Welcome and Application Process

Discovery of the Pegasus Scholarship, and application process

I met Jeremy Colby, one of the American Inns of Court's Pegasus Scholars for 2005, in the fall of 2004, when he was serving as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge John T. Elfvin, and I was continuing my graduate school work in political science. The two of us were assigned to serve on the same panel for a law school moot court competition, a semi-final round of the Desmond Moot.

Jeremy and I were both members of the Buffalo chapter of the American Inns of Court. Several months after the Desmond competition, Jeremy spoke briefly about his experiences as a Pegasus Scholar in London during an Inn meeting at the Mid-Day Club. Among other things, Jeremy descibed proceedings he observed between Iraq and Kuwait in an English court. This interested me because I had concentrated in international law (and civil litigation) in law school, and such a proceeding (state versus state) would not take place in a United States court. I spoke with Jeremy after the meal to hear more about these proceedings and his trip.

Jeremy was happy to tell me more about the Pegasus Scholarship Trust, which sends two American lawyer-members of an Inn of Court who have less than five years of years of practice to London, England, for six weeks to study the English legal system. Scholars spend most of their time in barristers' chambers, and observe trials and arguments in various English courts.

Not long after this meeting, in late spring 2005, I moved from Western New York to Richmond, Virginia, to take a position as a law clerk for the Fourth Circuit's Office of Staff Counsel. Because the position concludes in August 2007, in August 2006 I began thinking about new professional opportunities, and recalled the Pegasus scholarship.

I reviewed the online application materials and program brochure, spoke with Jeremy by phone for his advice, and completed my application by the deadline. Within a few weeks I received an e-mail that I had been selected as a finalist, and would be contacted soon by a member of the selection committee for an interview.

During the interview, I was asked was how I thought I would benefit from the program. My answer was that I expected that I would gain insight into the American legal system, and added that I imagined that there would be strategies that barristers employ that would have some relevance to my future work as a litigator.

I was also asked about my experience living outside of the United States. Although I have never traveled to the United Kingdom, I lived for a year in Hungary in 1998-1999, and have spent several months at various times in Germany. I have also traveled to France, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Yugoslavia.

About a week later, Justice Donald W. Lemons of the Supreme Court of Virginia, who had written in support of my application, was given the opportunity to call me and tell me that I had been selected for the scholarship.

I continue to be very thankful for the letters of recommendation from Justice Lemons and Karen Gould, president of the Virginia State Bar. I also appreciate the support given to my application by the Fourth Circuit's Senior Staff Counsel, Robert Jaspen.

I created this blog to share my experiences with my colleagues, friends and family. I depart for London on February 16, in 42 days.