Draft of 2014-2015 Important Dates.doc (01149698).DOC



2020 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

NJWLA has established a scholarship program to benefit students who are pursuing juris doctorate degrees. In 2020, NJWLA intends to award grants of $5,000 each, to one student from each of New Jersey’s law schools: Rutgers University Law School – Camden, Rutgers University Law School – Newark, and Seton Hall University Law School[1].

In order to qualify, each applicant must be a matriculating law school student who:

• Has completed at least twelve (12) credits at the time of application;

• Is carrying a minimum of six (6) credits per term; and

• Has been recommended by (1) a professor, an instructor, an adjunct faculty member, a clinical instructor, a Dean, a Director of their law school or (2) a lawyer or a judge with whom the applicant has worked as a clerk or intern during the past two (2) years.

SELECTION PROCESS AND CRITERIA

In addition to these requirements, applicants will be judged according to their commitment and dedication to their law school, dedication to the mission of NJWLA, and the practice of law as well as his/her essay.

Scholarship awards may be used for tuition, fees, books, and personal expenses, and are given directly to the students.

Applicants who work for companies that offer tuition reimbursement are eligible to apply.

Scholarship application forms are available from the Deans of each New Jersey law school and are also available on our website at .

PREVIOUS WINNERS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.

All applications must be received by January 31, 2020 at 5:00 pm. NO EXCEPTIONS.

• Incomplete applications and/or applications received after the deadline WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Multiple reviewers will evaluate each application. For an application to be considered complete and eligible for consideration, we must receive from you by the deadline your:

• Application

• Essay

• Letter of recommendation

• Law school transcript (first year students should submit undergraduate transcript)

• Resume

Means of Submission:

The application and essay can be submitted by mail (see below) or by email (pdf format) to cskinner@ and nanlottin@

Mailing address: NJWLA

372 Franklin Avenue

Suite 713

Nutley, New Jersey 07110.

Letters of Recommendation and transcripts must be in original, hard copy, and the recommendations, if sent by the applicant (and not the party providing the recommendation directly) must be in a sealed envelope from the party providing the recommendation.

TIMELINE

January 31, 2020 5:00 pm – Deadline for submission of all materials to ARRIVE at NJWLA Mailbox and/or email addresses provided above. MATERIALS POSTMARKED JANUARY 31, 2020, BUT RECEIVED THEREAFTER ARE NOT TIMELY SUBMISSIONS AND WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

February, 2020 – All candidates and Deans will be notified of the outcome of the application review.

The scholarships will be publicly recognized on March 31, 2020 at The Grove in Cedar Grove, NJ. Winners are expected to attend. This is a truly inspirational evening not to be missed.

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION FORM

DEADLINE JANUARY 31, 2020 at 5:00 pm

I. Student Information (Please type or print neatly)

Name: ____________________________________________________________________

(Last) (First) (M)

Email: _____________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

City: _______________________________ State: ____________ Zip: _______________

Telephone:_________________________________________________________________

Employer ___ Current or ____Previous

__________________________________________________________________________

Date of Employment: __________________________ Position: ______________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

City: ______________________________ State: __________ Zip: __________________

Telephone: _________________________________________________________________

Number of hours worked per week during the 2018/2019 academic year _______________

Anticipated hours to be worked per week during the 2019/2020 academic year _________

How did you hear about the NJWLA Scholarship award? ____________________________

Name and email of your local newspaper for press release:

__________________________________________________________________________

II. ACADEMIC INFORMATION

High School Graduation (Year): ________________________________________________

Undergraduate Degree: _______________________ Year: ________ Major: ____________

College or University: ________________________________________________________

Law School Information:

Name of Law School: _________________________________________________________

Date of Matriculation: ________________ Number of credits completed: ______________

Expected date of completion: __________ Total credits required for law degree: ________

Student Status: Full Time: ______________ Part Time: ______________

Number of Credits to be taken during the academic year: _____________

(Minimum is six (6) per term, but you do not need to be enrolled all terms.)

(Approximate dates: Fall: Sept. – Dec. Winter: Jan. – May Summer: June – Aug.)

Fall 2019 __________ Winter 2020 ___________ Summer 2020 _____________

Total Credits for the Academic Year 2019-2020: _______________________

By submitting this application, applicant hereby grants to NJWLA the right to use, publish, exhibit and/or reproduce the applicant’s name, law school information and scholarship essay in any and all media now known or later developed, and for any and all purposes, without the payment of any royalty or compensation of any kind. Further, if applicant is selected as one of the grant recipients, then applicant further agrees that NJWLA may use images, including photographs and videos, of applicant from the NJWLA Gala in any and all media now known or later developed, and for any and all purposes, without the payment of any royalty or compensation of any kind. The applicant herein releases NJWLA, its officers, directors, employees and agents and any affiliated or related persons or entities from any and all claims and causes of action based upon NJWLA’s use of the essay. By signing this application, applicant warrants that he/she is the sole owner of the rights granted and that the essay submitted does not infringe upon the copyright or rights of anyone.

Applicant Signature:_________________________________________________

Date:_________

III. Your Essay is to respond to one of the following:

TOPIC 1

2020 will mark the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of 19th Amendment to the Constitution which granted “suffrage” or the right of women to vote as citizens of the United States: 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Women, known as suffragettes, had banded together to demonstrate and agitate for their right to vote as citizens since the mid-19th century.  As groundbreaking as women’s suffrage was in the context of 1920’s historical and cultural norms, the 19th Amendment was limited in scope. It conferred the right to vote alone and failed to include language guaranteeing “equal protection under the laws” that the 14th Amendment specifically applied to “males” in the slavery, citizenship and voting rights Amendments passed between 1865 and 1868.[1] 

The omission of the equal protection clause was not lost on the remarkable women who had worked tirelessly for women’s suffrage.  Nor did they fail to notice the absence of any reference to women in the Constitution.  As early as 1923, women activists proposed a version of the Equal Rights Amendment which was introduced in each successive Congress for 50 plus years, all without success.  Finally, in 1972,  52 years after adoption of the 19th Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment (“ERA”) was adopted by Congress:      

“Section 1: Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Passage of the ERA however, came with a caveat. Ratification by 38 states had to occur within 7 years, and with one extension, only 35 states had ratified it by 1982.  Quite recently, despite the expiration date, two more states ratified the ERA and a few have attempted to nullify their prior ratification. In 2020, the 100th Anniversary year of the 19th Amendment,  Virginia is expected to become the 38th state to ratify the ERA.  Constitutional challenges to the time limits imposed by Congress on the ratification process are expected to follow.[2]

While the ERA remains unratified, many have questioned its necessity arguing  that women have made great strides without it due to the passage of other issue specific legislation affecting women and changes in society and culture as a whole. For example, the vote alone has arguably resulted in better representation of women. The 19th Amendment was adopted by the 66th Congress with no female member.  In 1972, the 92nd Congress passed the ERA  with 25 female members. Title IX was adopted the same year.  In 2020, the 116th Congress includes 126 female members, widely regarded as a record number[3].  Current female members of Congress represent 19% of the membership of the House of Representatives and 25% of the Senate.  In the last 100 years, multiple pieces of legislation adopted by Congress  have steadily  increased women’s rights and protections.

Many also warn that the passage of the ERA will actually harm women by taking away traditional protections or by nullifying other legislative protections established over the last 100 years. Others assert that passage of the ERA will undercut moral and religious beliefs regarding, for example, same sex marriage and women’s reproductive rights.  

_____________________

1.       Make your case for or against the necessity of the ERA to adequately assure and protect women’s rights as citizens of the United States.

Does the right to vote for representatives who support legislation on behalf of women adequately substitute for the absence of an explicit grant of equal protection under the law to women?  Has the female gender been relegated to second class citizenship in the absence of an explicit grant of equal protection of the law?

In support of your position, you may:

·       cite data such as the percentage of women’s membership in Congress and other measures of legislative progress by the female gender since the adoption for the 19th Amendment; 

·       use published statistics on women’s wages, progress in employment, business and in other careers and professions which include statistics reported by the ABA Commission on Women[4] and the 2019 NAWL Survey[5] regarding the legal profession;  

·       consider the effect that elections have on the makeup of Congress and the 50 state legislatures and their effect on the definition and stability of women’s rights;

·       consider judicial interpretations of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, which treat gender discrimination as a ‘quasi-suspect classification’ analyzed with the lesser test of ‘intermediate scrutiny’ rather than as an unqualified  ‘suspect classification’ subjected to ‘strict scrutiny’ in the analysis of discrimination cases brought on the basis of sex.

 Or:

TOPIC 2

  In November 2019, the Co-Chairs of the ABA Presidential Initiative on Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in Law issued a report entitled “Walking Out the Door: the Facts, Figures and Future of Experienced Lawyers in Private Practice.”[6]  The “Report” includes statistics which reveal wide discrepancies between the experiences and satisfaction of men and women attorneys in the practice of law in large established leaders in law, the so called “big-law” firms. 

Wide discrepancies in satisfaction levels within the practice of law were found between male and female attorneys including in recognition for their work,  in compensation and the process of determining compensation, in advancement opportunity  and performance evaluation.  Lack of transparency in compensation practices based on “unwritten rules and relationships” continues to support women’s belief in a status quo rigged against them.[7]

The widest discrepancy reported is found in reports of sexual harassment where a full 50% of woman attorneys but only 6% of men “big law “ attorneys reported unwanted sexual conduct at work. [8]

The Report also identified the flip side, that is the factors considered by women attorneys as influencing their decision to leave the practice of law, given the level of dissatisfaction they have experienced.   These include work demands, i.e., hours, stress, pressure for business development, followed closely by personal considerations such as caretaking, work/life balance and personal health.

_____________________

Review the Report, the cited article and other related materials. Discuss how the issues identified in the Report can be addressed in your career as an attorney, addressing   factors such as overcoming historic social norms and implicit bias regarding the roles of women and men in the family, the lack of adequate business development by women where potential business client contacts are also  likely disproportionately male. Within a firm, how can compensation be equalized and made transparent within levels of law firm employment (i.e., associate, non- equity and equity partnership); and how can your entering class of associates make its concerns known to hiring firms?

[pic]

[1] Napokski, Linda. ”Equal Rights Amendment Constitutional  Equality and Justice for All?.” Thought Co. Aug. 5, 2019, equal-rights-amendment-3528879.

[2]

[3] Center for American Women in Politics, History of Women in the U.S. Congress

[4] ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, “You Can’t Change what you Can’t See  Interpreting Racial Bias in the Legal Profession, 2018

[5]

[6] files/WALKING_OUT_THE_DOOR_-_FINAL_AS_OF_NOV_14_2019_pm.pdf

Why are Experienced Women Lawyers Leaving BigLaw? Survey looks for answers and finds big disparities By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 14, 2019, 8:00 am CST,

[7] Supra,

[8] files/WALKING_OUT_THE_DOOR_-_FINAL_AS_OF_NOV_14_2019_pm.pdf

Please use separate pages for your essay (do not print it here).

Please only answer one of the questions.

Your essay is not to exceed 1500 words.

Please note that if you use or refer to cited work, citations should be in Blue Book format.

We reserve the right to edit all essays for publication.

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[1] Please note that for purposes of this scholarship process NJWLA treats Rutgers – Newark and Rutgers – Camden as separate schools.

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372 Franklin Avenue

Suite 713

Nutley, New Jersey 07110

973-819-9488

cskinner@

Linda Harvey

President

Jemi Lucey

President Elect

Dina Mastellone

Vice President

Elyse Wolff

Co-Chief Financial Officer

Donna Jennings

C0-Chief Financial Officer

Kathleen Barnett Einhorn

Co-Chief Operating Officer

Melissa Bracuti

Co-Chief Operating Officer

Diana Manning

Co-Chief Operating Officer

Sharmila Jaipersaud

Co-Chief Diversity Officer

Renée Rubino

Co-Chief Diversity Officer

Tanya Mascarich

Secretary

Brett Harris

Co-General Counsel

Susan O’Connor

Co-General Counsel

Michelle Schaap

Immediate Past President

Loren L. Pierce

Nominations Director

Annmarie Simeone

Nominations Director

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