Annual Conference Scholarship

Annual Conference Scholarship

Law Students Apply Now!

The ABA Forum on Communications Law will award two full-ride scholarships (including registration fee, lodging, meals, airfare, and ground transportation) to the 2025 Annual Conference. The conference will be held  February 6-8, 2025, in Austin, TX. One scholarship is for a minority student (the Forum's Governing Committee looks for applicants who will add diversity to the current membership of the Forum and the communications law bar in general) and one scholarship is open to a general pool of applicants.

Applicants must be a registered law student at an ABA-approved law school and must be a member of the ABA Law Student Division* to be considered.

*Note: Membership in the ABA Law Student Division is FREE!  Please select the ABA Forum on Communications Law as your first choice for Section, Division, and Forum membership.  That is free, too!

Application Deadline

Friday, November 22, 2024 | 11:59 PM ET

You can find the application form here.

Richard (Dick) M. Goehler Scholarship

The scholarship applicant who receives the highest overall cumulative score will be designated the Forum's "Richard M. Goehler Scholar", a significant honor. This scholarship is named for longtime Forum member and former Chair Dick Goehler, a media lawyer of exemplary dedication to his clients and the principles of the First Amendment. Dick's work ethic was well known to everyone within the Forum.  He was available to his clients from early morning until late at night, working tirelessly to defend free expression, and he contributed to the Forum in countless ways. It is particularly appropriate that a scholarship be named for him, as Dick had a deep interest in cultivating the next generation of media lawyers and served as a  mentor to many young attorneys, who he enjoyed challenging and helping rise to the occasion. Dick was a committed family man, a man of deep faith, a leader in his law firm Frost Brown Todd and a loyal alumni of Notre Dame and Miami of Ohio. But he is first and foremost remembered by those in the Forum as a true lawyer's lawyer, a kind and gracious colleague with an optimistic outlook on human potential, and a wise and cheerful counselor to his clients and everyone in the media law field. All those within the Forum admired him greatly and were deeply saddened by his untimely death at the age of 54.

Purpose of the Scholarship

The scholarships are intended for those who would not otherwise be able to attend the conference, and those who have not previously received financial assistance from the Forum to attend the annual conference (such as moot court participants). Please note that preference may be given to upper-class law students and to applicants who have not previously attended the annual conference. The scholarship judges place a heavy emphasis on a demonstrated interest in media law and/or First Amendment law. 

Application Process and Instructions

2024-25 Scholarship Application

The deadline to apply is Friday, November 22, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET.

This is a firm deadline. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Please account for time zone differences in submitting your application.  

All applicants must complete the Application Form and submit the documentation described in that Form. Please read carefully and follow all of the instructions provided in the Application Form.

You can find the application form here.

Contact Information

Scholarship Chair
Leonard M. Niehoff
[email protected]

Forum Director
Lee Swanson
Forum on Communications Law
[email protected]