Emery | Reddy Legal Studies Scholarships

2026 Scholarship Winners Announced

Legal Studies Scholarship Winner: Selena Juarez Hernandez

Selena Juarez Hernandez is a first-year law student at American University Washington College of Law, where she is pursuing her interest in litigation. She is dedicated to advancing justice and hopes to use her legal education to support and uplift underserved communities.

General Studies Scholarship Winners:

Emily Lassen

Emily Lassen is from Novi, Michigan and is currently a freshman studying Social Work at Western Michigan University. She is deeply passionate about ensuring that those around her feel seen, loved, and heard. In the future, Emily hopes to become a pediatric medical social worker, working in either a mental health or emergency room setting.

Liam Chelkowski

Liam Chelkowski is a junior at Cornell University studying Chemical Engineering with minors in Business and Mathematics. He aspires to attend law school and pursue a career in patent law, where he can combine his technical engineering background with legal advocacy to protect scientific innovation and intellectual property.

Sedney Taylor

Sedney is a first‑generation Haitian American and a nursing student at Florida State University whose caregiving role as the first‑born daughter, along with caring for her diabetic great‑grandmother, inspired her passion for nursing. She is committed to providing compassionate, culturally sensitive, and patient‑centered care, particularly in underserved communities. As a bilingual student, she values building trust with diverse patients and ensuring they feel seen, heard, and understood, while approaching nursing with humility and a strong desire to learn. Ultimately, she hopes to serve as both a caregiver and advocate for patients who may feel overlooked within the healthcare system.

Our General Studies and Legal Studies Scholarship Opportunities

Our mission to help and empower workers extends beyond our commitment to help them with their Washington state L&I claims or employment or labor law matters. We are proud to empower the next generation of workers by offering annual scholarships to students in pursuit of higher education. Emery | Reddy, PC awards a total of $5,000 as follows:

$2,000 to one selected law school student

$1,000 to three selected undergraduate (university/college) students.

Scholarship Submission Guidelines and Rules

Before you submit your application, please read the submission criteria below to ensure that you qualify and submit your essay to the correct category. Any application that does not meet or follow the guidelines below will be disqualified.

General Rules

Student must be currently enrolled in or recently accepted to an accredited U.S. law school (Legal Studies Scholarship) or accredited U.S. college or university (Undergraduate Scholarship);

Winner(s) will be required to provide proof of residency and enrollment or acceptance.

Application Requirements

Students must submit an original and compelling essay of 400 – 600 words answering the essay prompt below. Legal Studies Scholarship will only be awarded to students currently enrolled in Law School. Please submit your essay for the category that best matches your current enrollment status. Essays should follow a basic essay and paragraph format including an introduction with body paragraphs and a conclusion. Creativity is encouraged! Please avoid disclosing any personal identifying information (PII) such as name, address, contact information, or resume within the body of the essay.

Legal Studies Scholarship prompt: What compelled you to become a lawyer? Are there any special areas of law that you want to target, and what goals do you want to accomplish as an attorney?

General Scholarship prompt: What degree are you pursuing and why? How will you use your degree/education to serve your community?

Judging and Recognition Procedure

Winners will be selected by a panel of qualified members from Emery | Reddy and will be based upon the candidate’s fulfillment of entry criteria and their ability to answer the prompt clearly and concisely. View the Emery | Reddy 2025 Scholarship Rubric for more on how your essay will be judged.

The Legal Studies Scholarship and the General Studies Scholarship are each a one-time, monetary scholarship award to be used for academic tuition only. Winner(s) will be notified via email and the award will be distributed to the recipient’s educational institution once their enrollment has been verified. The winners will be publicly announced on our blog and social media pages after final verification.

Scholarship Submission Form

About Emery | Reddy

Emery | Reddy is a thriving boutique law firm specializing in plaintiff litigation in L&I — Workers’ Compensation, Employment and Labor Law, and Personal Injury Law. We are passionate about workers’ rights and empowering employees, and we strive to make every Washington workplace a fair and equitable environment for all.

With our law office location in Seattle, we serve communities throughout Washington state, including Vancouver, Bellevue, Everett, Olympia, Shoreline, Spokane, and Tacoma.