The D.W. Perkins Bar Association 2026 Legacy in Motion Scholarship and Awards Gala was May 30 at The Garden Club of Jacksonville.

This year, six law school graduates each received $1,500 to cover a portion of their Bar examination preparation costs.

Two high school students headed to college this fall received $500 scholarships to help pay for textbooks.

The law school graduates:

• Bengy Baptiste, Florida A&M College of Law
• Kaylah Clark, Florida A&M College of Law
• Skylar Hillery, Florida A&M College of Law
• Brianna Napoleon, Florida A&M College of Law
• Amber Newsome, Florida A&M College of Law
• Taisha Saintil, Florida International University College of Law

The law school graduates were introduced at the gala by two 2025 scholarship recipients: Lauren Fisher, who graduated from Jacksonville University College of Law; and Jo’anna Clayton, a Florida A&M College of Law graduate.

The  William Raines High school students were Bryson Lewis, who will attend Alabama State University; and Brooklynn Scott, who will be attending Bethune Cookman University.

Lewis and Scott were participants in the Future Lawyers and Leaders Mock Trial Program at Raines. 

They were chosen because they were the top performers in the program and have consistently shown exceptional leadership skills, said Naphtalie Azor, D.W. Perkins 2025-26 president.

At this year’s gala, the Bar study scholarship was renamed “The Honorable Pauline Drake Scholarship” to honor the  retired Duval County judge, now a senior judge in the county and circuit courts, certified by the Supreme Court of Florida.

Drake was appointed to the bench in 1998 by Gov. Lawton Chiles and retired in 2020.

The scholarship presented to the high school students was renamed “The Honorable Brian Davis Scholarship” to honor Senior U.S. District Judge Brian Davis.

He was appointed to the 4th Judicial Circuit bench in 1994, also by Chiles. 

Davis was was confirmed to the federal bench in 2013. He assumed senior judge status in 2023.

The D.W. Perkins Bar Association is named for Daniel Webster Perkins, one of Florida’s first Black lawyers, officially admitted to The Florida Bar in 1914.  

Perkins was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. He received degrees from North Carolina State Normal College in 1897, Temple University in 1899 and Shaw University Law School in 1902.

After practicing law in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Tampa, he settled in Jacksonville in 1919, where he practiced until his death in 1972.

Perkins distinguished himself as a proponent of civil rights, a community leader and a member of the Bar who was interested in the careers of his younger Black colleagues. 

In 1968, the former Colored Lawyers Association changed its name in honor of D.W. Perkins, who was a founding member.