March 21, 2006 (Houston) — The Vinson & Elkins Scholarship Foundation is proud to announce that it is once again awarding six new $10,000 scholarships to lower-income minority high school students in Texas to help finance their college education.

V&E; created the scholarships in 1990 as part of the law firm's effort to increase diversity in the legal profession. In the 16 years since, 85 Latino, African-American, and other minority students from Austin, Dallas and Houston have used the V&E; scholarships to attend the University of Texas, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, Princeton University and other colleges throughout the nation.

Under the program, Vinson & Elkins awards six new scholarships annually -- four to students in the Houston area, one from Dallas, and one from Austin. The scholarships provide $2,500 a year for four years. As part of the scholarship, the students are offered summer jobs at the law firm to provide exposure to the legal profession and to help them earn extra money.

"V&E; recognized that it needed to get involved at an earlier stage than law school to further its objective of promoting diversity within the Firm and in the profession by increasing  the presence in the law schools of minority students," said Yolanda Chavez Knull, a partner in Houston who chairs the firm's Wills, Trusts and Estate Practice Group. "We targeted the program to high school seniors who showed promise and an interest in pursuing a legal education who otherwise might not be able to attend the college of their choice. As many of the scholarship candidates did not have role models who were professionals, we integrated a summer internship and mentoring program into our scholarship package as additional tools to assist our scholars in reaching their goals."

While scholarship recipients are not required to go to law school, the students who apply must have an interest in the law. Six previous V&E; scholars are now practicing lawyers. Other scholars have become schoolteachers, investment bankers and business leaders.

Vinson & Elkins is extremely pleased that one of the scholars, Wendolynn Montoya, has agreed to join the Houston office of the firm in September following her graduation from the University of Texas School of Law. She is the first V&E; scholar to join the firm as a lawyer.

"As a young student, it made quite an impression upon me that a law firm of this magnitude and stature took the time to recognize a need in underprivileged communities and fill it," said Ms. Montoya, who will be a lawyer in V&E;'s Public Finance Section. "This scholarship is just one small testament amongst many others of the continued effort of the firm to helping its surrounding communities."

Many recipients say the encouragement and support of the V&E; Scholarships program provided them with the assistance they needed to overcome the hurdles they faced.

"In numerous ways, Vinson & Elkins has supported my development from a student with a budding interest in law to becoming the first member of my family to become an attorney," said Precious Williams, a 1993 V&E; scholarship recipient and now a vice president in the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group in Houston.

This year's scholarship recipients will be announced in April.

For more information please contact Ashley Battelle, communications coordinator, at 713.758.2052 or via e-mail at abattelle@velaw.com.

Vinson & Elkins was established in 1917 and is one of the world's largest international law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers practicing in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington D.C. Vinson & Elkins offers a wide range of legal services. Clients include public and private companies, financial institutions, municipalities, governments of sovereign nations, entrepreneurs, families and individuals.