San Francisco – As part of the firm’s commitment to increasing diversity and promoting inclusion in the legal profession, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has awarded a total of $100,000 in scholarship funds to four 2025 Diversity Scholar recipients.
Since the inception of its Diversity Scholars Program in 2011, Keker has awarded more than $800,000 to more than 40 law students representing law schools from all over the country. The program offers scholarship grants and academic and professional mentorship to first-year law students interested in practicing litigation in the Bay Area who have overcome significant adversity and represent a diverse range of identities and experiences.
“We are investing in a future where the profession is enriched by a broader range of perspectives and experiences,” said Keker’s Director of Diversity Jessica Ourk. “More than that, our program builds networks and lasting relationships with law students who are on a path to remarkable and impactful careers.”
Keker’s 2025 Diversity Scholars are:
Trinity Balla is a law student at UC Davis School of Law. She is founder and CEO of Grace Period, a poverty-alleviation public health nonprofit, which conducts community outreach and provides unhoused women access to menstrual hygiene products. She earned her bachelor’s degree in public health from American University in 2022 and worked as an immigration legal assistant for six years before law school. She is the 2025 Miss Black California USA and is working as a legal intern at ServiceNow this summer.
Neil Gallagher is a law student at UC Berkeley School of Law and serves on the Ecology Law Quarterly Journal. Prior to college and law school, Neil served in the Marine Corps, where, among other responsibilities, he assisted disaster relief efforts following Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. He founded an oral history project that preserves the stories of U.S. veterans. Neil serves in the law school’s Post-Conviction Advocacy Project, Legal Obstacles Veterans Encounter, and the Berkeley Criminal Law Journal. He earned his bachelor’s degree in personal finance from the University of South Florida in 2020 and is expected to receive his master’s in military history from The Citadel in 2027.
Jenny Jeon is a law student at UC Law San Francisco and earned a bachelor’s degree in political economy and media studies from UC Berkeley. Her experience working with underrepresented youth motivated Jenny to pursue a legal career advocating on behalf of low-income, underrepresented community members. Prior to law school, she held roles at public interest organizations, including Legal Services for Children and at the San Francisco Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs. Jenny will spend her 1L summer working at the East Bay Children’s Law Offices.
Marisol Zarate is a law student at UC Berkeley School of Law. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Urban Studies in 2019 and a master’s degree in Sociology in 2023, both from Stanford University. Marisol grew up in a predominantly immigrant and working-class community in San Bernardino. This experience inspired her to serve marginalized communities lacking access to wealth, opportunity, and social capital. Her work focuses on addressing structural barriers within the criminal legal system. She currently serves on the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law and participates in the Post-Conviction Advocacy Project.
About Keker, Van Nest & Peters:
Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP is a 140-lawyer law firm based in San Francisco, California. For over 45 years, the firm has litigated complex, high-stakes civil and criminal cases across the United States. We take the cases where companies, products, and careers are riding on the result. Our clients are high-profile individuals, as well as some of the world’s most successful companies, including Dexcom, Genentech, Google, Instacart, Lyft, Major League Baseball, Meta, Netflix, and Qualcomm.