HARRISBURG (Jan. 19, 2021) — Ellen “Mari” Boyle, a third year law student at Penn
State Dickinson Law in Carlisle, was selected for the 2020 Pennsylvania Bar Foundation Joseph T. McDonald Memorial Scholarship.
Established in 2013, the scholarship annually provides $3,000 to a full-time, 3L Pennsylvania resident involved in the Dickinson Law trial advocacy program and whose goal is to pursue trial advocacy after graduation.
A love of performance led Boyle to discover her passion for trial advocacy. Some skills that she acquired through acting in high school musical productions, such as storytelling and engaging oratory, were transferrable as an aspiring trial lawyer.
Throughout her coursework and extracurricular activities at Dickinson, Boyle discovered a deep appreciation for written advocacy, strategy and the analytical side of trial advocacy. At Dickinson, Boyle is a senior editor of Dickinson Law Review; a member of the Moot Court Board, ABA National Appellate Advocacy Team; president of the Business Law Society and a civil procedure tutor. In addition, she won the Intraschool Mock Trial Competition and received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in evidence and transactional drafting.
Boyle currently serves as a certified legal intern at the Children’s Advocacy Clinic, representing dependents in various civil matters, including custody, dependency, adoption and domestic violence cases. She was also a law clerk at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C., and a legal intern at United States Attorney’s Office in Harrisburg.
Following graduation in May, Boyle will serve as a judicial law clerk. She hopes to pursue positions as a litigator in both private and public venues.
Boyle received a B.A. from California University of Pennsylvania.
The Joseph T. McDonald Memorial Scholarship Fund is administered by the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. For more information on this and other scholarships, visit www.pabarfoundation.org.