Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Thursday, May 6, 2010

 

Page 3

 

California Bar Foundation Grants 12 Scholarships to Aspiring Lawyers

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

The California Bar Foundation has announced that it is awarding scholarships to assist with the costs associated with taking the bar exam to 12 aspiring public interest lawyers graduating from six California law schools.

Foundation President Mario Camara remarked that the need for public interest lawyers “is greater than ever” due to the current recession, “while the escalating cost of law school has made a public interest career financially challenging for most law students.”

He praised this year’s recipients in a release Tuesday for having “chosen to serve their communities by pursuing modestly paying public interest work” even though they have “the academic, extracurricular, and professional credentials to follow any number of career paths.”

Named in honor of Imelda Rosenthal—a Guatemalan immigrant, businesswoman, and community volunteer—the Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship program is supported in part by multi-year gifts from Reed Smith LLP and The Sidley Austin Foundation.

Michael Kelley, managing partner of Sidley Austin’s Los Angeles office, said the firm was “very pleased” to be active in “supporting the next generation of legal aid attorneys, public defenders, and other government and nonprofit lawyers, [which] helps ensure full and equal access to justice.”

He opined that the firm’s contributions were “a long-term investment that will benefit the justice system for years to come.”

Reed Smith partner Theodore Ting added that sponsoring the scholarships was “one part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to this goal and our local communities.”

Nominated by their law schools, the 12 scholarship recipients have demonstrated a commitment to public service, including hundreds of volunteer hours at legal clinics and other nonprofit organizations, an impressive academic record and an average educational loan debt of $143,000, the foundation said.

Founded in 1990 and affiliated with the State Bar of California, the California Bar Foundation describes itself as “committed to building a better justice system for all Californians” and annually awards grants to California organizations conducting innovative law-related projects and scholarships to outstanding California law students.

Since 1997, the foundation has awarded more than $200,000 in cash awards and bar review courses to more than 230 graduates of California law schools.

The complete list of 2010 Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship winners, by law school, is as follows:

 

California Western School of Law

Kyung Eun Latimer

Lisa Orozco

Liseth M. Saravia

 

Stanford Law School

Katrina Eiland

Rachel Marshall

 

University Of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)

Angela McNair Turner – Reed Smith Scholar

 

University of California, Hastings College of the Law

Meredith L. Alexander

Anna Claire Johnson

 

University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

Maribel Gonzalez – The Sidley Austin Foundation Scholar

Julia I. Vazquez

 

University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Jessica Hewins

Harden Sooper

 

 

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