MCLE helps lower the barriers to access to the legal system for the most vulnerable members of our society by providing scholarships to MCLE programs to the lawyers who serve them. MCLE lowers barriers to access by:

• Awarding needs-based scholarships to lawyers who have little or no budget for continuing education, to find out about applying for scholarship click here;
• Providing scholarship vouchers to every legal services staff attorney in the Commonwealth, freeing up those organizations' funds for direct client representation; and
• Working with pro bono organizations throughout the state to make available scholarship vouchers as a tool to recruit, train, and retain pro bono volunteers.

Through its scholarship program, MCLE helps make it possible for hundreds of the state's most vulnerable residents to receive, from well-trained lawyers, the legal services they so desperately need. Each year, MCLE awards approximately 1,300 scholarships. In order to sustain the scholarship program, MCLE has begun scholarship endowment campaign to raise $2.5 million to endow 1,000 scholarships, thereby securing permanent funding for scholarships.

For every $2,500 raised, MCLE can endow one individual scholarship per year. Support MCLE's Scholarship Endowment by Giving a Gift of Scholarship.

Scholarship Funds

Donors can contribute any amount to MCLE's general scholarship endowment or to an existing named scholarship fund, or use this opportunity to create a personal and lasting legacy by contributing or raising a minimum of $25,000 to Establish a Named Scholarship in honor of a colleague, mentor, or family member.

In addition to providing essential funding for individual scholarships, named scholarship funds honor and pay tribute to outstanding lawyers and judges whose lives and work exemplify the best of Massachusetts' rich legal heritage and who have contributed so much to the legal profession's landscape. MCLE recognizes honorees with framed photos on the Wall of Tribute in its Boston Conference Center and by honoring them in a meaningful way through the provision of scholarships in their name every year. In this way, they are recognized and remembered in perpetuity.

MCLE is privileged to honor the following outstanding members of Massachusetts' bench and bar:

• Charles S. Cohen
• Hugh J. Corcoran
• Louis W. Doherty
• Hon. Frank H. Freedman
• Hon. Edward M. Ginsburg
• Hon. Edward F. Hennessey
• Edward F. Hines, Jr.
• Monroe L. Inker
• Loring P. Jordan, Jr.
• Hon. Rudolph Kass
• Hon. Robert E. Keeton
• Gitta M. Kurlat
• Hon. A. David Mazzone
• Richard S. Milstein
• Hon. John J. Moynihan
• Hon. Beatrice Hancock Mullaney
• Hon. James F. Queenan, Jr.
• Hon. Walter Jay Skinner
• Herbert W. Vaughan
• Hon. Joseph P. Warner
• Hon. Herbert P. Wilkins
• Hon. William G. Young
• The MCLE General Scholarship Endowment

MCLE welcomes suggestions regarding scholarship honorees and will work with volunteers to raise the $25,000 minimum fund amount necessary to establish a named scholarship and endow 10 individual scholarships, every year – in perpetuity.

Scholarship Beneficiaries

MCLE's scholarship program is a vital component of MCLE's mission to educate Massachusetts attorneys and advance the quality of legal services provided to the public. Scholarships are awarded to:

(1)     legal services staff attorneys;
(2)     practitioners who accept pro bono cases from organizations that assign them; and
(3)     other lawyers who certify financial need.

Each year, MCLE awards approximately 1,300 scholarships to these lawyers who, without financial assistance, would not be able to attend MCLE programs.

Ways to Give

Your charitable gift to MCLE can take a variety of forms, any of which may meet your personal objectives. Through a thoughtful planned giving initiative, you can derive tax advantages from your charitable donation, while at the same time significantly magnifying the impact of your gift.

Here are several ways, alone or in combination, to make a gift to MCLE:

• Give cash (check, credit card, or wire transfer) to benefit the scholarship endowment immediately and provide you with a tax deduction;
• Transfer appreciated securities to avoid capital gains and get an immediate tax deduction at current market value;
• Provide for MCLE in your estate planning with a bequest in your will allowing you to maintain control of your assets;
• Purchase a charitable gift annuity to reduce ongoing taxes, get an immediate tax deduction, and make your retirement more secure;
• Create a charitable remainder trust (CRT) or Lead Trust (CLT) to strengthen your estate planning;
• Make MCLE a beneficiary of your retirement plan, and leave your cash flow and current financial planning uninterrupted;
• Leverage assets that would benefit MCLE more than they do you, such as a life insurance policy you no longer need or a parcel of real estate that has become more of a burden to you than a resource; and
• Donate or transfer ownership of personal items that MCLE can auction to benefit the general scholarship endowment or an existing named scholarship fund or to endow a new named scholarship (e.g., tickets to a sporting or other cultural event; a collection of books or artwork).

MCLE is willing to work with you and your financial advisor on which planned giving tools would work best for you.

You can also make a donation online. Just select the fund that you would like to donate to, the amount that you would like to donate, and click the link to proceed to make your donation.

List of funds Charles S. Cohen Scholarship Fund Hugh J. Corcoran Scholarship Fund Louis W. Doherty Scholarship Fund Hon. Frank H. Freedman Scholarship Fund Hon. Edward M. Ginsburg Scholarship Fund Hon. John M. Greaney Scholarship Fund Hon. Edward F. Hennessey Scholarship Fund Edward F. Hines, Jr. Scholarship Fund Monroe L. Inker Scholarship Fund Loring P. Jordan, Jr. Scholarship Fund Hon. Rudolph Kass Scholarship Fund Hon. Robert E. Keeton Scholarship Fund Gitta Kurlat Scholarship Fund Hon. A. David Mazzone Scholarship Fund Richard S. Milstein Scholarship Fund Hon. John J. Moynihan Scholarship Fund Hon. Beatrice H. Mullaney Scholarship Fund Hon. James F. Queenan, Jr. Scholarship Fund Hon. Walter Jay Skinner Scholarship Fund Herbert W. (Wiley) Vaughan Scholarship Fund Hon. Joseph P. Warner Scholarship Fund Hon. Herbert P. Wilkins Scholarship Fund Hon. William G. Young Scholarship Fund General Scholarship Endowment Fund Select Amount $25 $50 $100 $250 $1,000 $2,500 $5,000 $7,500 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000

If you are interested in donating a different amount or would like more information regarding establishing a named scholarship fund, please contact Sal Ricciardone, Esq., Director of Philanthropy.

Donor Honor Roll

MCLE continually tries to find meaningful ways to Express Our Gratitude and appreciation to those who support our scholarship program.

• All donors are recognized, where appropriate, in published materials throughout the year.
• For gifts of $500 or more, donors are recognized by giving level on MCLE's Donor Honor Roll, which hangs as a monument in the vestibule in MCLE's Boston Conference Center and is updated and published in print form periodically throughout the year.
• Each gift of $2,500 (at once or cumulatively over time) supports one scholarship annually and will be memorialized by a plaque bearing the donor's name on a seat in Milstein Hall, MCLE's main auditorium in its Boston Conference Center, named in honor of MCLE's Founding Director Richard S. Milstein.
• MCLE acknowledges as Senior Partners for CLE those individuals who have demonstrated a leadership leadership commitment to continuing legal education by contributing $25,000 or more to MCLE's Scholarship Endowment either through cumulative giving or by remembering MCLE in their wills and estate plans.
  • John F. Cogan, Jr.
  • Susan Corcoran and Joan Corcoran Steiger
  • James L. and Paul S. Doherty
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Keeton and Family
  • Gitta M. Kurlat
  • Richard S. Milstein
  • Joseph E. Mullaney and Family
  • Michael A. Pucker
  • Herbert W. (Wiley) Vaughan
• MCLE is willing to work closely with a law firm or corporation interested in giving to the Scholarship Endowment to specifically align their contribution with the corporation's or law firm's existing charitable and philanthropic mission and activities.

Contact Information

Sal Ricciardone, Esq., Director of Philanthropy
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.
Ten Winter Place
Boston, MA 02108-4751
(617) 896-1596
sricciardone@mcle.org