Baker Donelson’s 2024 Diversity Scholarship, Apply by June 9
Baker Donelson is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where the individual differences among us are understood, respected, appreciated, and recognized as sources of strength of the Firm. These qualities enrich the environment in which we work. Since 2008, we have annually awarded three recipients the Baker Donelson Diversity Scholarship, which provides diverse law students a salaried second-year Summer Associate position and $10,000 to be paid during the students’ third year of law school to help defray the cost of tuition and related expenses. To date, we are proud to have awarded 34 diversity scholarships.
With this in mind, we are delighted to announce that the 2024 Baker Donelson Diversity Scholarship application is now available! We will award three scholarships to three diverse rising 2L law students who will complete their first year of law school by June 2023. Recipients will be awarded a minimum six-week, salaried 2L Summer Associate position for the summer of 2024 in one of our Firm’s offices. Additionally, each recipient will be awarded $20,000, to help defray the cost of law school tuition and related expenses, which will be paid in two disbursements, conditioned on the following:
-
$10,000 will be awarded after the completion of a 2L summer associate clerkship, and
-
$10,000 will be awarded upon offer and acceptance of a permanent associate position.
Eligibility. To qualify for the scholarship, the candidates must:
-
Have completed their first year of a full-time JD program with an anticipated graduation date of 2025 at the time of application.
-
Be a member of a diverse population that historically has been underrepresented in the legal profession.
-
Attend an ABA Accredited Law School.
-
Candidates may not be the recipient of a similar scholarship award from another law firm.
Application Deadline and Requirements. Applications are due by midnight, Friday, June 9, 2023. Interested students must include the documents below with their application. Students will have the availability to save their application and upload these at a later time. Students may start the application process using this link.
-
Current Resume including undergraduate and law school GPA and class rank (if available)
-
Personal Statement. This scholarship helps us attract the best and brightest to Baker Donelson and supports our evolving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. How do you envision contributing to Baker Donelson substantively and culturally if you were to join our firm? Please limit to 500 words.
-
Unofficial Law School Transcript must include 1L Fall and Spring semester grades.
-
Legal Writing Sample. The sample may be from your legal writing course in law school (please limit to 10 pages).
-
Professional Recommendation. One written professional recommendation from a law school professor or employer. Recommendations should be addressed to Rebecca Simon, Director of Recruiting. The recommendation document name should be labeled LastName-FirstName. It may be uploaded to the application or emailed directly to diversityrecommendation@bakerdonelson.com.
We hope that you will share this announcement with your rising 2L law students and all affinity groups at your law school. Please direct all questions about our 2024 Diversity Scholarship to Helen Beasley at hbeasley@bakerdonelson.com.
