LSAC Global announces Shamnad Basheer Access to Justice Scholarship and Topper Scholarship in India

Delhi, March 02, 2021: In its continued effort to expand access to legal education in India, the Law School Admission Council-Global (LSAC Global) has announced that it will award merit scholarships for students who take the  LSAT—India 2021, which is to be administered in March and June of this year.

For the consecutive third year, LSAC Global will award the Topper Scholarship to the student who achieves the best score in the LSAT—India this year. 

The Shamnad Basheer Access to Justice Scholarship was instituted by LSAC Global last year to honor the memory of the visionary and influential lawyer - Professor Dr. Shamnad Basheer. Professor Basheer initiated ground-breaking efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession by establishing Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA), a non-profit organization that empowers underrepresented and marginalized groups in India by providing them access to quality legal education. 

“Through these scholarships, LSAC Global  (LSAG) looks forward to opening doors and providing increased opportunities for talented students and law school aspirants in India, thus carrying on our  mission to promote diversity, access, and equity in legal education,” said Yusuf Abdul-Kareem, Vice President of Emerging Markets at LSAC.

The Shamnad Basheer Access to Justice Scholarship is based on an essay competition among LSAT—India test takers. This year’s topic is “How might the introduction of artificial intelligence in the legal profession mitigate bias, increase access to justice, and promote diversity in the society.” Students need to write essay arguing for or against the topic and send their entry by 15 June 2021. 

Each essay will be judged based on originality, relevance to topic, comprehensiveness, structure, analysis, understanding, interpretation, and conclusions regarding diversity in the legal profession. The esteemed judges would be drawn from the legal fraternity represented by law practitioners, academia, and policy makers.  

Each scholarship entitles the winners to receive an award of up to ?4 lakhs which will cover their tuition and boarding / hostel fees for the first year of the five-year law program at any LSAC Global Law Alliance college. Any unutilised amount from the first year can be rolled over to the subsequent year. For more information, terms and conditions of these scholarships, please visit https://www.discoverlaw.in/scholarship-opportunities.

In addition to these scholarships, LSAC Global Law Alliance colleges individually offer exclusive scholarships to LSAT—India takers taking admissions into their respective colleges, thus easing out some of the financial pressure off the students in pursuing a career in law. 

About LSAT—India™

LSAT—India™ is a standardized test adopted as an admission criterion by multiple law colleges across India. It measures skills that are considered essential for success in law school. LSAT—India™ is specially created for admission to law schools in India by the Law School Admission Council, USA (LSAC). The LSAC has been helping law schools in various countries evaluate the critical thinking skills of their applicants for more than 70 years.