A future Erie County lawyer who will be attending Boston University’s School of Law this fall is the 2016 recipient of the Chief Justice Samuel J. Roberts Scholarship.

Mercyhurst Preparatory High School graduate Kristen Elia, who in 2014 earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College, is this year’s successful aspirant for the scholarship, administered and awarded for the Roberts Family by the Erie County Bar Foundation.

The Chief Justice Samuel J. Roberts Scholarship Committee found that competition for the 2016 scholarship award was extremely keen and one of the most challenging fields of aspirants in the history of the award.  But ultimately, the Committee found that Elia, who graduated from college with a 3.9 grade-point average in her English Literature major, exemplified the many qualities demonstrated during the long and distinguished career of the Erie lawyer and judge who rose to lead the Commonwealth’s highest court, becoming one of the nation’s most respected jurists.

In addition to awarding the 2016 scholarship to Elia, the committee, citing the academic success of Erie County’s Julia Bensur  at Cornell University and Rachel Tallmadge at Ohio State University, renewed the law school scholarships of both of these Roberts Scholarship awardees, Bensur for her second year of law school, and Tallmadge for her third year.

Meanwhile, Elia was selected after the committee recently interviewed 2016’s scholarship candidates.

 “The committee had another difficult job this year, given the academic credentials and potential talent of each of the seven applicants,” said Sandra Brydon Smith, the Foundation’s Executive Director. “There was extensive discussion about the applicants, but all were extremely impressed with Kristen’s undergraduate background, her previous campus leadership roles, her work experience after graduating from college, her diverse interests, and the course she has set for herself and her future in law.”

 In her scholarship application, Elia wrote, “As an English major at Trinity College, my day-to-day coursework was spent developing a core skill-set that would seem fundamental for a student of the law and a future lawyer. Four years of such coursework has made me a voracious student.”

 Elia explained that she is drawn to the innovations of the private sector and is most interested in learning more about areas of the law dealing with protection of intellectual properties and copyrights.

 “I want to be part of the innovation,” she continued. “The responsibilities of a lawyer will help me do exactly that. I will be relied upon by my clients to represent and protect their work … Ultimately, whichever arena of the law I find myself in, I am assured that the skill-set that I bring, coupled with my desire to work for and with others, will be well-suited for a career as a lawyer.”

 Although grades, class standings and standardized test scores are all weighed when considering scholarship awards, motivation, personal interviews, community service, passion of the legal profession and broader interests are also taken into consideration by committee members.

 Each year, the Pennsylvania Chief Justice Samuel J. Roberts Scholarship Committee meets to consider applications from first-year law students and scholarship renewals for previous recipients. While there is no mandate that scholarship winners return to Erie County to practice law, the committee encourages local law careers whenever possible.

 The committee, which has awarded scholarships for more than two decades, includes four former Justice Roberts law clerks Attorneys Daan Braveman, President of Nazareth College,  Dennis Haines, Pepco Energy,  Patrick M. Livingston, practicing in Pittsburgh,  James A. Strazzella, Professor at Temple Law School; local attorneys  Bradley K. Enterline, Tina M. Fryling,  John J. Mehler, Mary Alfieri Richmond, William S. Speros, Scott T. Stroupe, David M. Zurn; and lay representatives Kathleen Horan, retired from  Stairways Behavioral Health, and Jeff Pinski, formerly of Edinboro University and the Erie Times-News.

—Contributed by Jeff Pinski