excellent attorney.”

The Reed Smith NYC Fellowship was established in 2003 as an annual award to a beginning second-year law student.  In addition to academic achievement, applicants must also demonstrate commitment to the community and involvement in extracurricular activities to be competitive for the scholarship.

Mahendran has been active in the Prisoner's Rights Project, as well as with work on the legal ramifications of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for New York City jail inmates.  She is a member of the International Law Society and the Columbia University chapter of Amnesty International.

Her work experience includes serving as a teacher's aide and research assistance at the University of Michigan's Learning for Teaching After School Lab in Los Angeles, as a research assistant at the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and as a funding coordinator at the Tamil Sangham Library in Sri Lanka.

“My previous work experiences with disempowered people strengthened my resolve to use my legal education in a way that provides social and legal access to communities most affected by the law's deficiencies,” said Mahendran. "I am very honored to be selected as the second Reed Smith New York City Fellow.  I will use Reed Smith's support to help me achieve my goal of breaking down the barriers that continue to impede the progress of young, poor and disadvantaged people."

Mahendran earned a BA magna cum laude in English from UCLA and studied abroad in Florence and Venice, Italy, and Delhi, India, as an undergraduate.

The Pittsburgh office of Reed Smith named its 2004 Fellow this week as well, tapping Danielle Nicole Ducre, a University of Pittsburgh School of Law student and Spelman College graduate from Atlanta, as the third recipient of the annual Reed Smith Fellowship in that city.

Reed Smith, a leading global law firm with nearly 1,000 lawyers located in 14 U.S. and two U.K. cities, represents Fortune 100 as well as mid-market and emerging companies.  Clients include technology companies and entrepreneurs, financial services firms, life sciences companies and health care providers and insurers, communications companies, manufacturers, universities, non-profit organizations, real estate developers, and municipalities throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and in 40 other countries.  For more information, please visit reedsmith.com.