All About the 2023 ACB Scholars : Who Are They and How Were They Selected ?
Hon . Erithe Smith , C . D . California Paul E . Harner Co-Chairs , Diversity , Equity and Inclusion Committee
For the second year in a row , the College partnered with Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization ( JTB ) to provide stipends to six law students participating in JTB ’ s Summer Judicial Internship Project ( Project ). The Project , a collaboration between JTB and the Judicial Resources Committee of the United States Judicial Conference , provides highly qualified law students , from socioeconomic , ethnic , and cultural backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession , with summer judicial internships in the chambers of federal appellate , district , bankruptcy , and magistrate judges , as well as select state appellate judges .
The Application Process
Participation in the Project involves a rigorous process . Student applicants must submit to a cover letter , resume , law school transcripts , a writing sample , and three references . Qualified applicants are identified from the application materials and interviewed by attorneys for a second round of evaluation . Those selected in the second round are then referred to a judge who conducts his or her own interview and makes the final selection .
And the process doesn ’ t end there . To prepare them for the internship , students who are hired by a judge must attend two JTB training workshops and complete a legal writing assignment .
Once judicial selections have been made , JTB provides the College , through the DEI
Committee , with a list of law students who have been selected for summer internships in bankruptcy courts . The DEI Committee then invites the prospective bankruptcy interns to apply for an ACB stipend . In addition to basic information ( such as the name of the law school , year of graduation , and the judge with whom the student will be interning ), applicants are required to submit a 500-1000 word essay describing why they should be selected for the stipend , including financial need . A special working group of the DEI Committee then reviews the applications and selects the top six applicants .
In inaugural year 2022 , each selected student received a $ 3,000 stipend directly from the DEI Committee ’ s approved budget . This year , in addition , the stipend recipients were given a formal title : ACB Scholars ! Finally , the DEI Committee proposed that , in 2023 , the College follow the lead of the NCBJ in subsidizing the Scholars ’ attendance at the NCBJ Conference in Austin . The NCBJ has , for the past three years , invited its stipend recipients ( NCBJ Fellows ) to attend its Annual Conference , which has resulted in several of its Fellows pursuing or obtaining employment in bankruptcy law , including full-time judicial clerkships , The College , through its Foundation , in turn , agreed to provide additional funding of up to $ 2,000 per Scholar to cover the $ 500 Conference registration fee and to defray the costs of lodging , travel , meals , and other approved expenses .
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