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Nini D. Sprinkle of Suffolk Law to receive MBA Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship

Thursday, April 13, 2023
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Nini D. Sprinkle

The Massachusetts Bar Association is proud to announce that Suffolk University Law School student Nini D. Sprinkle will receive the MBA’s 2023 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship at the MBA Annual Gala on May 11 at the Westin Boston Seaport District. The $10,000 scholarship is awarded to a third-year student at a Massachusetts law school who is committed to providing legal assistance to underrepresented individuals and communities in Massachusetts upon graduating.

With a more than 10-year background in special education, Sprinkle enrolled in law school to further her passion for helping disadvantaged individuals access the services they need to lead successful lives. While attending Suffolk Law, Sprinkle has maintained her teaching position at Boston Public Schools (BPS), most recently as assistant director of compliance in the Office of Special Education, and has served as a Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03 student attorney in the Family Advocacy Clinic, where she represents low-income clients with family law matters. In addition, as a Clinical Legal Innovation and Technology (LIT) Fellow, she has worked to simplify the filing process for pro se divorce litigants by creating and automating separation and parenting time agreements.

Sprinkle’s involvement in the LIT Lab at Suffolk Law also reflects a broader interest in increasing access to justice for pro se court users and a belief that technology can be an important equalizer in that effort.

“The automation of legal forms and tech bots that provide legal guidance and assistance to the pro se individual, allows for underrepresented individuals and communities to have greater access to legal services and makes it possible for individuals to better navigate a complex legal system,” said Sprinkle, who has worked at BPS since 2018 and previously taught special education at James F. Farr Academy in Cambridge. “Additionally, these tools can assist overwhelmed legal aid offices, making it possible to conduct more intakes, and provide more services, expanding greater access and outreach to those in need.”

As part of her legal studies, Sprinkle is a student affairs liaison on the Executive Board of the Black Law Students Association and a member of the Student Bar Association, Latin American Students Association, Women of Color Law Student Association, Women’s Law Association, OutLaw, Legal Innovation and Technology Student Association, Child and Family Law Association, Parents in Law Association and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. Outside of her academic pursuits, Sprinkle has volunteered as a Boston Debate League coach and as a program director for OneGoal Massachusetts, which assists high school students from low-income communities in planning for their postsecondary careers. 

“Congratulations, Nini Sprinkle, on being awarded the MBA Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship for your exceptional academic performance, community service, and dedication to public interest work!” said MBA President-elect Damian J. Turco, who serves on the Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Scholarship Committee. “Your hard work, commitment, and creativity will undoubtedly have a positive and enduring impact on our legal community and the community at large.”

After graduation, Sprinkle intends to enter the public sector to continue her role as an advocate for indigent individuals, and to work toward fluency in Spanish so that she can more effectively represent her future clients. Sprinkle earned admission to Suffolk Law after becoming the first high school graduate in her immediate family and said that the scholarship will help alleviate the cost of her legal education and support her career goals.

MBA Vice President Victoria Santoro Mair, a fellow member of the scholarship committee, added that Sprinkle’s track record of serving others while in law school points to a promising future in the legal profession.

“We are so proud of this year's OWH Scholarship Award winner, Ms. Nini Sprinkle, and hope this award serves as a capstone to the many accomplishments and achievements of her law school career,” she said. “Her dedication and commitment to service is clear and is surely a predictor of the many contributions she will make to the MBA and to the legal community.”