“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” – Justice Thurgood Marshall
The Tallahassee Barristers Association (the Barristers) is a voluntary legal professional organization. The Barristers empower minorities and support minority lawyers in the greater Tallahassee area. The Barristers established the Scholarship Contest to support Florida law students and encourage innovative thinking on diversity, race, and the law. Finalists for the Scholarship Contest will be invited to the Barristers 2017 Scholarship Luncheon on February 17, 2017, in Tallahassee, Florida, where they will be invited to make brief presentations of their essays before the Barristers and the Legal Community. The winner will receive a prize scholarship presented at the Luncheon.
Entrants should submit an essay addressing the following prompt:
Appropriate remedies for arrests related to peaceful demonstrations: discuss a First Amendment case in which the defendant spoke out against a social problem like police brutality. Please address available and appropriate legal remedies for dealing with arrests made during peaceful demonstrations.
ELIGIBILITY Essays will be accepted from students enrolled at any Florida law school during the 2016-2017 school year. Entrants must submit their own work and must not have submitted the same essay for another scholarship contest. Papers written as coursework are eligible for submission. Students may utilize historical data, court opinions (including dissents), pending cases, and other literature to support their arguments
FORMAT Essays must be in 12-point font, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, with two spaces following each period. All margins must be at least one inch. Entries must not exceed five (5) pages, including notes, with footnotes rather than end notes. Citation style should conform to The Bluebook – A Uniform System of Citation. Essays which are not in the required format will be deemed ineligible.
To submit, entrants must email a Word .doc/.docx or PDF file of an original essay to Tallahassee.Barristers@gmail.com with the subject line “Scholarship 2017.” Include in the email the title of your essay, law school, class year (1L, 2L, 3L, or otherwise), email address, phone number, and mailing address.
SELECTION CRITERIA Tallahassee Barristers members will judge the competition. Essays will be selected for writing style, thoughtfulness, depth of research, clarity, and timeliness.
DEADLINE Essays must be received by January 1, 2017. Essays received after the deadline will not be considered.
QUESTIONS? Questions may be addressed to the chair of the Barristers Law Student Writing Scholarship Competition, Kirsten Sencil at kirstensencil at gmail dot com.
“This fight for equality of educational opportunity (was) not an isolated struggle. All our struggles must tie in together and support one another. . .We must remain on the alert and push the struggle farther with all our might.”—Charles Hamilton Houston, Dean, Howard University Law School
2016-2017 Barristers Scholarship Contest.pdf