DLA Piper Global Scholarship paves the way for young Bangladeshi scholars

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers bestrewed throughout 40 countries across the globe, with the goal of catering to the legal needs of their clients all over the world. The DLA Piper Global Scholarships Program (GSP) is a two-year programme, in collaboration with the University of Oxford, for undergraduate law students between the second and last year, as well as for postgraduate law students willing to pursue a two-year postgraduate qualification in their related field.

The crucial criteria in the selection of the scholarship recipients however are the mandate of the students studying in their home country and belonging to one of the countries listed on their website.

A total of 5 Bangladeshi law students have been recipients of this prestigious scholarship since 2019, two of whom received the award this year. The Daily Star reached out to the recipients to learn more.

A total of 5 Bangladeshi law students have been recipients of this prestigious scholarship since 2019, two of whom received the award this year. The Daily Star reached out to the recipients to learn more.

Tasnim, a 4th-year law student of Dhaka University, became one of the recipients of the prestigious DLA Piper Global Scholarship in 2022. Years of academic excellence throughout her school life, followed by her achieving second positions in both the B and D unit admission tests of the University of Dhaka in 2017 gave her the scope to pursue Law—based on her score under B unit in particular.

Her academic journey has since has been nothing short of meritorious. Tasnim even received a variety of other scholarships, notably the 'Shamaila Rahman Memorial Scholarship' for being one of the top two female students on the merit list. After preliminary selections for the DLA Piper Global Scholarship Programme (GSP), she sat for a one-on-one interview with Vincent Seah, a partner of DLA Piper Singapore. During the interview, Tasnim extensively discussed her desire to one day start become a Judge in the lower judiciary of Bangladesh, which she aims to achieve with the knowledge and guidance of DLA Piper GSP.

4th-year student of North South University, Mehedi Hasan Turin is the second DLA Piper GSP recipient of 2022. He was born and raised in Kishoreganj, and completed his education there until it was time for him to get admission to a university in Dhaka. After getting into the Department of Law at NSU, he mentioned having a hard time, as people were disappointed that he did not get into a public university. He, however, paid them no heed and pursued his dreams with determination. Mehedi was waiting for an opportunity to prove himself besides his studies and work in a few organisations in his locality and national arena (Youth Against Hunger, Youth Mock Parliament). So, when he received an email about the DLA Piper scholarship from the department, he prepped accordingly. He plans to obtain an LLM degree afterward and prepare himself for the Bangladesh Judicial Service and Bar Council exam to ultimately one day become a legal advisor in the corporate sector.

Mehedi Hasan Turin

Aside from the new recipients, the endeavours of the recipients from previous years can provide a glimpse into the possibilities available to scholars of DLA Piper GSP.

Md Fahmedul Islam Dewan, a previous recipient of the award from 2020, is currently in London, doing a leadership course at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. Afterwards, he is in queue to do an internship at the DLA Piper Headquarters. Fahmedul also serves as the General Secretary of North South University Law and Mooting Society (NSULMS). The young lawyer has now been able to take another step towards fulfilling his dream of becoming the 'voice of voiceless'.

The expenses for scholars like Tasnim and Fahmedul, including their university tuition, travel, accommodation, medical, and other miscellaneous costs are the responsibility of DLA Piper GSP, thereby taking various burdens off of the shoulders of the students.

The scholars are also flown across the world to attend fellowships, internships, mentoring, and development programmes. One of the two first Bangladeshi scholars is Sabiha Mehzabin Oishee, a DLA Piper GSP recipient from 2019. She had the opportunity to start her own legal and humanitarian forum "Bangladesh Forum for Legal and Humanitarian Affairs" with the motivation to make the youth aware of their social and legal rights, as well as their responsibilities towards the country.

Additionally, Sabiha also works as a Research Assistant at the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance, at NSU. As for her interests in humanitarian law, she works with International Labour Organisation, regarding 'Labour Diplomacy' under the institute. She is thankful to the DLA Piper GSP for playing a crucial part in her success story.

Kalyan Chakroborty, the second DLA Piper GSP recipient from 2019, pursued a fully funded OELP from the University of Oxford and a post-graduation diploma in Genocide Studies from the University of Dhaka after his LLM in International Commercial Law from NSU. This year he is working as a coordinator of the DLA Piper GSP. He also writes for the reputed national dailies as a columnist. Moreover, he is an honorary advisor of some organizations that work on humanitarian grounds. Due to the DLA Piper GSP, he rose to the top in this challenging field.