Elizabeth Durbin |
Harout Bouldoukian |
For the first time since its inception six years ago, both recipients of the Harry Zekian Scholarship are students at San Joaquin College of Law. Elizabeth Durbin, who will graduate this May, and Harout Bouldoukian, slated to graduate in 2014, were each awarded a $2,500 scholarship through the Fresno County Bar Association in conjunction with the Zekian Scholarship Committee.
The scholarship is in memory of Zekian, who graduated from Clovis West High School, then California State University, Fresno, and finally received his J. D. from Whittier Law School in 1998, but was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident just five years later. The scholarship seeks to assist law school students with significant ties to the Valley who express interest in practicing locally.
While Harout is from Southern California and received his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Northridge, he is currently working in the Self Help Center of the Fresno County Superior Court in conjunction with the Better Business Bureau. He says he is highly interested in staying the area, where he would like to combine his interests in law and finance to help people resolve money issues ranging from bankruptcy to tax, corporate and contract law issues.
Durbin, a graduate of Edison High School and California State University Fresno, is currently a law clerk with the firm of Nuttall, Coleman and Wilson. Previously, she served as an intern at the Federal Defender’s Office. She plans to stay in the area and hopes to practice in the area of criminal defense after she passes the Bar. She says the scholarship will help defray the cost association with sitting for the Bar Exam.