TJSL Student Earns Scholarship from the California Bar Foundation

April 8, 2013

_{By Maysa Eissa, Associate Director of Career Services}

For the second year in a row, a TJSL student has been awarded the prestigious California Bar Foundation’s Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship. Stacey Zapanta, 3L, is one of just a handful of California law students to be awarded this prestigious scholarship. The scholarship recognizes students who demonstrate a strong commitment to the public interest sector, and it rewards such students by covering the costs of their California Bar/Bri Bar Exam review courses (valued at more than $3,500) and related costs.

Stacey Zapanta has a long history in public service. Prior to law school, she worked at USC Medical School as a research associate for a CDC-funded youth violence prevention center, where she also received her masters degree in public health. She then worked for several years at the Orange County Health Department as an educator and community health organizer. While in law school, Stacey has remained committed to public service by serving as Vice President and Secretary of La Raza Law Students Association, as well as mentor for incoming law students. She works in the Small Business Law Center’s Trademark Clinic, providing legal services to low income individuals and businesses desiring to obtain Federal trademarks, and is a also a law clerk at a law firm that represents employees on matters of employment discrimination and wrongful termination.

“I am extremely honored and humbled to receive this prestigious scholarship,” said Zapanta. “I want to express my sincere gratitude to TJSL for the nomination. This award validates the importance of public service and giving back to one’s community, and I am genuinely grateful to be recognized for the work I feel so passionate about. The CA Bar Foundation’s generosity will not only lessen the burden of my bar related expenses, but will also allow me to focus on my studies and on launching my legal career in public health law and advocacy.”

The scholarship is one of the only programs in the country that helps public interest law students with bar exam expenses. Since 1997, the California Bar Foundation has supported almost 250 graduating law students through the Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship Program alone. It has awarded more than $3.5 million in scholarships to law students who have demonstrated a commitment to public service, academic excellence, and financial need.

For more information about the scholarships and benefits offered, visit the California Bar Foundation.