Minneapolis law firm Bassford Remele has made a $60,000 gift to the University of St. Thomas School of Law to create a new scholarship for law students aimed at promoting diversity in the legal profession. The scholarship will provide financial assistance to St. Thomas students who are interested in civil litigation, have a strong academic record and who are part of a diverse or underrepresented group within the legal field.
“As part of Bassford Remele’s numerous efforts to improve diversity in the profession, while promoting inclusion and assisting in eradicating bias, the firm feels it is important to invest resources at the law school level,” Bassford Remele’s Chief Executive Officer Mark R. Whitmore said. "These remain difficult times and there is a great deal of ground to cover. Hopefully, this program will help narrow the gap.”
As part of establishing the scholarship, Bassford Remele has chosen to honor attorney Rebecca Egge Moos on the law school’s new Women’s Wall of Leadership. The display, located on the third floor of the building, will showcase outstanding female lawyers and include a brief description of their contributions to the legal field. The Women’s Wall of Leadership was developed through a gift from law school Board of Governors member Thomas Dolphin, Sr., who wanted to honor female innovators, including his mother, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dorothy Pohlad Dolphin.
Moos is currently a litigator at Bassford Remele, serving as the firm’s Professional Liability/Claim Prevention–Health Care Practice Group co-chair. She represents health care systems, hospitals, clinics and individual providers in health care, professional liability and long-term care disputes including medical malpractice, board and other licensing matters.
Moos is known as a woman of firsts. After being the first woman hired at her firm in 1977, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association in 1996. In 2001, she was the first woman from Minnesota to be inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers. Four years later, she was the first woman to be elected chief executive officer at Bassford Remele.
For decades, Moos has defended and counseled many prominent health care organizations – earning a reputation as one of the most effective trial lawyers in Minnesota.
“The School of Law is grateful to collaborate with Bassford Remele on an initiative to build an equitable and inclusive profession,” Lisa Montpetit Brabbit, the law school’s associate dean for external relations, said. “Bassford’s commitment to a diverse legal community, with a focus on an area of the law that has been woefully underrepresented, is inspiring and bold, and we will continue to steward this impactful gift at the highest levels.”
The first recipient of a Bassford Remele Diversity Scholarship is 1L Marina Cruz.
"I am incredibly honored to be recognized with the Bassford Remele Diversity Scholarship," Cruz said. "I am grateful to those at Bassford Remele for their generous gift and I am excited to move forward making the most of it."
