Caplin & Drysdale Welcomes 2022 Caplin-Swanson Diversity Fellow Alejandra Pazzi

Caplin & Drysdale is pleased to announce and welcome Alejandra Pazzi, our 2022 Caplin-Swanson Diversity Fellow.  Alejandra just completed her 1L year at the Columbus School of Law and is the Firm’s third Caplin-Swanson Diversity Fellow. 

During Alejandra’s first year at Columbus School of Law she was awarded the Dean Merit Scholarship, a merit-based full tuition scholarship. She received her B. S. in International Economics and Finance from The Catholic University of America, where she was on the Academic Dean’s List with Distinction, a Member of the University Honors Program, and a recipient of the Father O’Connell Parish Scholarship and the University Honors Scholarship.  Alejandra also has experience as an Intern at Braid-Forbes Health Research in DC and a small Law Office in Tampa. 

The Caplin-Swanson Diversity Fellowship honors the actions taken by two men of great character, our Firm’s founder Mortimer Caplin and Gregory Swanson, the first Black person to study law at the University of Virginia. In 1949, Mortimer Caplin was a young law professor who successfully rallied the entire law school faculty to admit Gregory Swanson to the University of Virginia School of Law. When the University’s Board of Visitors rejected the law school’s decision, Gregory Swanson fought and won the right to enroll in 1950. Mr. Swanson’s case helped lay the foundation for Brown v. Board of Education. Years later, when Mr. Caplin was Commissioner of the IRS, he hired Mr. Swanson to be an IRS attorney. Mr. Swanson worked at the IRS until his retirement in 1984. His determination in overcoming obstacles to achieve his educational and intellectual goals—in defiance of, and by overcoming, racist policies—sets an example and a model for all.