Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation gifts recent Brooklyn Law School grad with scholarship

September 16, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Pictured from left: Avery Eli Okin, Hon. Frank R. Seddio, Aimee L. Richter, Anthony Beneduce Jr., Rebecca Rose Woodland, Steven D. Cohn and Brooklyn Law School President and Dean Nicholas Allard. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

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The Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation gifted recent Brooklyn Law School (BLS) graduate Anthony Beneduce Jr. with the second annual Hon. Theodore T. Jones Jr. Memorial Scholarship during a ceremony in Brooklyn Heights on Wednesday.

“You are acknowledging a very special person who got his legal education at a very special place in Brooklyn,” said Nicholas W. Allard, president and dean at BLS. “This young man exemplifies the character and qualities of the over 100,000 people who have graduated from BLS since 150 years ago.”

Beneduce was raised by his sister Christina and grandfather Guadalupe after the death of his mother. It was his mother’s dying wish that he “make something of himself,” which encouraged him to go to law school. There he thrived, was eventually voted by his classmates as a commencement speaker and just recently got a job with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

“When he spoke of the promise he made to his dying mother of making himself worthy of her, and what he had gone through to keep that promise, he inspired us all,” Allard continued. “It is incredibly fitting for [Beneduce] to receive this honor, as Appellate Judge Jones was a beloved and universally respected member of our legal community.”

Hon. Frank Seddio, president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, called Beneduce “the real American Dream.”

“We’re so proud to have helped you at this point in your life,” Seddio said before jokingly reminding Beneduce that he should be working in Brooklyn rather than the Bronx. “Hopefully, the Bronx DA’s Office could be just a temporary stop. Maybe we can help you find something in Brooklyn later on down the road. We’ll talk.”

After receiving the scholarship, Beneduce recalled working in construction, settling up scaffolding prior to law school, and said that he could have barely predicted that his life would bring him to this point.

“I wanted to pursue my dream. Brooklyn Law School gave me the opportunity, and I jumped at it,” Beneduce said. “I can’t even express how grateful I am. I have taken on what seems like an insurmountable amount of debt. That never stopped me; I always wanted to give back to the community. The Bronx District Attorney is giving me that opportunity.

“As attorneys, we’re the ones wearing the white hat, the ones people will look to as a moral compass, and I embrace that role and look forward to accomplishing as much as I can.”