Last Saturday, about 20 SMU law students joined 12 lawyers from the Vinson and Elkins law firm for a very different type of recruitment event. V&E associates were looking for students to work as summer associates, but the typical dinner and discussion interview was not V&E’s method of choice. Instead, SMU law students spent a few hours at the North Texas Food Bank boxing meals for hungry families in the Dallas area.

This “Food Bank Project” was started in 2002 by V&E Partner Kevin Lewis, a 1986 graduate of Harvard Law School. Lewis wanted to do something different with the Harvard students that would not only show them what V&E is about, but also show them how important pro-bono work and community service is at V&E. Since then, the events have expanded to other schools including Duke, Yale, University of Texas, Howard and University of Virginia.

In 2005 alone, more than 240 V&E lawyers and law students boxed food for nearly 30,000 meals.