Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants Judicial Scholarship

Created as a collaboration among CLEAR, the Gants Fund for Racial Equity and Access to Justice and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, with $150,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, the Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants Judicial Scholarship Program is a state-funded program that provides $150,000 per year to law students across the commonwealth for judicial co-ops and internships. It is hoped that this initiative will help diversify the pipeline for post-law school judicial law clerkships and for judgeships.

Celebrating the legacy of the late Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, who was a champion of access to justice and equity in the Massachusetts legal system, the program provides opportunities for law students from diverse backgrounds and with limited financial means to secure judicial internships in Massachusetts courts. Most judicial internships in Massachusetts are currently unpaid, which presents a significant barrier for students without the financial means to support themselves during placement.

Fall 2024 Recipient:

Abina Nepal ’26, on co-op with Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (Boston)

Summer 2024 Recipients:

Owen Engler ’26 on co-op with Chief Justice John D. Casey, Massachusetts Probate and Family Court (Boston)
Meghan Leong ’25 on co-op with First Justice Gloria Tan at Middlesex County County Juvenile Court (Lowell)

Spring 2024 Recipient:

Jose Vallejo-Jimenez ’25 on co-op with Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Boston)

Fall 2023 Recipient:

Anna Olson ’25 on co-op with Associate Justice Serge Georges Jr., Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Boston)

Summer 2023 Recipients:

Andrew Anderton ’25 on co-op with Judge Mark Coven, Norfolk County District Court (Dedham)
Hannah Saturley ’24 on co-op with Judge Peter Krupp, Massachusetts Superior Court (Boston)

Spring 2023 Recipients:

Hui Chen ’23 on co-op with Justice Elspeth Cypher, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Boston)
Nadia Eldemery ’24 on co-op with Justice Helen Brown Bryant, Suffolk County Juvenile Court (Boston)