From a writing contest on international law and an essay competition on environmental law, to internships with Fortune 500 corporations and scholarship funding or future elder law practitioners, the New York State Bar Association offers a wide variety of opportunities to help law students develop critical legal skills and build their resumes. Take a look at the many opportunities we offer that can guide you on your way to become one of New York’s leading attorneys.
OFFERED THROUGH sections
Business Law Section
The Section sponsors an annual Student Writing Competition, open to all students who are candidates for the JD or LLM degree at an accredited law school during the year in which the article is submitted. The first- and second-place winners will receive cash prizes of $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. At the discretion of the editors, they will also be published in the NY Business Law Journal, which is sponsored by the Business Law Section in cooperation with New York Law School and is published in the summer and winter. Additional cash prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the Section. Entries that do not qualify for cash prizes may also be considered for publication in the Journal. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/BLSWritingCompetition.
Corporate Counsel Section
The Section sponsors the Kenneth G. Standard Internship Program, which focuses on identifying and supporting in-house internship opportunities for law students from a diverse range of backgrounds. The program is named in honor of the former NYSBA President and his lifetime commitment to initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in the legal profession. Corporate and not-for-profit hosts have included Alliance Bernstein, Con Ed, FINRA, Goldman Sachs, In Motion, McGraw-Hill, NYPA, Oneida, Pepsi, Pfizer and USTA (United States Tennis Assocation). For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/corporate.
Dispute Resolution Section
The Section and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators sponsors the National Championship Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Student Writing Competition, open to all North American JD and LLM law students. A $10,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winning submittal as determined by a panel of judges from the Editorial Board of the ACCTM American Journal of Mediation, select Fellows and members of the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section. Winning entries will be published in the ACCTM Journal of Mediation and the NYSBA New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/DRS.
Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section
The Section, in partnership with BMI, offers the Phil Cowan Memorial/BMI Scholarship to a law student who is committed to a practice concentrating in one or more areas of entertainment, art or sports law. Two $2,500 awards will be made. The competition is open to all students attending eligible law schools, which include all accredited law schools within New York, along with Rutgers University Law School and Seton Hall Law School in New Jersey, and up to 10 other accredited law schools throughout the country to be selected, at the Committee’s discretion, on a rotating basis. Submissions are due in December. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/EASLWritingComp.
Environmental & Energy Law Section
Professor William R. Ginsberg Memorial Essay Contest: The Section sponsors an essay contest, which is designed to challenge law students to analyze the environmental issues confronting us today. The first prize is $1,000 and publication of the essay. The second-and third-prize winners will receive $500 and $250 respectively, certificates and consideration of publication by the State Bar. The contest is open to all J.D. candidates enrolled in New York law schools. Nominations are due in June. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/environmental.
Minority Fellowship in Environmental & Energy Law: The Section, in conjunction with the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, sponsors an 8-week, $7,500 stipend to spend the summer of 2019 (8 weeks minimum) working on legal matters for a government, environmental or energy agency or public interest environmental organization in New York. Eligible applicants are first-year, second-year and third-year (night students only) minority group members who are: enrolled in a law school in New York; or permanent New York residents, and enrolled in a law school in the United States. Applications are due in November. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/environmental.
International Section
Albert S. Pergam International Law Writing Competition: This competition, sponsored by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, fosters legal scholarship among law students in the field of international law. It is intended to encourage students of law to write on areas of public or private international law. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication of the article (subject to editorial approval) in the New York State Bar Journal, the New York International Law Review, or the International Law Practicum. Law students (including J.D., LL.M., Ph.D. and S.J.D. candidates) are eligible to apply. Applications are due in November. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/PergamWritingCompetition/.
Labor and Employment Section
Dr. Emanuel and Kenneth Stein Writing Competition: The Section’s recognizes excellence in writing on any current issue involving labor or employment law. The scope of permissible topic for the article is broad, i.e., any aspect of public or private labor or employment law. The first prize is $3,000 and publication in Section newsletter; second prize is $2,000 and third prize is $1,000. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/labor.
Samuel M. Kaynard Memorial Student Service Awards: The awards are provided to enable New York law schools to recognize excellence among their law students in the area of labor and employment law and to cultivate the relationship between the Labor and Employment Law Section and future and labor and employment practitioners. The first prize is $3,000; second prize is 2,000 and third prize is $1,000. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/labor.
Trial Lawyers Section
The Section recognizes winning school and student advocates of the National Trial Advocacy Region II Competition (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) in February each year. The competition has been sponsored by the State Bar since 1974 to encourage the inclusion of “trial advocacy and trial technique” as part of the law school curricula. Each year, the first place team gets the traveling Tiffany & Co. plaque, cup and base to be displayed for the year. The college will be awarded a check in the amount of $7,500 and a plaque listing team members and coaches. The second place team will be sent a plaque listing team members and coaches and a check in the amount of $5,000. Team members will also be sent individual plaques. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/trial.
Young Lawyers Section Trial Academy
Each year various Sections offer scholarships for tuition to the Young Lawyers Section Trial Academy. On average, 20 scholarships have been awarded to NYSBA members each year. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/YLSTrialAcademy
OFFERED THROUGH committees
Committee on Animals and the Law
Student Writing Competition: The Committee offers a Student Writing Competition, which seeks to
foster legal scholarship among law students in the area of animals and the law,
and provides law students with an incentive and opportunity to learn more about
this area of law. Law students (which include J.D., L.L.M., Ph.D., and S.J.D.
candidates) are invited to submit an article concerning any area of Animal Law
to the Committee on Animals and the Law. All submissions will be
reviewed by a panel of attorneys and other professionals, practicing or otherwise
involved in animal law. The winner will be chosen in accordance with the
competition rules. The first place winner will receive $1,000 and a certificate
of achievement. The second place winner will receive $500 and a certificate of
achievement. The third place winner will receive a certificate of recognition.
Nominations are typically due in July. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/animals.
President’s Committee on Access to Justice
The Committee sponsors the President’s Pro Bono Service Awards to recognize outstanding pro bono service and to emphasize the importance of such service in helping to provide all New Yorkers with equal access to the justice system, regardless of income. The awards are presented on Law Day in May. Two of the awards are given to a law student and a law school group. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/PBAwards.
OFFERED THROUGH THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION
Application deadlines vary for each opportunity. Please visit www.tnybf.org for up-to-date information
Antitrust Section Law Student Fellowship
The New York Bar Foundation is pleased to announce the 2019 Antitrust Section Law Student Fellowship, established by the Foundation through
gifts from the Antitrust Section of the New York State Bar Association. The
Fellowship, currently valued at $6,000, will be awarded to one or more students
to spend the summer of 2019 (10 weeks) working on antitrust matters in one of
the following agencies: the New York Office of New York Attorney General,
Antitrust Bureau; Federal Trade Commission, Northeast Region; or Department of
Justice Antitrust Division, New York Field Office. Fellows will be also be
guest members of the NYSBA Antitrust Section for two years starting with the
award of the Fellowship.
Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Minority Fellowship
The Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Diversity
Fellowship was established by The Foundation through a gift from the Commercial
and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. The
Fellowship is awarded to a current first year diversity law student who is
enrolled in a law school in the State of New York to work in a litigation
position in the public sector in the State of New York during the summer. The student must demonstrate an interest in
commercial and federal litigation.
Jana Springer Behe Corporate Counsel Section Fellowship
Through the Corporate Counsel Section Fellowship Fund, the
New York Bar Foundation provides funding for a $6,000 fellowship to give a first or second year student of a diverse background, who is attending a law school in NYS, the opportunity to pursue a 10 week summer fellowship at a public interest legal or charitable organization. The student will assist the organization's general counsel with matters relating to counsel or advice to the organization.
The Honorable Joel K. Asarch Elder Law and Special Needs Section Scholarship
The scholarship was established by The Foundation through a gift from the Elder
Law and Special Needs Section of The New York State Bar Association. The $2,500
scholarship will be awarded to a second year or third year law student who is
enrolled in a law school in the State of New York and is actively participating
in an Elder Law Clinic at the school during the academic year or performs other
substantial efforts which demonstrate interest in the legal rights of the
elderly or those with disabilities.
Health Law Section Summer Diversity Fellowship
The Fellowship was established by The Foundation through a
gift from the Health Law Section of the New York State Bar Association. The
Fellowship will be awarded to a law student who is currently enrolled in a law
school in the State of New York to work with a healthcare attorney or facility
in the State of New York during the summer.
The Diversity Summer Fellowship in Health Law is part of the New York
State Bar Association’s Diversity Challenge to develop and execute initiatives
to increase the diversity of its membership, leadership and programs. The
primary goal of the Diversity Summer Fellowship in Health Law program is to
increase representation of lawyers and students from a diverse range of
backgrounds in health law. For more information, please visit: www.nysba.org/HLSfellowship.
Intellectual Property Section Miriam Maccoby Netter Fellowship
One grant, valued at $5,000, will be awarded to a public
interest intellectual property organization or charity to conduct the
fellowship. The fellowship will take place in summer and the organization will
offer the fellowship to students enrolled in law school located in New York
State, as well as persons who received their JD any time within the last 3
years. The fellow will assist a public interest legal organization or charity
with intellectual property law matters. The fellowship program goals are to
increase the representation of lawyers in intellectual property law and to
provide students with an opportunity to experience intellectual property law
practice. Students are encouraged to speak to a nonprofit organization that
handles intellectual property law matters to discuss applying for the funding.
The Judge Bernard S. Meyer Scholarship
Established in 2004 by the law firm, Meyer, Suozzi, English
& Klein, P.C., the scholarship is awarded to a law school student who excels
in legal writing and advocacy skills. An essay that displays excellence in
legal writing and advocacy skills must be submitted for consideration of this
scholarship. The $5,000 scholarship is
open to second-year students enrolled in a law school in the State of New York.
Real Property Law Section
Lorraine Power Tharp Scholarship
Through a gift from the Real Property Law Section, The New York
Bar Foundation established the Real Property Law Section Lorraine Power Tharp
Scholarship in 2008. The $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a second- or
third-year law school student who best exemplifies the core values important to
Lorraine: academic excellence, a demonstrated interest in public service, high
integrity and, if possible, an interest in real property law. The Scholarship was created to honor the memory of Lorraine Power Tharp, who served as President of the NYSBA and Chair of the Real Property Law Section. Efforts will be made to honor Lorraine’s commitment to gender equality and diversity in the profession. To ensure geographic diversity, the Foundation will strive to select students attending New York State law schools in different counties each year, so that over time students from all areas of the state will be able to benefit from the scholarship. A preference will be given to students who demonstrate financial need.
Melvyn Mitzner Scholarship
Through
a gift from the Real Property Law Section and Rosalyn Mitzner, The New York Bar
Foundation established the Real Property Law Section Melvyn Mitzner Scholarship
in 2013. The $ 5,000 scholarship is awarded to a full- or part-time student
enrolled in a New York State law school. The
scholarship was created to honor the memory of Melvyn Mitzner, a legend in the
New York real estate legal community. Mitzner is a former chair of the Real
Property Law Section, and was an active and valued member of the Section for
many years. Efforts
will be made to honor Mitzner’s commitment to professional achievement and to
diversity in the profession. To ensure geographic diversity, the
Foundation will strive to select students attending New York State law schools
in different counties each year, so that over time students from all areas of
the State will be able to benefit from the scholarship. A preference will be
given to students who demonstrate financial need.
For more information on the Real Property Law Section Scholarships, please visit: www.nysba.org/realpropertyscholarships
The Trusts and Estates Law Section Fellowships
Through contributions of the Trusts and Estates Law Section
of the New York State Bar Association, fellowships of $5,000 each will be
awarded to second-year law students currently enrolled in law schools in New
York State. The Fellowship Program will provide students with an opportunity to
experience trusts and estates law practice. The ultimate goal of the Fellowship
is to create a network and forge relationships among trusts and estates law
attorneys throughout the State of New York. The ten-week fellowship takes place
in the summer. For complete application details, go to www.tnybf.org or contact The New York Bar Foundation at 518-487-5651 or [email protected].
