Chicago PI firm sponsors student essay contest, offers $5,000 scholarship as prize

This is apparently the fourth year that Staver Law Group, P.C. has run an essay contest to help college students reach their financial goals, but this is the first time FWIW has been asked to help promote it. The prize is a $5,000 national scholarship; the winner will be determined on December 31.

Applicants must be a United States citizen or permanent resident, be accepted to or currently enrolled in a U.S. accredited college, university, or graduate program and have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA. Staver's press release adds, "The application consists of an application form, a current high school, college or graduate school transcript and an essay exploring how personal injury lawyers lead safety initiatives and how individuals can promote safety in their everyday life. Scholarship applications will be accepted through December 1."

The application can be accessed at this link on the Staver Law Group website. For additional information about the scholarship contest, email scholarship@chicagolawyer.com.

And, yes, gentle readers, I am aware that I have just given free advertising to the Staver firm, a firm I've never run across in my 37 years of practice (that I can remember, anyway).

But the youngest of my five children just graduated from college a couple of years ago and my wife and I will be paying off the debts we incurred for this purpose for a long time to come -- and that's even though each of my children graduated from college with their own individual loans.

So I'm OK with plugging a firm that offers scholarship money. Every little bit helps. And for those of you who have yet to fill out a FAFSA and experience the blood-curdling, nightmare-inducing shock of seeing what your 'expected parental contribution' turns out to be, well, just wait. After you discover that the amount you think you can afford to give your child for college for the coming year is maybe a fourth of what the government decides you will---somehow---provide, you may come around to my point of view.

Now, the next question: Are there other firms out there that are doing this, too?

Do not hide your lights under a bushel. Let me know (email me at jackleyhane@yahoo.com) and I will do my best to pass the information along.