Astonique Robinson L’25 is the first Penn Carey Law student to receive the Susman Godfrey Prize.
Astonique Robinson L’25 has been selected to receive the 2024 Susman Godfrey Prize from Susman Godfrey LLP. The program, part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to celebrate and promote diversity among civil trial lawyers, provides first- or second-year law students of color ongoing mentorship from partners and associates.
“I am honored to be among this year’s prize recipients,” said Robinson, a Toll Public Interest Scholar and Executive Editor on the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. “From the moment I decided to pursue a legal career, I envisioned myself as a litigator, and Susman Godfrey is an incredible firm known for their stellar litigation work. The opportunity to be mentored by their attorneys is invaluable.”
Susman Godfrey LLP has held the position as Vault’s top-ranked U.S. litigation boutique for over a decade. Their exclusive mentorship program, now in its fourth year, highlights academic excellence and overall achievement, evaluating nominees based on resumes, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. A team of Susman Godfrey lawyers conduct interviews to narrow down a group of finalists to eventual winners. This year’s finalists included a group of 60 nominees from law schools across the country.
“We are delighted to recognize this year’s Prize recipients, all of whom exemplify values of integrity, leadership, and academic excellence,” said Susman Godfrey co-Managing Partner Kalpana Srinivasan in a statement from the firm. “Our 2024 recipients have bright futures ahead of them. We hope this recognition is a rewarding step forward in their legal careers.”
Robinson is “particularly excited” to be Penn Carey Law’s first recipient of the prize.
“Hopefully in the coming years there will be even more prize recipients from Penn,” she said. “I am grateful to Professor [Tobias] Wolff who nominated me and for the many professors and administrators in TPIC and OCS who supported my nomination.”
At Penn Carey Law, Robinson is also on the board of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and has served as a Civil Procedure Teaching Assistant as well as a Research Assistant. She earned her BA in Political Science from American University, where she graduated magna cum laude.
In 2019, Robinson was a PPIA Law Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. She also served as a volunteer with Reading Partners and as an intern for the U.S. House of Representatives, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Urban Institute.
Prior to law school, Robinson worked on a joint partnership between the University of Chicago’s Crime and Education Lab and Chicago Public Schools, examining and dismantling barriers to education that students in the city’s alternative high schools were facing.
“Astonique is a brilliant legal mind who will soon be a spectacular lawyer. Susman Godfrey is lucky to have her as an awardee,” said Tobias Barrington Wolff, Jefferson B. Fordham Professor of Law and Deputy Dean for Equity & Inclusion. “Astonique is the first Penn Carey Law student to participate in this great program at Susman Godfrey, and I look forward to working with the firm to deepen that relationship.”