In 2008, for the first time, the Foundation recognizes two of its top scholars with named scholarships. We sincerely thank the two law firms for their generous support of the Rosenthal Bar Exam Scholarship Program.

Meghan Angela Corman, UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Reed Smith Scholar

Claudia L. Peña, UCLA School of Law
Sidley Austin LLP Scholar

Joshua Adams Loyola Law School
Joshua spent three years volunteering at an employment law clinic for low-wage workers at Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and externed at National Day Laborer Organizing Network and National Labor Relations Board during law school. He believes in the power of unified and organized action, particularly in the areas of workers rights.

Renee DeLellis Loyola Law School

Renee’s experience assisting a homeless man directed her interest to public benefits advocacy for the homeless. She has volunteered for Public Counsel as well as Western Center on Law on Poverty and the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office. She is awaiting funding for a fellowship with the Homelessness Prevention Law Project at Public Counsel, which will leverage the support of law firms to combat homelessness.

Jessica DeWitt* Loyola Law School

After law school, Jessica will work as an Honors Law Clerk with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. She has been an active volunteer since high school, as a mentor, tutor, and domestic violence victim supporter. She has interned with a number of organizations in law school, including the Anti-Defamation League, Mental Health Advocacy Services, and the Orange County Public Defender’s Office.

Karma M. Quick New College of California College of Law

Karma is commited to disability awareness and rights as a result of the obstacles and biases she has overcome from her own deafness. Karma came to San Francisco specifically to be part of the disability rights movement and spent a year in law school as an intern for Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. She is a finalist as an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to work with California Center for Law and the Deaf.

Nicole Clemens Santa Clara University School of Law

Nicole is seeking funding for a permanent position with Legal Aid Association of California (LAAC) to oversee a project to expand advocacy for delivery of statewide legal services. In law school, she interned for LAAC, California Rural Legal Assistance, and the Katherine and George Alexander Community Law Center, as well as being active in her law school as a Public Interest Law Career Services Coordinator and conducting research for its Loan Repayment Assistant Project.

Brian Bilford Stanford Law School

Since college, Brian has been interested in issues relating to vulnerable youth and civil rights and liberties. In law school, he has interned with the ACLU of Sourthern Califonia, ACLU National Legal Department, and Youth Law Center. He also served as an Advanced Clinical Student at Stanford’s Youth and Education Law Clinic. After law school, Brian will clerk with the 9th Circuit, and then intends to return to California to make meaningful change for disadvantaged children and disenfranchised adults.

Nancy Caroline Glass* Stanford Law School

As a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan, Nancy saw denial of due process first hand. Coming home after 9/11, saw that same changes were happening here and the need for representing vulnerable people in the criminal justice system. She has worked in Three Strikes Criminal Defense Clinic and with Federal Public Defender. After law school, Nancy will clerk in District Court, and then intends to practice as a state public defender.

Alexis Rickher Stanford Law School

Since seeing disparity in the workplace during her college job, Alexis has been interested in making the workplace a fairer place. While at law school, she represented workers through a Community Law Clinic, and developed an outreach project to support day laborers in pro se efforts through the California Labor Commission. Alexis will work to fight against discrimination to help eradicate degrading and discriminatory work environments as an associate at a civil and employment rights law firm.

Michael Roney Stanford Law School

Michael’s experience as a clinical student at Stanford’s Community Law Clinic, where he helped an employee overcome termendous obstacles to obtain his fair wages, reinforced his conviction of the importance of legal representation. Michael worked at Fair Housing Law Project and for Public Citizen Litigation Group. After law school, he intends to continue working for economic and workers’ rights, through government service or non profit work.

Meghan Angela Corman* Reed Smith Scholar University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall)

Before coming to law school, Meghan taught at a low performing school for 3 years but was frustrated at systematic problems and was inspired to become a lawyer. She has worked in a number of capacities advocating for children, including as a law clerk for National Center for Youth Law and Legal Services for Children. Meghan is seeking funding for a position as an education advocacy fellow with Public Advocates.

Angela Hollowell-Fuentes University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall)
As the granddaughter of immigrants from El Salvador, Anglea is committed to advocating for immigrants. Her work as a law clerk with International Institute of the East Bay and Immigrant Legal Resource Center have prepared her for her post-graduate position as an Honors Law Clerk with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Nicholas W. Vidargas University of California, Davis, School of Law (King Hall)

Nicholas’ long standing interest in the environment led him to obtain a Master’s degree in marine ecology and to work as an environmental policy advocate. He was inspired to come to law school to help speed up policy changes, where he interned at National Resource Defense Council and California’s Office of the Attorney General’s office. Nicholas will begin a fellowship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after law school.

Claudia L. Peña* Sidley Austin LLP Scholar University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

Claudia was recently selected as a Civil Rights Fellow for Equal Justice Society. While in law school, Claudia worked as the student coordinator of the Prisoner Reentry Initiative to provided housing and reentry support to formerly incarcerated women and their children. She is an Academy Scholar for UCLA’s Law Fellows Program and was previously a legal intern for Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa and the Badil Center for Refugee Rights in Bethlehem, West Bank.

Fabián Rentería* University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law

As an immigrant from rural Mexico, Fabian has sought to understand how law functions as a juncture of social, political and cultural issues. To this end, he enrolled in the Critical Race Studies Specialization and Public Interest Law and Policy Program in law school. His practical experiences as a 9th Circuit extern for Justice Reinhardt and as a clerk with Public Advocates have given him real world insight into the role of law in society. Fabian is pursuing postions as a Los Angeles Public Defender and a civil rights fellow.

Fernanda Bustamante University of San Francisco School of Law

Fernanda’s work as a volunteer interpreter for refugees seeking asylum before law school encouraged her to seek justice for members of her community as an attorney. In law school, she interned with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies to research human rights violations in Guatemala, with Centro Legal de La Raza in Oakland, and with Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco. Fernanda has also provided extensive volunteer interpreter and translation services for immigrants seeking legal and medical services, and for a torture survivor and his captors to subtitle an award winning documentary film.

Jean Marie Doherty University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Jean developed an interest in housing rights while working on unlawful detainers at a fellowship at Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic in Chicago, and she pursued her interest as an extern in the Housing Law Unit of Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. She will clerk with 9th Circuit after law school and then seek a fellowship to promote housing rights.

Lindsay Toczylowski University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Lindsay has been fighting for social justice in her community and abroad. Before law school, she worked for Amnesty International. While in law school, she spent two summers as a legal intern in Nicaragua working with domestic violence victims and evaluating mediation centers, as well as working as a student clinician at the USC Law School Immigration Clinic. Lindsay intends to work as a fellow in a human rights organization, and then advocate for refugees and asylum seekers.

* Received California BAR/BRI Law Review Bar Exam review course in addition to $1,000 cash award.