08/13/2026
The King Scholarship is a new project of Trial Lawyers College, established with the generous gift of former TLC Board of Directors member Bill Trine and honoring the civil rights achievements of Milton Grimes, former Vice-President of TLC. Milton’s client, Rodney King, was the plaintiff of King v. City of Los Angeles, the first civil rights jury trial of the post-Jim Crow era in which video footage could corroborate allegations of excessive force by law enforcement. In his vision for the King Scholarship, Bill Trine sought to raise awareness among civil rights lawyers that the TLC Method can empower and strengthen their advocacy – and to honor, each year, an experienced and committed civil rights specialist with a full-tuition scholarship to TLC. TLC is deeply moved by the response to its announcement of the King Scholarship, which included heartfelt donations to support Bill’s vision – and, for TLC’s flagship 3-week College, a powerful field of applicants for the King Scholarship who impressed us with their strong commitments to the integrity of constitutional rights.
Trial Lawyers College’s first Rodney King Scholar, David Rankin, has served civil rights clients for 20 years, as counsel of record in hundreds of civil rights cases. David’s diverse practice includes jury trials, bench trials in which he seeks injunctive relief and class actions. He represents victims of excessive force by police; prisoners subjected to inhumane conditions of confinement; families of prisoners who die in custody; protesters wrongfully arrested in the exercise of their First Amendment rights; journalists and lawyers seeking FOIA access to sealed documents; unlawfully-detained immigrants; Critical Mass bicyclists assaulted by police; and arrestees who just happened to be innocent. David’s clients are sometimes mentally ill, low-functioning, addicted, impoverished, both members of large classes and alone and in fear, both loved and unloved – and all are endowed with the rights set forth in the United States Constitution.
Read the full story here: https://www.triallawyerscollege.org/rodney_king_civil_rights_2027_scholarship.php
