Why I Started The Scholarship
I started the Pahlke Trial Advocacy Scholarship for a few reasons, but they all stem from my loves of both trial advocacy and my alma mater, Berkeley Law. Both have given me so much, and frankly made my career possible.
I have been the Director or Co-Director of Berkeley Law’s External Trial Competition Team for more than a decade and a half. In that time, law school trial advocacy has changed in many ways. Broadly, though, the change has been considerable professionalization of training and competition. Compared to when I started, there are more competitions more law school programs investing heavily in trial advocacy faculty and facilities, and more students interested in building, honing, and refining their trial advocacy skills. One part of that professionalization is far more active recruiting of promising trial advocacy students.
Recruiting students not only means finding those that would be the best fit for our program, but also doing everything possible for them to attend Berkeley Law. As the years have gone by, even public law schools like Berkeley Law have become extremely expensive for incoming students. The increasing cost of law school called out for financial bridge that would allow more talented future trial lawyers to decide to attend Berkeley Law. I hope the foundation of that bridge is the Pahlke Trial Advocacy Scholarship.
The Pahlke Trial Advocacy Scholarship is a fund used by Berkeley Law to recruit future law students who show a special interest in trial advocacy. At the beginning of its fourth year, it has helped many students pick Berkeley Law as the school where they will let their trial skills shine.
The scholarship also gives me an important way to give back to the school for what is has done since I graduated. In particular, my former students frequently refer cases to me. When that happens, I find it particularly meaningful donate to the scholarship, all as a way to not only as a way of thanking former students, but also help grow the program for future students.
If you would like to learn more about the Trial Advocacy Scholarship, I am always eager to discuss it.