Melissa Allen Receives Spain Scholarship at the U of M Law School
For release: Mar. 1, 2004
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

Melissa R. Allen, a first-year student at the University of Memphis' Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, has received the Amy Elizabeth Spain Scholarship for 2003-2004.

Allen is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Memphis, with a degree in art history and a minor in history. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Beta Phi, Phi Eta Sigma, and Golden Key honor societies. Her parents are Mark and Bettie J. Allen of Memphis.

The scholarship, established in memory of the former U of M law graduate who died in an automobile accident in 1995, is awarded on the basis of academic merit, a commitment to community or professional service, and personal industriousness.

Amy Spain earned a law degree from the U of M in 1989, then served as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge James D. Todd. In 1990 she became an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. She organized mock trial competitions for Memphis high school students and served an adjunct professor of legal methods and writing at the U of M.

She was also active in the community, serving on the board of directors of the Fogelman Downtown YMCA and as a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House.

The Memphis Bar Association posthumously named Spain the recipient of the Sam. A. Myar, Jr., Memorial Award, which recognizes young lawyers under 40 years of age who have demonstrated outstanding service and the potential for continued service to their profession and their community. Spain also was recognized posthumously by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for superior performance.

For more information about the scholarship, call Monique N. Beals at the Memphis office of Bass, Berry, and Sims, 901-543-5900.

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