LEAP: Legal Elite Athlete Pipeline 2023 Scholarship Program Terms (“Terms”)
ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE OR TO BE SELECTED FOR A SCHOLARSHIP.
1. Eligibility. The LEAP: Legal Elite Athlete Pipeline 2023 Scholarship (“Scholarship Program”) is open only to individuals who are at least 18 years old or the age of majority in their state of residence (whichever is greater), enrolled as 3rd year or higher in undergraduate studies at an accredited United States college or university, have a minimum of a 3.2 GPA, and have participated in at least two (2) years of a competitive intercollegiate athletic program offered by an accredited college or university.
Employees of DLA Piper LLP (US) (“DLA Piper” or “Sponsor”) and its affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and advertising and promotion agencies (collectively “Sponsor Entities”) and their immediate families and household members are not eligible to participate in the submission process or receive the LEAP Scholarship, as defined below. For purposes of this Scholarship Program, “immediate families” means parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, and spouses or domestic partners of any of the foregoing.
2. Applications. To participate in the submission process for the Scholarship Program, between 8:00am EDT on October 1, 2023 and 11:59pm EST on December 1, 2023 (“Scholarship Submission Period”), each eligible candidate must complete and submit the online form available at [LEAP Application] and submit a resume, personal statement, unofficial school transcript and two letters of recommendation (“Scholarship Submission”). Only one submission per candidate. Candidates who have previously received a LEAP Scholarship are not eligible to participate or receive a scholarship in the 2023 Scholarship Program. Submissions that are lost, late, misdirected, illegible, invalid, incompletely received, or incomplete, for any reason, will not be eligible and are not the responsibility of the Sponsor. Proof of sending a submission will not be deemed to be proof of Sponsor’s receipt.
Scholarship Submission Guidelines:
- Personal statements must be no more than eight hundred (800) words and should focus on personal growth experiences or lessons candidates have learned as a result of their background, upbringing, or experiences.
- Personal statements must be the original work of the candidate and must not be generated or prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
- One letter of recommendation must be from a sports coach in the candidate's sport and one letter of recommendation must be from an academic advisor (e.g., professor or teaching assistant).
- Scholarship Submissions must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights (including but not limited to privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes infringement), that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous, derogatory, libelous or material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual, or that promotes discrimination based on religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, age, or disability.
- Personal statements, resumes, transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted in pdf format.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Scholarship Submissions that violate these Terms or the Scholarship Submission Guidelines.
3. License. Each candidate hereby grants Sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, and display the Scholarship Submissions in whole or in part, on a worldwide basis, and to incorporate them into other works, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, in connection with administration and promotion of the Scholarship Program.
4. Video Questions. On or around January 5, 2024, Sponsor will invite all eligible candidates who submitted a Scholarship Submission during the Scholarship Submission Period to answer a series of questions via recorded video. The questions will be sent via email, and the videos must be uploaded by no later than 11:59 pm EST January 22, 2024, in accordance with instructions and guidelines included in the email. The video must be no longer that twenty (20) minutes total and otherwise comply with the Scholarship Submission Guidelines.
5. Video Interviews. On or around February 5, 2024, a panel of judges selected by Sponsor will select twenty candidates who have the highest likelihood of success in a legal career based on achievements, academic record, strength of character, and communications skills as demonstrated in each of the following criteria (1) resume (10%), (2) personal statement (35%), (3) school transcript (10%), (4) letters of recommendation (10%), and (5) recorded video answers (35%) to participate in a live video interview. In the event of a tie, the following criterion will be used to determine the winner: personal statement. If twenty or fewer candidates submitted answers to the recorded video questions, all candidates who submitted answers will be invited for a live video interview. Live video interviews will take place between February 10, 2024 and February 29, 2024 and will each be approximately thirty minutes long. Candidates must be available to interview during this time. All decisions of the judges are final and binding on all candidates.
6. Selection and Notification of Recipients. On or around March 1, 2024, the panel of judges will select ten candidates who have the highest likelihood of success in a legal career based on achievements, academic record, strength of character, and communications skills as demonstrated in each of the following criteria (1) resume (10%), (2) personal statement (10%), (3) school transcript (10%), (4) letters of recommendation (10%), (5) recorded video answers (10%), and (6) live video interviews (50%) (“Scholarship Recipients”). In the event of a tie, the following criterion will be used to determine the winner: the live interview. All decisions of the judges are final and binding on all candidates.
Potential Scholarship Recipients will be notified on or after March 15, 2023, via email at the email address submitted with the Scholarship Submissions. Upon the request of Sponsor, the potential Scholarship Recipient may be required to return a signed Declaration of Eligibility, Liability Release and Publicity Release (except where prohibited by law) and IRS Form W-9 (“Scholarship Documentation”). Failure of a Scholarship Recipient to accept any or all of the LEAP Scholarship or to respond to any scholarship notification within fourteen days, or provide the Scholarship Documentation within said time period, or if any notification is returned as undeliverable, will result in said Scholarship Recipient’s disqualification, the forfeiture of candidate’s interest in the LEAP Scholarship, and the award of the LEAP Scholarship to a substitute Scholarship Recipient to be selected based on the criteria above from all remaining eligible entries.
Sponsor will conduct background checks on all potential Scholarship Recipients. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any candidate, potential Scholarship Recipient or confirmed Scholarship Recipient (a) who engages or has engaged in behavior that, in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion: (i) is illegal or was illegal at the time of the behavior; (ii) is inappropriate, threatening, or that is intended to annoy, abuse, threaten, harass, victimize, degrade, or intimidate any other individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, age, or disability; or (b) if Sponsor discovers content on a candidate’s, potential Scholarship Recipient’s or confirmed Scholarship Recipient’s social media pages or other public statements which might, in the reasonable opinion of Sponsor, expose it to disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule, or shock, insult or offend the public; and, in each case, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify, not award a LEAP Scholarship to the potential Scholarship Recipient, or to withdraw or terminate any portion of the LEAP Scholarship already awarded.
7. Scholarship. Ten Scholarship Recipients will each receive One Thousand United States Dollars ($1,000 USD) before admission to law school (“Undergrad Scholarship”), Five Thousand United States Dollars ($5,000 USD) when enrolled at an ABA-accredited US law school of recipient’s choosing as described below (“Law School Scholarship”) and entry into Sponsor’s Mentoring Program (collectively, the “LEAP Scholarship”). The Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of each LEAP Scholarship is Six Thousand United States Dollars ($6,000 USD).
All federal, state, provincial, territorial, and local taxes associated with the receipt or use of any LEAP Scholarship are solely the responsibility of the Scholarship Recipient. The Undergrad Scholarship and Law School Scholarship will generally be excluded from the Scholarship Recipient’s gross income to the extent that they are used to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment required for courses of instruction at Scholarship Recipient’s undergraduate institution and/or law school. However, to the extent that either the Undergrad Scholarship or Law School Scholarship is used for any other purpose (including, but not limited to, use of the Undergrad Scholarship for a LSAT preparation course, the LSAT registration fee or law school application fees), it will generally be included in the Scholarship Recipient’s gross income. Please note that the above is intended only a general summary and does not constitute tax advice. Each Scholarship Recipient should consult with the Scholarship Recipient’s own tax advisor and is responsible for determining whether all or any part of the LEAP Scholarship is taxable to the Scholarship Recipient.
The Undergrad Scholarship will be sent via check payable to the Scholarship Recipient on or around September 1. The Law School Scholarship will be sent via check payable to the Scholarship Recipient within thirty days of the recipient providing to Sponsor evidence satisfactory to Sponsor in Sponsor’s discretion of enrollment in an ABA-accredited US law school. Checks will be sent to the address provided on the Scholarship Documentation, and it is the sole responsibility of a Scholarship Recipient to promptly inform Sponsor if that address has changed. If a LEAP Scholarship Recipient does not attend an ABA-accredited US law school, transfers to a law school that is not ABA-accredited, disenrolls from law school, or elects to attend a law school that is not based in the United States, the Law School Scholarship and participation in Sponsor’s Mentoring Program may be forfeited or terminated.
“Sponsor’s Mentoring Program” includes an annual call with Americas Chair Frank Ryan, semi-annual calls or virtual meetings with senior partners of Sponsor, semi-annual calls or virtual meetings with an associate mentor, registration in the Legal Mentor Network, access to Sponsor’s designated Professional Development and Recruiting professionals, an opportunity to shadow in a local law firm office, and an invitation to one or more of Sponsor’s networking events. Sponsor reserves the right to change details of the Sponsor’s Mentoring Program at any time in its sole discretion.
To continue to be eligible to participate in Sponsor’s Mentoring Program, Scholarship Recipients must take the LSAT, apply, enroll in, and continue to be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school with a minimum of a 3.0 average GPA. Failure to meet these goals may result in forfeiture of all or a part of the remainder of the LEAP Scholarship.
There is no substitution for the LEAP Scholarship or any portion of the LEAP Scholarship, except by Sponsor, who reserves the right to substitute all or part of the LEAP Scholarship with something of equal or greater value at any time and for any reason. The LEAP Scholarship is not transferable. All LEAP Scholarship details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Incidental expenses and all other costs and expenses which are not specifically listed as part of a LEAP Scholarship in these Terms and which may be associated with the award, acceptance, receipt, and use of all or any portion of the awarded LEAP Scholarship are solely the responsibility of the respective Scholarship Recipients.
By accepting a LEAP Scholarship, each Scholarship Recipient irrevocably grants Sponsor Entities and their respective successors, assigns and licensees, the perpetual right to use Scholarship Recipient's name, likeness, photos, statements, and biographical information, and any other personal characteristics, for or in connection with the Scholarship Program, trade, commercial, advertising, promotion, marketing, and publicity purposes on a worldwide basis, at any times, in all media now known or hereafter discovered including without limitation social media and on the Internet, without notice, review or approval and without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law, and each Scholarship Recipient hereby releases Sponsor Entities from any liability with respect thereto.
The LEAP Scholarship Program is a continuing scholarship program sponsored by Sponsor, which is not an athletic association, team, or organization that conducts athletics. Sponsor has no direct connection or affiliation with any particular university or college. Scholarship Recipients are free to select any ABA-accredited US law school. Scholarships are not awarded based upon, nor contingent upon, the applicant's or Scholarship Recipient's athletic performance or abilities.
8. Applicable Law and Jurisdiction. In the event of any dispute or claim relating to or arising out of your participation with the Scholarship Program, the LEAP Scholarship or these Terms, such dispute or claim shall be construed in accordance with the laws of Maryland, without regard to conflicts of law principles. In the event of any dispute or claim relating to or arising out of your participation with the Scholarship Program, the LEAP Scholarship or these Terms, you and the Firm may agree that all such disputes shall be fully resolved by private, confidential binding arbitration conducted by JAMS before a single arbitrator in Baltimore County, Maryland under the JAMS Employment Arbitration Rules & Procedures then in effect, which rules are available online at JAMS’s website at www.jamsadr.com or by requesting a copy from the Firm's HR Department. The arbitrator shall permit adequate discovery and is empowered to award all remedies otherwise available in a court of competent jurisdiction and any judgment rendered by the arbitrator may be entered by any court of competent jurisdiction. The arbitrator shall issue an award in writing and state the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. If you and the Firm select arbitration as the means of dispute resolution, you and the Firm hereby knowingly and willingly waive your respective rights to have any such disputes or claims tried to a judge or jury.
If arbitration is not selected by you and the Firm as the means of dispute resolution, such dispute or claim shall be brought only in a state or federal court located in Maryland. The parties hereby irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts and waive the defense of inconvenient forum to the maintenance of any such action or proceeding in such venue.
In the event any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable by an arbitrator or court, such provision shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary to allow enforceability of the provision or deleted such that the enforceability of the remaining provisions remain unaffected.
9. Waivers and Releases. Unless prohibited by law, by participating in the submission process for the Scholarship Program, candidates agree: (a) to be bound by these Terms and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding; (b) to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Scholarship Program or these Terms; (c) that they may be contacted in person, through social media, by phone, or by e-mail, with respect to the Scholarship Program; (d) that Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, and advertising and promotion agencies, and their respective officers, directors, shareholders, and employees (collectively “Releasees”) are not responsible for lost, damaged, or misplaced submissions, incorrect or inaccurate transcription of submission information, or for any human or other error, technical malfunction, lost/delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failures of any telephone network, computer equipment, software, inability to access any online service or web site, or any other error or malfunction, or any injury or damage to candidate’s or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation in this Scholarship Program, or for any injury to person or property; (e) that Sponsor is not responsible for ensuring compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), collegiate athletic conference, and/or college or university rules and waive any claims related to actions that may be taken regarding Scholarship Recipient’s athletic eligibility; and (f) to the extent permitted by law, that the Releasees will not be liable for losses or injuries of any kind resulting from acceptance/possession/use and/or misuse of the Scholarship Prize, travel to and from any LEAP Scholarship-related activity, participation in the Scholarship Program, or printing, mailing or distribution errors. Each Scholarship Recipient further acknowledges that Sponsor does not make any warranties, express or implied, relating to the LEAP Scholarship itself or the tax consequences to the Scholarship Recipient of receipt thereof.
If for any reason the Scholarship Program is not capable of being executed as planned, or tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other cause beyond the control of Sponsor corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Scholarship Program, Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any non-compliant submission, in its sole discretion, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Scholarship Program, and/or award the LEAP Scholarships from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the termination using the judging criteria outlined above. Entries not complying with these Terms are subject to disqualification.
10. Scholarship Recipient List. To request a list of Scholarship Recipients, mail your mail your request, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope to: LEAP Scholarship, DLA Piper LLP (US), 6225 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21209-3600. Requests received more than thirty days after the Scholarship Submission Period will not be honored.
11. Sponsor. The Sponsor of this Scholarship Program is DLA Piper LLP (US), 6225 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21209-3600.
