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About Journey To Esquire

Journey to Esquire® Scholarship & Leadership Program, based in Tampa Bay, Florida, is an
intensive year-long program for third-year law students from local law schools, Stetson
University College of Law and Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Our program is
designed to address the lack of diversity in law by infusing the pipeline with highly qualified,
diverse law students who have undergone intensive training and professional development. We
aim to help historically underrepresented law students overcome the barriers to entry and
retention in the legal profession, and provides cash scholarships to its scholars upon graduation
to offset the high costs associated with bar exam preparation and admission.​​

​Even as the number of minority law students increases, diverse lawyers remain
underrepresented at the forefront. Journey to Esquire® aims to shift the status quo by assisting
more diverse lawyers in getting into positions with a clear pathway to influential professional
positions. We help diverse law students identify the most prevalent hurdles to achievement,
such as a lack of mentorship or constructive feedback, and provide them with tools and
resources needed to tackle these issues and thrive in the practice of law.

​Through its rigorous program, Journey to Esquire® assists diverse third-year law students in
procuring career-building internships, partnerships, and entry-level positions at law firms and
judicial clerkships. Journey to Esquire®’s long-term goal is to develop and prepare the next
generation of diverse attorneys to enter and remain in the pipeline with the tools, network, and
community of supporters that will help them succeed.

See Our 2023 Annual Report

The Journey to Esquire® IDEALS

• Inclusion: Providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might
  otherwise be excluded or marginalized
• Diversity: Including and involving people from a different social and ethnic backgrounds,
  genders, and sexual orientations
• Equity: Ensuring impartiality and fairness in the design of programs and organizational
  processes
• Access: Ensuring the right to obtain, use, ad take advantage of available resources
• Leadership: Motivating people toward achieving a common goal
• Service: Giving back to the community through pro bono work and other initiatives

Volunteer Application

Our Students

How To Apply

Logan Jackson

Stetson University College of Law

Jessica Sivillo

WMU Cooley Law School Product Manager

Testimonials

“Being a first-generation college and law school student can be challenging. My family has supported me through this entire journey. However, my family doesn't know much about the law school process and the pathway to being an attorney. This program provided me with resources, mentors, and opportunities to learn about how to finish law school successfully and how to pass the Bar exam.”

“I hoped to gain not only information and resources that will ultimately assist me with graduating and passing the bar, but as well as a network and family of diverse attorneys that I could look to for guidance on my journey to Esquire. Law school hasn’t been the easiest ride, and I don’t think it is for anyone. However, being a first-generation student, away from home, with not many people to lean on here has been even more difficult. The space and mentorship Journey to Esquire provided is something that I would’ve never gotten from Stetson and that I’m grateful for because it’s truly given me the encouragement to stay in law school and earn my JD to someday help and inspire other law students like me.”

See past classes

Meet the Board

Journey to Esquire, founded by Joseline J. Hardrick in 2018, was piloted through the Tampa-based George Edgecomb Bar Association for its first year.
After a successful first year, JTE partnered with the George Edgecomb Bar Association, The Florida Bar, the Hillsborough County Bar Association, and the St. Petersburg Bar Association, garnering widespread support from the legal community. The Journey to Esquire board members harness their backgrounds and professional accomplishments to support JTE scholars and create a successful pipeline program.

Joseline Jean-Louis Hardrick

​​Joseline Jean-Louis Hardrick is a child of Haitian immigrants who came to this country fleeing a
dictatorship and seeking opportunities for their children. She learned English as her second
language. She grew up poor, sometimes without more than one meal daily. She shared one set
of clothes with her two sisters and relied heavily on subsidized meals and transportation at
school. She also attended public educational institutions from kindergarten through high school.
She later attended a private university in New York City on a scholarship. She saw the stark
differences between her life growing up and those with access to wealth, power, and influence.
As she continued her education and grew her career through pipeline programs, she
understood the importance of the additional training needed for people like herself to succeed in
these competitive environments. Journey to Esquire® is the manifestation of the lessons she
learned through her life experience. As an outsider to the Tampa Bay area, she is uniquely
qualified to understand how to navigate the legal industry here as she has built a strong network
of attorneys of all backgrounds, judges, and other stakeholders. She worked at a big law firm for
almost four years in litigation and completed five years of clerking at the federal level. Her goal
is to show students the path toward excellence, self-sufficiency, and courage despite the
statistics indicating that they may not otherwise succeed. She deeply understands that although
she has no control over the industry, she can control herself and her actions, a lesson she
hopes to instill in Journey to Esquire® scholars. Ms. Hardrick received The Florida Bar Young
Lawyers Division 2019 Diversity Award for her work with Journey to Esquire®.

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Darnesha Carter Foli

​Darnesha Carter Foli has a variety of experience in commercial litigation. She has been instrumental in getting clients favorable results in matters involving products liability, trade misappropriation, construction, employment, healthcare, insurance, and securities law. Darnesha served as a senior law clerk to the Honorable Mary S. Scriven of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. There, she conducted legal research, drafted orders, managed and monitored a portion of the case docket, and assisted the Eleventh Circuit Pattern Jury Instruction Committee. Darnesha was the valedictorian of her class at Stetson University College of Law, the first African American woman in the school’s history to achieve that honor. She was also awarded the Edward D. Foreman Most Distinguished Student Award. Darnesha has also been recognized by local organizations for her commitment to pro bono service.

Sarah Lahlou-Amine

​Sarah Lahlou-Amine is a Board Certified Attorney in Appellate Practice who practices in all state and federal appellate litigation areas. In addition to handling all types of appeals and original proceedings, Sarah is frequently retained for the strategic focus she brings to trial court litigation, helping clients and trial lawyers create records suited to both protect favorable rulings and document grounds for reversal in the event of an adverse outcome. Sarah served as Chair of the Appellate Practice Section of the Florida Bar and has been consecutively recognized in the Florida Super Lawyers magazine since 2010. She has garnered an AVⓇ Preeminent distinction, the highest available mark for professional excellence from Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Ratings. She has been repeatedly recognized for her dedication to pro bono service.

Brielle B. Bell

​Brielle B. Bell is an Associate at Bush Ross, P.A. practicing Bankruptcy and Commercial Litigation. Brielle represents debtors, creditors, and trustees in Chapter 11 and 13 reorganizations and Chapter 7 liquidations. She also represents parties in all aspects of litigation in federal and state courts. Before joining the Board, Brielle was one of the inaugural scholars in the Diversity Access Pipeline program. Brielle graduated cum laude from Stetson University College of Law and competed on the Moot Court Board and Stetson Trial Team. While at Stetson, Brielle interned with the Honorable Charlene E. Honeywell in the Middle District of Florida and, in 2018, Ms. JD Fellow. She has clerked with the Honorable Roberta A. Colton in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida. She was in the program inaugural class.

Jonathan N. Kernizan

​Jonathan N. Kernizan is a personal injury attorney at Steinger, Greene & Feiner’s Tampa and Saint Petersburg locations. Jon has experience as a pre-litigation attorney and a passion for justice. Before pursuing a career in law, Jon served in the United States Navy, where he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom aboard the USS Harry S. Truman. He graduated from St. Thomas University College of Law cum laude and earned distinctions in Advanced Legal Writing and Trial Advocacy. Jon also held leadership roles in the St. Thomas Law Review, St. Thomas Trial Team, and The Florida Bar YLD Law Student Division. He clerked for Judge Spencer D. Levine at the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal and argued appeals before the Florida Third District Court of Appeal. Jon is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Abigail O. Dean

Abigail O. Dean is an Associate Attorney at Eastmoore, Crauwels & DuBose, P.A. Before that position, she worked with the State Attorney’s Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit in Tampa. Abigail interned with the Scholarship & Leadership Program in her second year of law school. She graduated from Stetson University College of Law and received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida.

Vanessa Ferguson

Vanessa Ferguson is the Managing Director and an Attorney at Ferguson Legal, PLLC. Ms. Ferguson was born near Orlando, Florida, and is a Florida native. Ms. Ferguson obtained her Associate's degree and her Bachelor's Degree in Criminology, with a concentration in Legal Studies, from the University of South Florida St Petersburg. Ms. Ferguson attended the University of Dayton School of Law and graduated in two and a half years with a certification for her Intellectual Property concentration. Before starting Ferguson Legal, PLLC, Ms. Ferguson worked at a national employment law firm. In February 2019, Ms. Ferguson became a Certified Information Privacy Technologist, a certification that demonstrates her understanding of privacy and data protection practices in the ​development, engineering, deployment, and auditing of IT products and services.

Kim J. Lopater

​Kim J. Lopater is an associate in the Litigation Department of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, working on insurance brokerage and insurance intermediary matters. Kim has previously represented insurance companies and their insureds in various areas at both the trial and appellate levels. Kim gained additional experience with mortgage foreclosure and bankruptcy matters as a judicial intern with the Sixth Judicial Circuit in St. Petersburg and the United States Bankruptcy Court in Tampa. Later, she developed her skills in handling veterans’ appeals to the Department of Veterans Affairs for disability benefits through Stetson Law’s Veterans Law Institute.