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Every year, Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, awards a $2,500 scholarship to a current or future law student who “embodies the spirit of volunteerism.”
The 2024 scholarship winner is Richard Brennan, who graduated from Florida State University with a degree in psychology. He currently works as a paralegal for Liebenhaut Law in Florida and plans to begin law school in the fall 2025 semester.
Early Challenges Spurred Richard to Action
“At the age of six, I was involved in a tragic drinking and driving accident that caused me to have neurological issues and significant mental health conditions,” Richard begins his award-winning essay. He goes on to explain how proper healthcare allowed him to overcome his academic difficulties, graduate college, and be accepted into law school.
Getting the right healthcare was anything but simple: his mother had to fight through “a long and tedious application process to have me on child Medicaid.” Without Medicaid, they could not have afforded the support Richard needed to succeed.
These challenges, along with his professional experience as a paralegal, clearly demonstrated to Richard the importance of providing assistance to those in need.
Richard Has Taken Every Opportunity to Help Others
Richard started giving back to his community by volunteering at Ronald McDonald House, a charitable organization that provides housing and other services to families whose children require medical care.
He was responsible for planning, cooking, and serving meals to the families staying at the House. In that capacity, he learned that “no action was too small” when it came to helping those “going through the most difficult times of their lives.”
“Witnessing the resilience of families sacrificing whatever is needed for their children inspires me to become an attorney who works towards alleviating the suffering, stress, and confusion of my clients in analogous situations,” Richard writes.
He also volunteers with Gift of Life Marrow Registry, an organization committed to ending blood cancer and encouraging people to donate bone marrow and blood stem cells.
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Providing Compassionate Advocacy to Those With Nowhere Else to Turn
Thanks to the support he received from medical professionals and his mother—“Her strength motivates me every day,” he writes in his scholarship winner questionnaire—Richard was able to assume a leadership role while at Florida State University, ultimately serving as vice president of the gender-inclusive fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. He graduated with a 3.55 cumulative GPA in spring 2023 and will fulfill his dream of attending law school this autumn.
Richard’s career plans go far beyond obtaining a Juris Doctor. In his questionnaire, he explains that he would like to use his law degree to advocate for and educate clients applying for government benefits: “My long-term goal is to eventually open my own practice focusing on Social Security Disability. Within that goal, I also aspire to create educational short-form content around Social Security Disability.”
Richard is still considering which law school to attend. Whatever school he chooses will be fortunate to have such a dedicated, focused, and community-oriented student in their ranks.
The Volunteer Service Scholarship Will Help Richard Meet His Goals
Every year, our firm selects one student to receive the Volunteer Service Scholarship, which eases the financial burden of attending law school. This $2,500 award helps to defray tuition costs and allows the student to focus more fully on their education and career.
As Richard writes, “Having manageable debt means being able to more quickly obtain my future goals as an attorney without focusing on careers solely for the purpose of being able to pay back debt.”
Attaining his goals as soon as possible is very important for Richard, who understands from difficult personal experience that proper support—or the lack of it—can make all the difference in a person’s life.
Having “contemplate[d] the potential reality where I did not have access to treatment and the opportunities” that enabled him to flourish, he wants to provide a compassionate lifeline as both a lawyer and a volunteer.
“Volunteering means giving back to my community and seeing firsthand how acts of service can change lives,” he says, while receiving the scholarship makes it easier for him to someday “empower my clients to make the most informed decisions.”
On behalf of everyone at Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, we congratulate Richard Brennan for winning this scholarship. We are confident that he will thrive at his chosen law school and continue to be a staunch advocate for the people in his community.
About Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC
Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, provides a wide range of legal services to clients throughout North Carolina and South Carolina. Our team of six attorneys has experience in Social Security Disability, family law, personal injury, bankruptcy, workers’ compensation, and other legal practice areas, so we are equipped to provide empathetic, knowledgeable support to everyone who hires us.
