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Cupcake Brown finished law school at the
University of San Francisco with the help of a scholarship she
received from the Foundation of the State Bar in 1999. Addressing this
year's scholarship recipients recently, the one-time prostitute and
drug addict quoted Winston Churchill in describing the principle that
guides her life today: "We make a living by what we earn. We make a
life by what we give."
Those words are at the heart of the
foundation's philosophy when it considers the qualifications of
California law students who apply for a scholarship. In addition to
financial need and academic achievement, candidates must demonstrate a
commitment to public service.
This year, the foundation awarded scholarships
totaling almost $200,000 to 40 law students from 14 California law
schools. That brings its total over the past nine years to 220
scholarships amounting to $915,000. The recipients have been enrolled
at 24 different schools.
The 2001 winners presented extraordinary resumes
of public service. Several founded or coordinated volunteer projects
to help the poor, a half-dozen served as presidents of public service
organizations, and virtually all served as interns at legal services
programs.
Those they helped included victims of domestic
violence, the homeless, the disabled, immigrants, disaster victims,
individuals infected with HIV, and at-risk children. Other areas of
interest ranged from the environment to suicide prevention to
international human rights.
The Foundation of the State Bar seeks and provides funding for programs and projects that
educate the public about their rights and responsibilities under the
law, encourages ventures that increase access to the legal system for
the poor and middle class, and supports law-related causes.
California lawyers may contribute when they pay
their bar dues by simply checking off a box on the statement. Last
year, attorneys contributed almost $700,000 to the foundation's
coffers.
The scholarships are underwritten by corporate
sponsors MBNA and UPS.
This year's winners are:
University of California, Berkeley - Boalt
Hall
 Elisa Della-Piana, $7,500, intern for
Workers' Rights Clinic and East Bay Community Law Center - HIV
Unit, clerk for Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office and for
Coalition on Homelessness; Michael Froehlich, $5,000, intern
for Employment Law Center's Workers' Rights Clinic and for East
Bay Community Law Center's HIV/
Homeless Outreach Project, clerk for Bay Area
Legal Aid; Jennifer Reisch, $5,000, co-president of Berkeley
Law Foundation, HIV/Homeless outreach mentor for East Bay Community
Law Center, fellow, Legal Aid Society of San Francisco; Sara
Zimmerman, $5,000, clerk for Employment Law Center and La Raza
Centro Legal, intake worker for Volunteer Legal Services Program; and Mary
Beth Kaufman, $2,500, volunteer for Central American Refugee
Clinic of the East Bay Sanctuary, researcher to International Human
Rights Clinic director.
Golden Gate University School of Law
  Sarah Kraemer, $7,500, organizer of Hate
Crimes Symposium, law clerk for Environmental Law & Justice Clinic
at law school, AmeriCorp volunteer; Loulena Miles, $5,000,
intern for Tri-Valley CARES and Defensa de Mujeres and Herbert
Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow for Nuclear Accountability; and Robin
Salsburg, $5,000, intern for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and Sierra Club, chair of Global Recycling Council California,
Resource Recovery Association.
University of California Hastings College of
the Law
 Ellen Fred, $7,500, co-president-elect of
Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation, board of directors of South
Fork Trinity River Land Conservancy, co-founder, Humboldt Watershed
Council; Maya Nordberg, $5,000, intern for Coalition on
Homeless and for San Francisco Office of Public De-fender; Kent
Sprinkle, $2,500, judicial extern for U.S. District Judge Martin
Jenkins, reading tutor and youth leader; and Stephen Tollafield,
$2,500, intern for Legal Aid Society/Employment Law Center, BALIF/Pride
Law Fund-Richter Fellowship.
John F. Kennedy School of Law
 Mia Smith, $2,500, volunteer for East Bay
Community Law Center, volunteer mediator for Victims Offenders
Reconciliation Project.
Loyola Law School
  Blanca Banuelos, $5,000, tutor/ mentor for
New Directions for Youth, law clerk for California Rural Legal
Assistance and volunteer for Barrio Youth Alternative; James
Gilliam Jr., $5,000, co-chair of Public Interest Law Foundation,
volunteer and trainer to Public Counsel's General Relief Advocacy
Project; and Catherine Sekely, $2,500, clerk for Western Law
Center for Disability Rights and intake volunteer for Free Sunday
Legal Clinic for First A.M.E. Church.
Monterey College of Law
  Lynn Lozier, $5,000, volunteer for CASA
Monterey County, speaker/counselor for Monterey County Women's Jail;
and Beth Cunningham, $2,500, organizer for voter registration
and fundraising drives for striking workers and president, Santa Fe
New Mexico Chapter, Hadassah.
Pepperdine University School of Law
Adriana Dulic, $5,000, intern for
Pepperdine Adoption Clinic and for Legal Aid Clinic at Union Rescue
Mission for the homeless.
University of San Diego School of Law
Katharine Schonbachler, $2,500, school
representative on National Association for Public Interest Laws,
volunteer interviewer for Berkeley Own Recognizance Project.
Santa Clara University School of Law
Claudia Callwood, $2,500, intern with
California Rural Legal Assistance and public interest resource
counselor for Santa Clara Law School.
Southwestern University School of Law
 Sally Baghdasarian, $2,500, clerk for Bet
Tzedek Legal Services, intern for U.S. Department of Commerce,
International Trade Administration.
Stanford Law School
  Julian Mortenson, $7,500, intern for East
Palo Alto Community Law Project, public interest mentor to law
students, co-president Stanford Law School student body; Holly
Telerant, $7,500, co-chair of Public Interest Law Students
Association, Street Law teacher for Santa Clara Juvenile Hall; Lynne
Echenberg, $5,000, Public Service Fellowship, intern for NAACP
Legal Defense & Education Fund, Legal Services for Children and
East Palo Alto Law Clinic; Samantha Buckingham, $5,000, teacher
and tutor for Maya Angelou Public Charter School for at- risk youth,
volunteer legal assistant for Washington Legal Clinic for the
Homeless; and Jessica Haspel, $2,500, co-chair of Stanford's
Public Interest Law Students Association, intern, East Palo Alto
Community Law Project.
UCLA School of Law
  Andrew Elmore, $7,500, volunteer for El
Centro Legal Homeless Youth Clinic, intern for Asian Pacific American
Legal Center and community organizer; Kathleen Erskine, $5,000,
law clerk for EEOC and for Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law,
reading tutor in L.A. County Juvenile Detention Center; Meghan Lang,
$5,000, chair of El Centro Legal Homelessness Prevention Clinic,
administrator/director of Public Interest Law Foundation; Margaret
McLetchie, $5,000, clerk for Inner City Law Center, chair, UCLA
Public Interest Law Foundation; and Monica Kane, $2,500, clerk
for Immigrant Legal Resource Center, volunteer,
Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
University of San Francisco School of Law
 Jaime Gher, $5,000, volunteer for
Cooperative Restraining Order Clinic,
volunteer counselor, Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse; Meghan
Cunningham, $5,000, intern for USF School of Law Death Penalty
Clinic and intern and public speaker for Amnesty International work on
human rights violations; Sara Tropea, $5,000, law clerk for
L.A. County Public Defender and junior political tracker for EMILY's
List; and Yvette Saddik, $2,500, intern for Santa Clara County
public defender and mentor for Fresh Lifeline for Youth.
Whittier Law School
 Jennifer Sternshein, $5,000, fundraiser
for Whittier Public Interest Law Foundation and intern for HIV/ AIDS
Legal Services Alliance; Isabel Apkarian, $5,000, volunteer for
county Interfaith Shelter for the Homeless, president, Whittier Public
Interest Law Foundation; Holly Davis, $5,000, officer for
Whittier Law School Public Interest Law Foundation, fellow for law
school's Center for Children's Rights; and Andrea Pressler,
$2,500, assistant for Washoe County Juvenile Public Defender's
Office, AmeriCorp volunteer.
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