Wayne Law students win WLAM scholarships

Two Wayne Law students have been awarded scholarships from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation.

Husnah Khan of Bloomfield Hills is the Dawn Van Hoek Scholar, and Nicole Sappingfield of Madison Heights is the Dickinson Wright Women’s Network Scholar.

The foundation makes financial awards to women law students at each of Michigan’s law schools. According to its website, scholarships are determined on the basis of the students’ demonstrated leadership capabilities; community service in such areas as family law, child advocacy or domestic violence; commitment to diversity and potential for advancing the position of women in society.

Khan, a second-year law student, is president of Wayne Law’s Muslim Law Students Association and lieutenant governor of public interest for the American Bar Association Law Student Division’s Sixth Circuit.

“I am honored to receive a 2017 WLAM scholarship and follow in the footsteps of my close friends Michelle Lenning (2016 recipient) and Farah Al-Khersan (2014 recipient),” said Khan. I am grateful to my parents for encouraging my interest in advancing the position of women in society, and I am also grateful to the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan for recognizing and rewarding that interest.”

Last summer, Khan was awarded an AmeriCorps J.D. Fellowship through her work as a summer intern at the University of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic. The fellowship is awarded to individuals working to provide legal assistance to members from low-income communities.

Khan earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan. While an undergraduate, she studied at Oxford University in England as part of summer study abroad program.

Sappingfield is a third-year law student and for 2016-17 was the Wayne Law Review Symposium editor. She is a student intern with the Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer Clinic and a research assistant for Professor Peter J. Henning.

“I am absolutely honored to be selected as the Dickinson Wright Women’s Scholar for the 2017 year,” said Sappingfield. “This scholarship not only helps me financially, but it gives me the opportunity to represent the countless women who have come before me and continue to make a difference for women in the legal field.”

Previously, Sappingfield worked as a summer associate with Dickinson Wright and a law clerk with Paesano Akkashian Apkarian PC. She earned her bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Michigan.