Mosaic Scholars: Career Advising for First-Generation Law Students Targeting Big Law

EARLY TALENT CULTIVATION

A free, founder-led career advising program built for first-generation law students navigating Big Law recruiting at the nation's top law schools.

Why Mosaic Scholars Exists

Big Law recruiting is one of the most high-pressure processes a young professional can face, and it’s getting earlier every year. This program is designed to give students clarity, confidence, and a game plan built around them specifically. Every scholar receives deeply individualized guidance from someone with direct industry experience who is personally invested in their success.
The Mosaic Scholars program was built with first-generation professionals and first-generation attorneys at its core. Students who arrive at elite law schools without the institutional knowledge many of their peers inherit deserve the same caliber of insight, strategy, and sustained support that those peers have always had access to.”
Bryson Malcolm
Bryson Malcolm Founder & Executive Director, Mosaic Scholars

Our Inaugural Cohort: JD Class of 2028

Future cohorts will begin as 0Ls, before their first day of classes, matching the market realities that, though unfortunate, define recruiting trends today and for the foreseeable future.

Now accepting applications for the JD Class of 2029. Apply Now

Our first cohort includes 18 current 1Ls at the following elite law schools:

Harvard Law School
Yale Law School
Stanford Law School
Columbia Law School
University of Chicago Law School
NYU School of Law
Penn Carey Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Georgetown Law
University of Michigan Law School
UCLA School of Law
Harvard Law School
Yale Law School
Stanford Law School
Columbia Law School
University of Chicago Law School
NYU School of Law
Penn Carey Law
UC Berkeley School of Law
Georgetown Law
University of Michigan Law School
UCLA School of Law

Since Joining Our Program, Mosaic Scholars Have Secured Offers at

2026 1L Recruiting Cycle.

Cravath
Skadden
Latham & Watkins
Kirkland & Ellis
Sullivan & Cromwell
Davis Polk
Simpson Thacher
Gibson Dunn
Sidley Austin
Quinn Emanuel
Cleary Gottlieb
Weil
Freshfields
White & Case
Cooley
Goodwin Procter
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Morgan Lewis
Jones Day
Hogan Lovells
Baker McKenzie
Vinson & Elkins
Fenwick
Alston & Bird
Baker Botts
Norton Rose Fulbright
King & Spalding
Paul Hastings
Cravath
Skadden
Latham & Watkins
Kirkland & Ellis
Sullivan & Cromwell
Davis Polk
Simpson Thacher
Gibson Dunn
Sidley Austin
Quinn Emanuel
Cleary Gottlieb
Weil
Freshfields
White & Case
Cooley
Goodwin Procter
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Morgan Lewis
Jones Day
Hogan Lovells
Baker McKenzie
Vinson & Elkins
Fenwick
Alston & Bird
Baker Botts
Norton Rose Fulbright
King & Spalding
Paul Hastings

MEET OUR SCHOLARS

Spotlight on the Inaugural Cohort

As our scholars secure their summer placements, we're proud to introduce them to the world. More announcements coming soon.

Sara Bouhamid
Latham & Watkins

Sara Bouhamid

Yale Law School · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Latham & Watkins · New York, New York

A magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Florida State University in Psychology, Sara completed the SEO Law Fellowship at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and spent over a year as a Healthcare Research Associate at Corporate Insight. At Yale Law, she serves as an Editor on the Yale Law Journal on Regulation and as a 1L Representative for the Law and Business Society and First Generation Professionals.

Read Testimonial
Tziporah Tiller
Gibson Dunn

Tziporah Tiller

Harvard Law School · Class of 2028

Summer 2026 & 2027 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher · Houston, Texas (1L & 2L Offers)

A summa cum laude graduate of Ohio State in Political Science and Public Management, Tziporah spent three years as a Teach for America corps member in Houston, where she raised student performance from 1% to 60% growth on state assessments. She completed the SEO Law Fellowship at White & Case LLP before entering Harvard Law.

Read Testimonial
Haig Simitian
Willkie Farr

Haig Simitian, CPA

UC Berkeley School of Law · Class of 2028

Summer 2026 & 2027 Willkie Farr & Gallagher · Los Angeles, California (1L & 2L Offers)

A licensed CPA and cum laude graduate of UCLA with a 3.95 in Business-Economics, Haig worked as a Tax Consultant at Deloitte before law school. At Berkeley Law, he holds a Dean's Fellowship and serves as an Associate Editor on the Berkeley Business Law Journal and the 1L Representative for MENALSA.

Read Testimonial
Keren Karmiel
Sullivan & Cromwell

Keren Karmiel

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Sullivan & Cromwell · New York, New York

A summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of South Carolina in Political Science and Philosophy, Keren has held policy roles in the offices of Senator Tim Scott and Governor Henry McMaster. At Penn Carey Law, she is active in the Business Law Association and the Penn Law Women's Association.

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Sarah Wang
Simpson Thacher

Sarah Wang

NYU School of Law · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett · New York, New York

A UCLA graduate and recipient of the Order of the Golden Bruin, the university's highest senior honor, Sarah brings experience from Microsoft, Warner Bros. Discovery, and TikTok. At NYU Law, she is a Women in M&A Scholar with the ABA Business Law Section and a Birnbaum Women's Leadership Fellow.

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Nicole Bi
Gibson Dunn

Nicole Bi

University of Chicago Law School · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher · Los Angeles, California

A magna cum laude graduate of UCLA with dual degrees in Philosophy and Psychology, Nicole completed over 300 hours assisting self-represented litigants through JusticeCorps Los Angeles. At UChicago Law, she serves as the 1L Representative for APALSA, the American Constitution Society, and the Law Women's Caucus.

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Azeezat Yussuf
Latham & Watkins

Azeezat Yussuf

NYU School of Law · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Latham & Watkins · New York, New York

Holder of the Irving H. Jurow Scholarship, awarded to just one NYU undergraduate admitted to NYU Law each year, and the Dean's Award for academic merit. She completed an SEO Law Fellowship at Jones Day in San Francisco working across antitrust, global disputes, and pro bono matters. At NYU Law, she is active in Law Women and BLSA.

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Isaiah Dolphin
Simpson Thacher

Isaiah Dolphin

UC Berkeley School of Law · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett · Los Angeles, California

A Brown University graduate in Cognitive Neuroscience, Isaiah is a Dean's Fellow and SEO Law Impact Scholar at Berkeley Law. He serves as a Network Supervising Editor on the Berkeley Business Law Journal and a Student Fellow with the Startup Law Initiative. Before law school, he co-founded Ivy Bound LA, helping first-generation students reach top universities.

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Yani Dai
Simpson Thacher

Yani Dai

NYU School of Law · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Simpson Thacher & Bartlett · New York, New York

The first official Mosaic Scholar, Yani earned her M.A. in Sociology and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Chicago. Before law school, she gained cross-border legal experience at DeHeng Law Offices in Beijing and completed extensive domestic violence intervention training through The Network/La Red and DOVE, Inc. At NYU Law, she is active in APALSA, Law Women, and OUTLaw.

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Khadia Okai-Koi
Hogan Lovells

Khadia Okai-Koi

Georgetown University Law Center · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Hogan Lovells · New York, New York

A RISE Scholar at Georgetown Law and graduate of Ashesi University in Ghana, Khadia brings more than two years of litigation experience from Braunhagey & Borden LLP and previously worked on 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund claims at Weisfuse & Weisfuse. At Georgetown, she serves on the BLSA Recruitment and Retention Committee and is a 1L Representative for the American Constitution Society.

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Vishal Sivamani
Fenwick & West

Vishal Sivamani

University of Chicago Law School · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Fenwick & West · Mountain View (Silicon Valley), California

A Johns Hopkins graduate in Public Health and Africana Studies, Vishal served as Technical Lead at Treyla Health and conducted classified national security research at Elusys Therapeutics. He also developed AI-driven diagnostic tools in a Bloomberg Distinguished Fellows lab at Johns Hopkins. At UChicago Law, he brings a unique combination of healthcare policy expertise and technical leadership.

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Julia Matias
King & Spalding

Julia Matias

UCLA School of Law · Class of 2028

Summer 2026 & 2027 King & Spalding · Los Angeles, California (1L & 2L Offers)

A Mitchell Scholar at UCLA Law and NYU Tisch graduate with a BFA in Dramatic Writing, Julia came to law school after a career in entertainment, most recently as Senior Associate in Comedy Touring Operations at United Talent Agency. At UCLA Law, she serves as 1L Representative for both APALSA and the Entertainment Law Association and is a member of the Intellectual Property Law Association.

Read Testimonial
Matthew Torres
Paul Hastings

Matthew Torres

Stanford Law School · Class of 2028

2L Summer Associate, 2027 Paul Hastings · Los Angeles, California

A magna cum laude USC graduate in Psychology and French, Matthew managed over 400 cases as an immigration paralegal and conducted refugee integration policy research at the French Embassy in Toulouse. He founded USC’s first mentorship program for first-generation students, pairing over 200 students annually. At Stanford Law, he contributes to the Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties and the Election Law Project.

5 more scholars to be announced

New spotlights added regularly. Check back soon.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Scholar Testimonials

PROGRAM BENEFITS

What Scholars Receive

Deeply Individualized Advising

Every scholar receives a gameplan built around their background, goals, target firms, geographic market, practice area interests, and personal circumstances. Five guaranteed 30-minute sessions over the year, plus ongoing guidance by text, by call, and on short notice:

  • Big Law prep call to outline the market and develop your personalized strategy
  • Interview preparation and strategic coaching
  • Offer comparison and firm-fit decision-making
  • Offer leverage and negotiation strategy for competing offers, scholarships, and stipends
  • Post-offer guidance on navigating your firm before day one
  • Floating session at your discretion

Questions get real answers quickly, from someone with direct industry experience. For students navigating a fast-moving process where timing matters, this kind of access is rare.

Market-Level Tools

Premium resources and data to position yourself competitively:

  • Premium Legal Scout membership (1-month, full access)
  • LinkedIn profile optimization, headline, summary, and narrative positioning
  • Enterprise attorney contact data across Big Law
  • Law firm and industry-level headcount shifts, growth, and decline reports
  • Financial performance data including profits per partner, law firm rankings, and financial trends

Monthly Small Group Calls

Monthly small group calls for:

  • Live Q&A sessions
  • Deep dives into recruiting dynamics, firm culture, and career strategy
  • Anonymous question submissions with thoughtful responses

This mirrors how real information circulates in the profession: quietly, candidly, and without posturing.

A Professional Network in Formation

The Mosaic Scholars cohort is itself a resource. Scholars build relationships with each other, across schools, backgrounds, and markets, that will compound over the course of their careers:

  • Private Discord for real-time discussion and peer support
  • Private LinkedIn group connecting current scholars with alumni
  • Future cohorts gain access to prior scholars, and the community grows with every class

These aren't administrative features. They're a professional network that starts forming before your first day at the firm.

Uncommon Transparency

Access to insights most students never see:

  • Attorney rosters and proprietary demographic and attrition data
  • Aggregated, anonymized reporting on attorney experiences at major firms
  • Pattern-level insight into retention, culture, and long-term outcomes

This information exists to help you choose environments where you can grow.

Securing the Offer Is Half the Battle

This is a long-term mentorship relationship, not a transactional placement service. After scholars secure their offers, the program continues — constantly evolving and adapting to meet each scholar wherever they are.

Post-Offer Guidance

The Executive Director remains actively engaged, helping scholars understand how their firms operate, how decisions get made, how business models work, what practice groups are the right fit, and how to build internal relationships before they even walk through the door on day one.

Arrive Informed, Not Starting from Zero

By the time scholars begin their summer associate programs, they are not starting from zero. They arrive informed, connected, and confident, with a clear understanding of their firm's culture, expectations, and how to make the most of their summer.

Scholars Do Not Age Out of the Network

The relationship with the program founder is designed to be ongoing and indefinite — built to last the length of the future attorney's entire legal career. The attorneys Mosaic Scholars is developing today are the legal talent this firm will serve for decades. That alignment of incentives is by design.

Who This Program Is For

Mosaic Scholars is designed for first-generation professionals and first-generation attorneys. Specifically, 0L and 1L JD students at the nation's top law schools who:

Are navigating Big Law recruiting without lawyers in their families or inherited professional networks
Are targeting Big Law or elite boutiques and want to arrive prepared, not anxious
Care about long-term fit, not just getting an offer
Want early, candid guidance from someone with direct industry experience
Value judgment, transparency, and a relationship that doesn't end at the offer

OUR EDGE

What Makes Mosaic Scholars Different

Free & Founder-Led

No fees, no hidden costs. The Executive Director personally oversees every Scholar's experience.

Candid Network Access

Scholars are connected directly to attorneys across 130+ firms who give honest, unfiltered perspectives, explicitly different from the curated, PR-managed access firms typically offer.

Independent Judgment

No firm controls selection or advice. The program leverages a founder-built network to give scholars the kind of candid firm intelligence that simply doesn't exist elsewhere. That independence is a feature, not a footnote.

Externally Validated

Our Executive Director's work on Big Law demographics and retention has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Politico.

This program is limited because quality of engagement matters.

JOIN THE PROGRAM

How to Apply

1

Prepare Your Materials

Have your current resume and LinkedIn profile URL ready. Cover letters are NOT required.

2

Send Your Application

Email your resume and LinkedIn hyperlink to Admin@MosaicSearchPartners.com

Subject line: "Mosaic Scholars - [Your Law School] - [Your First and Last Name]"

3

Interview Process

Selected students will be contacted to schedule a short call. Offers are given on a rolling basis.

Important: Please refrain from applying until you have been admitted to your law school.

To elevate your application timeline, consider reaching out to our Executive Director, Bryson Malcolm, on LinkedIn in addition to your email application.

FOR LAW FIRM LEADERSHIP

Are You a Top Law Firm Interested in Learning More About the Mosaic Scholars Program?

We selectively partner with leading firms committed to early talent development. If your firm would like to explore ways to get involved, we welcome the conversation.

View Partnership Overview Contact Us Directly

The Mosaic Network

A private, verified community for the nation's top up-and-coming legal talent. Launching soon. Now accepting applications.

Bryson Malcolm

I'll be honest with you. The number of students reaching out to us for help has grown way beyond what we can handle through Mosaic Scholars alone. That program is one-on-one by design. I'm personally involved in every Scholar's journey, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But it means I have to keep it small.

The thing is, the questions I keep getting don't require a one-on-one relationship to answer well. How do I actually evaluate firms beyond the rankings? When exactly should I be applying? How do I leverage a competing offer without burning a bridge? What does a corporate restructuring attorney actually do day to day? These are knowable things. And right now, most students are piecing together answers from anonymous Reddit threads, outdated career services handouts, and secondhand advice from people who haven't recruited in years.

That's not good enough. So I built something more accessible.

The Mosaic Network is where I'm putting everything I know. The firm intelligence I've gathered from years of placing attorneys at the nation's top firms. The recruiting strategies I've refined working with hundreds of candidates. The practice group breakdowns I wish someone had given me when I was starting out. The negotiation tactics that actually work. All of it, organized in one place, and built for students who are serious about getting this right.

Bryson MalcolmFounder & CEO, Mosaic Search PartnersCited by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Law, Law360, Business Insider, and Politico

What's Inside

Explainer Videos from Me

I'm breaking down every major practice group at a high level so you actually understand what the work looks like, who thrives there, and how to talk about it in interviews. Digestible, honest, and built for students and attorneys curious about areas outside their own.

Deep Firm Intelligence

Go beyond the brochure. I've built individual firm profiles with off-the-record insights, culture reads, compensation intel, and the kind of candid analysis you won't find on a firm's website or Vault page.

Ready-to-Use Templates

Negotiation letters for accelerating your interview timeline. Scripts for requesting scholarship or stipend money from firms. Market-specific strategies for New York, DC, California, Texas, and beyond. I drafted all of these based on what I've seen actually move the needle.

Breaking Big Law News

Real-time coverage of the moves that matter. Official firm announcements, lateral hiring trends, compensation shifts, and the industry developments that directly affect your recruiting strategy.

Verified & Anonymous

Every member is vetted before entry, but when you post, you're anonymous by default. Only I see your identity at the application stage. You can share your name, school, and class year with the rest of the community when posting, if you want to.

Launching soon. Now accepting applications.

The Mosaic Network is a verified community launching soon. Apply now to secure your spot and be among the first to access the full platform when it goes live.

Apply for Access

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

All applicants to the Mosaic Scholars Program are automatically considered for Mosaic Network access.

Ready to Get Started?

Take the first step toward making informed, strategic career decisions

Apply Now

All Mosaic Scholars applicants are automatically considered for Mosaic Network access.