The Washburn Law School Foundation announces the endowment of the John D. Ensley Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Legal Writing at Washburn University School of Law. The fund will provide financial assistance for a student for excellence in the writing competition used to select members of the Washburn Law Journal.
Mr. Ensley passed away at age 40 from cancer on February 3, 1999. He was a member of the Washburn Law School Class of 1980. His father, Arden K. Ensley, also a graduate of the law school, is a member of the class of 1954.
As an attorney, his specialties included commercial, government, real estate, securities and educational law. He worked with the law firm of Eidson, Lewis, Porter and Haynes until 1989, when he joined the firm of Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds and Palmer, where he became a partner in 1993. He was admitted to the Kansas Bar in 1983 and he was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998. He was a member in the American, Kansas and Topeka Bar Associations. He had been a speaker at the Washburn Law Institute.
While a law student, Mr. Ensley was the Assistant Comments Editor of the Washburn Law Journal. He authored "Civil Rights: A Civil Remedy for Religious Deprogramming Victim Under 42 U.S.C. 1985(3)," 21 Washburn L.J. 663. Ensley also worked for the Kansas Secretary of State office while he attended Washburn Law School. He was a member of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity.
As an undergraduate, Ensley was a member of Sagamore men's honors fraternity and Alpha Delta fraternity at Washburn Unviersity. He is survived by his wife, Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth(Libby) Ensley, and their two children, Jessica and Daniel. Gifts to the John D. Ensley Memorial Scholarship may be sent to Washburn University School of Law, 1700 SW College, Topeka, Kansas 66621.