Opportunities & Aid

Association of Women Lawyers Foundation 2024 Scholarship Awards

The Association for Women Lawyers (AWL) is a non-profit, specialty bar association organized to promote the welfare, interests, and professional development of lawyers who are women; promote the legal interests of women generally; maintain the honor and integrity of the legal profession;  advance justice for all individuals.

The Association for Women Lawyers Foundation (AWLF) is the charitable arm of AWL. Each year, the Foundation awards scholarships to law students enrolled in Marquette University Law School and the University of Wisconsin Law School. A portion of the proceeds from AWL’s Annual Women Judges Night, an evening honoring Wisconsin’s women judges, benefits the Foundation’s scholarship program. All scholarship applicants must satisfy these requirements:

  • Applicant must be attending a Wisconsin law school in September 2024. 
  • Applicant must have completed the first or second year of law school.
  • Applicant must be in good academic standing.  
  • Applicant must be a woman.
  • Applicant must meet one or more of the selection criteria for the AWLF scholarship.

Selection Criteria for the AWLF Scholarship:

  • Service to others.
  • Diversity.
  • Compelling financial need.
  • Academic achievement.
  • Unique life experience or circumstance (e.g., overcoming obstacles to attend or continue with law school).
  • Advancement of women in the profession.

Selection Criteria for the Virginia A. Pomeroy Scholarship:

The Virginia A. Pomeroy Scholarship honors the memory of AWL past-president and former Deputy State Public Defender Virginia A. Pomeroy, who began the AWL scholarship program in 1997. This scholarship may be awarded by AWLF in any year to deserving applicants. In addition to the selection criteria for the AWLF Scholarship, a successful applicant must demonstrate a special emphasis, through experience, employment, class work or clinical programs, in at least one of the following areas:

  • Service to the vulnerable or disadvantaged 
  • Civil Rights Law
  • Appellate practice
  • Public Service
  • Public Policy, or
  • Public Interest Law. 

Selection Criteria for the Shirley S. Abrahamson Scholarship:

  • Demonstrated perseverance in the face of adversity
  • Commitment to issues affecting women and/or children in the community
  • Commitment to public service

The Scholarship Award Process

Scholarship recipients are notified of their award on or after July 31. Scholarship checks are presented to the recipients at AWL’s Annual Meeting in September 2024. Although the exact amount of the scholarships has not yet been set, in recent years they have been $2,500 per person. All scholarship applicants receive a complimentary one-year membership in AWL. Scholarship recipients also receive a complimentary ticket to AWL’s Women Judges’ Night in the spring of 2025.

How to Apply

An eligible application consists of a current resume, a law school transcript, and a cover letter. An official transcript is preferred, but an unofficial transcript is acceptable if the official version is not available by the application deadline. You may resubmit your updated transcript after June 15, 2024 if it is not available prior to the deadline. Your cover letter must discuss the specific ways in which you satisfy the criteria for the AWL Foundation Scholarship, the Pomeroy Scholarship, and/or the Abrahamson Scholarship. One cover letter is sufficient to apply for all three.

Applications and transcripts must be submitted to the AWL Foundation Scholarship Committee at associationforwomenlawyers@gmail.com or by mail to 3322 N. 92nd Street, Milwaukee, WI 53222. Electronic applications are encouraged. You will receive a confirmation email. If you have not received a response within 24 hours of having submitted an application, please resend. All eligible applications must be received no later than June 15, 2024.

Contact: AWL Foundation Scholarship Committee

Summer Youth Institute Seeking Mentors to Coach Student Participants

Summer Youth Institute Seeking Mentors to Coach Student Participants

Each summer, the Law School hosts the Summer Youth Institute (SYI) for rising 8th-, 9th-, and 10th- graders interested in careers in the law. SYI is designed to introduce diverse middle and high school students from the City of Milwaukee to the legal system, expose them to careers in law, and provide them with practical tools for achieving their educational goals. Law students are actively involved as oral argument coaches to help students prepare to present an oral argument on the final day of the program.

The program takes place at Eckstein Hall July 25, 26, and July 29 through August 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (you will only be needed for portions of each day). Mentors will receive $12/hour and complimentary parking under Eckstein Hall while they work.

Sign up now to be a coach/mentor! Review the specific schedule and sign-up online. Past law students consistently remark that the program is inspirational (and fun).

Please contact Hilary DeBlois with any questions. 

Contact: Hilary DeBlois

Student Liaison Position: Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section

The Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin is seeking a Marquette student liaison fto serve on the Board for the 2024-2025 term. The student should have an interest in real estate law, or trust and estates law. Meetings are held quarterly (typically at the State Bar headquarters) and can be attended in-person or virtually. The role of the student representative is to act as a liaison between the Section and the law school.

Interested students should reach out to Chair-elect Steven J. Frassetto via email with a brief statement of interest by June 1st. 

Contact: Attorney Steven Frassetto

WisLAP Seminar: Mental Health Literacy for Lawyers

Friday, May 31, 2024 - 9:00am State Bar Center, State Bar Center 5302 Eastpark Blvd. Madison, WI 53718

Mental Health Literacy for Lawyers

In-person seminar: Friday, May 31 from 9 a.m. until 4:35 p.m. at the State Bar Center

Registration is free for law student associate members!

Co-produced with the State Bar of Wisconsin
Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP)

How mental health frameworks can make you a better lawyer

Lawyers often work on highly charged emotional cases, with clients profoundly affected by the situations that motivate them to seek legal services. Yet, law school may not have provided education on how the mental health of clients affects legal processes and outcomes. Familiarity with fundamental clinical frameworks in mental health — particularly personality disorders, mood disorders, and trauma — gives lawyers deeper understandings of their clients in mediation, arbitration, civil litigation, and criminal proceedings. Understanding mental health can contribute significantly to attorneys’ competence and professionalism, as well as better outcomes for clients.

Mental Health Literacy for Lawyers offers insights into narcissistic, borderline, and anti-social personality disorders and how to work effectively in situations shaped by their traits. You will learn how anxiety, panic, acute stress, and post-traumatic stress can interfere with your clients’ ability to function in legal proceedings and how you can help overcome these challenges to create better legal and personal outcomes.

Plus, you’ll find out what lawyers need to know about suicidality and risk assessment processes for their clients’ benefit and their own safety, along with considerations from various legal angles of Wisconsin’s Chapter 51 standards for mental health emergency detentions and civil commitment evaluations.

There are also additional webcast seminar opportunities available throughout the summer.

You can find more information regarding the schedule, speakers, and how to register on the website here.

 

Contact: Amber Ault, Ph.D., MSW, State Bar of Wisconsin, WisLAP

State Bar of Wisconsin Annual Meeting & Conference

Wednesday, June 19, 2024 - 11:30am Green Bay, WI

Learn What’s Relevant and Timely
to the Bench and Bar at AMC 2024

As a law student, keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s relevant and timely in the legal profession is vital. It helps you identify potential practice areas, sound more knowledgeable in interviews, and provide content for networking conversations. There’s no better opportunity to see what’s relevant in the legal profession than the 2024 State Bar of Wisconsin Annual Meeting & Conference (AMC).

Join the State Bar in Green Bay from June 19 through June 21, to meet and mingle with your future colleagues from around the state and country. Build your schedule with three dynamic plenary sessions and 18 different breakout CLE sessions to choose from. Take advantage of this great learning opportunity and expand your professional network while you’re at it!

Plus, law students registered in the free State Bar of Wisconsin Law Student Associate program may attend the AMC with no registration fee required! Please note there is a cost associated with attending Thursday’s networking luncheon and Thursday night’s social event at Lambeau Field.

For more information about AMC, visit amc.wisbar.org

Questions about the AMC registration process?

Contact us at customerservice@wisbar.org or (800) 728-7788

Contact: State Bar of Wisconsin