ABA legal education scholarships awarded

For the past six years, through the Legal Opportunity Scholarship program begun by then-President William Paul in 1999, the American Bar Association has played a significant part in helping diverse students realize their dreams of attending law school. Over this span of time, the ABA has committed $1,800,000 to law students of color, through members’ generous contributions to the Fund for Justice and Education earmarked for the program.

Since the spring of 2000, the ABA has awarded 20 scholarships each year, with this year’s class bringing the total to 120. Students receive $5,000 per year for each of their three years of law school. More than 30 law schools have enrolled ABA scholarship recipients — Harvard, Yale and UCLA have enrolled the most, but many other schools have also benefited, from the University of Georgia and North Carolina Central to the University of Chicago and the University of Miami. Nearly 60 graduates have successfully completed law school, passed the bar, and are practicing young lawyers primed to become leaders in the profession.

This year’s applicant pool fairly represents previous years. Of the nearly 1,200 applicants, 44 percent were African American, 24 percent were Hispanic, 20 percent were Asian, and 2 percent were Native American. The gender split was 70 percent female, 30 percent male.

But the numbers belie the real significance of the ABA’s Legal Opportunity Scholarship. Instead, it is the life stories of the applicants that reveal the most important, even life-changing aspects of the program. In the personal statements included with their applications, these students consistently show passion and sheer determination to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to fulfill their dream of a legal career.

For example, Jennifer Rodriguez, who received the scholarship in 2001, told of her challenging childhood: “Growing up in California’s foster care system, I had a sense that I had little power over my life and even less power over the world around me. My mother was severely mentally ill and my father was incarcerated. At the time I entered foster care, I had been living on the streets.” She goes on to talk about being emancipated from foster care at 18: “I left foster care without a high school diploma and without having ever taken a single academic or vocational skills class. I couldn’t envision myself ever succeeding in college, let alone going to law school.”

Yet, she did both. After earning her G.E.D. in Job Corps, Jennifer went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from the University of California and her law degree three years later. Now, as a Legislative and Policy Coordinator for a California youth agency, she designs foster care reform and mentors many youth in the foster care system.

Acknowledging the pivotal role the ABA has played in her life, Jennifer says, “Receiving the Legal Opportunity Scholarship not only offered much needed financial assistance in realizing my dream of attending law school, but it also validated that others believed in my potential.”

The ABA provides this type of empowering, bottom-line support to law students of color every year, support made possible by ABA members who continue to generously contribute to the scholarship fund.

A new publication profiles many of the scholarship recipients and tells their stories in their own words. It is an inspirational reminder of one of the ABA’s projects that has made a real difference in many people’s lives and in the profession.

Lawyers interested in becoming involved in this effort are invited to do so through the ABA Fund for Justice in Education.

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