Underwrite a scholarship to help a MSJDN law student or young lawyer (years of practice below the state’s minimum for reciprocity) travel to and take the bar exam in a new state as a result of a PCS move.
$1,000 helps support bar fees, flight, hotel, and any additional costs for one member.
MSJDN is not your typical legal professional association because our members are not typical legal professionals. Military Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves have sent many of them around the world; far from both family and professional networks, making travel to in-person professional development costly and challenging. Many law student members must take their first bar exam in a state they’ve never lived in, due to sudden or unexpected PCS orders. One of the most frequently asked questions in our private membership groups is, “I live in state X, but my spouse has two year orders to state Y. Where should I take the bar?” For our licensed members, despite the incredible progress MSJDN has made in its state licensing advocacy, the costs of license portability applications can be its own barrier, especially if employment is uncertain. Costs for bar reciprocity can run into the thousands of dollars and members can move as often as every two years! These costly challenges are unique to military spouse legal professionals and occur far more frequently than in the general legal community.
To help ease these challenges, we have created the MSJDNF Scholarship Program. After your organization elects to underwrite a scholarship, the scholarship is advertised to MSJDN members through our private and public social media pages, as well as in our monthly newsletter, Bars and Stripes.
Members will be encouraged to apply if they meet the requirements. A selected committee made up of members of the MSJDN Board will elect the winner(s) who best fit the requirements. Scholarship sponsors’ donations are then released to the winner(s) for the agreed upon use. Scholarship sponsors will receive a personalized “thank you” from the sponsored member, who will also be featured in Bars and Stripes, along with a public “thank you” to the Scholarship Sponsor printed in the newsletter.
