Owner's Counsel of America Awards the Toby Brigham Scholarship

SAN DIEGO, August 26, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Owners' Counsel of America (OCA), a national association of experienced eminent domain lawyers, annually awards one law student a scholarship to attend a conference focused on eminent domain. The Toby Prince Brigham OCA Scholarship was created in 2021 following the passing of OCA's founder, Toby Prince Brigham. Mr. Brigham was a passionate advocate for property owners and the principle that owners are entitled to just compensation. He was a dynamic speaker who sought to inspire and educate others about this area of the law. The Brigham Scholarship is designed to inspire the next generation of lawyers to take up the cause of protecting private property rights.

The prestigious OCA Brigham Scholarship offers one student the opportunity to learn from and network with the nation's leading eminent domain lawyers by attending the pre-eminent property rights conference, the ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation and Litigation Conference. The conference has been held for over 40 years in various cities and offers both basic and advanced topic tracks across two and a half days.

The 2024 Scholarship was awarded to Kenneth Landers, a second-year law student at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Kenneth serves as the Tenth Circuit Articles Editor with the Denver Law Review and Treasurer of the Denver Student Chapter of the Federalist Society. He is also a Research Assistant to Professor Jan Laitos, a prolific authority on property rights and the U.S. Constitution.  In 2023, Kenneth interned with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a public interest law firm that focuses much of its work on property issues.  He previously served as the deputy policy director with the minority caucus in the Colorado State Senate.

The Brigham Scholarship allowed Kenneth to attend the 2023 ALI-CLE Conference in New Orleans and related OCA events. Mr. Landers observed, “It has been really eye-opening to see what practitioners are actually doing in the real world, versus what goes on in the case books and lecture halls of law school. It’s been a study, for me, in what it means to be an effective advocate for property owners.” He expressed his appreciation to OCA, the Brigham family, and the Pacific Legal Foundation, noting, “This is a conference about people, about your relationships with your colleagues, and I was really struck by the way you are all so collegial and friendly with each other, many of you attending since the 1990s, which is very inspiring.” 

Prior scholarship recipients report that the networking opportunities from the conference helped them secure jobs at respected law firms, and they have continued to attend the conference and mentor future scholarship recipients. Those interested in applying for the 2025 Toby Prince Brigham OCA Scholarship (to attend the conference in San Diego Jan. 30-Feb. 1), submit an application, due October 1^st, 2024. Contact info@ownerscounsel.com with questions.

Source: Owners' Counsel of America