About Our Scholarships
A major role of the American Counsel Association (ACA) is awarding one or more scholarships to second year law students each year. The winners must demonstrate aptitude, achievement, public service, financial need, and commitment to the study of law and the legal profession. The students are chosen from law schools on a rotation of geographical areas around the United States.
The scholarships, all of which the ACA attempts to maintain in the amount of at least $5,000, are presented to the winners at the Annual Meeting in August.
About Our Scholarships
Stanley Cohn/James Dorsett Scholarship
The Stanley Cohn/James Dorsett Scholarship is funded by the American Counsel Association and is awarded every year on a rotating basis to a student from a law school in the various Federal Judicial Districts other than the Seventh Circuit.
Lowell Jacobson Scholarship
The Lowell H. Jacobson Scholarship is funded through the American Counsel Association Scholarship Foundation, which began from a legacy in honor of former ACA President Lowell H. Jacobson. It is awarded every other year to a student from a law school located within the Seventh Federal Judicial District
Pamela Bresnahan Scholarship
The Pamela Bresnahan Scholarship is funded by the Association and is expected to be awarded in 2026 to a student from a law school in the Metropolitan D.C. area.
2026 SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Cody M. Pfeiffer
Winner Of The 2026 Cohn/Dorsett Memorial Scholarship
This year’s American Counsel Association Scholarship recipient, Cody, has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to academic excellence, public service, and the pursuit of justice. A student at Washington and Lee University School of Law, Cody has dedicated his legal education to serving communities while preparing for a career as a prosecutor committed to fairness, integrity, and the rule of law.
Inspired by the American Bar Association’s principle that a prosecutor’s foremost duty is to seek justice, Cody began his commitment to public service through an internship with the Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. That experience sparked his passion for the legal profession and led him to positions with Shore Legal Access and the Legal Aid Justice Center, where he assisted individuals facing housing, family, life-planning, and expungement issues while advocating for underserved and marginalized communities. Through these experiences, Cody developed a deep commitment to ensuring that the legal system serves all members of society with fairness, compassion, and dignity.
In addition to his dedication to community advocacy, Cody has distinguished himself academically through his work in transnational and international law. During his third year of law school, Cody will serve as the Lead Executive Editor of the German Law Journal. His student note, The Human Rights of Nature: The Inter-American Court’s Ecocentric Right to a Healthy Environment, has been selected for publication, reflecting both his scholarly excellence and his thoughtful examination of evolving international legal principles. Cody also participated in the 2026 Rule of Law Academy in Berlin, where he collaborated with law students from around the world to engage in comparative law and strengthen his understanding of the global rule of law.
This Summer, Cody continues his public service through the Sarita Wright Lucas Clerkship Program with the Delaware Department of Justice. The American Counsel Association is proud to recognize Cody as this year’s scholarship recipient. His dedication to academic excellence, public service, and the pursuit of justice embodies the values this scholarship was created to honor, and we are confident that Cody will make a lasting contribution to the legal profession and to the communities he serves.