In its continued effort to expand access to legal education in India, the Law School Admission Council-Global (LSAC Global) has announced that it will award merit scholarships for students who take the LSAT—India 2021, which is to be administered in March and June of this year.
For the consecutive third year, LSAC Global will award the Topper Scholarship to the student who achieves the best score in the LSAT—India this year.
The Shamnad Basheer Access to Justice Scholarship was instituted by LSAC Global last year to honor the memory of the visionary and influential lawyer – Professor Dr. Shamnad Basheer. Professor Basheer initiated ground-breaking efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession by establishing Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA), a non-profit organization that empowers underrepresented and marginalized groups in India by providing them access to quality legal education.
“Through these scholarships, LSAC Global (LSAG) looks forward to opening doors and providing increased opportunities for talented students and law school aspirants in India, thus carrying on our mission to promote diversity, access, and equity in legal education,” said Yusuf Abdul-Kareem, Vice President of Emerging Markets at LSAC.
The Shamnad Basheer Access to Justice Scholarship is based on an essay competition among LSAT—India test takers. This year’s topic is “How might the introduction of artificial intelligence in the legal profession mitigate bias, increase access to justice, and promote diversity in the society.” Students need to write essay arguing for or against the topic and send their entry by 15 June 2021.
Each essay will be judged based on originality, relevance to topic, comprehensiveness, structure, analysis, understanding, interpretation, and conclusions regarding diversity in the legal profession. The esteemed judges would be drawn from the legal fraternity represented by law practitioners, academia, and policy makers.
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