Student Resources

Overview

We started the St. John’s Law Student Emergency Fund with generous contributions from the Law School community. The Fund aims to support students who are facing short-term financial emergencies, covering unexpected and necessary expenses related (but not limited) to: 

• Food
• Emergency medical expenses
• Technological needs to enable participation in classes and assignments
• Emergency travel due to illness or bereavement
• Course materials where funding isn't otherwise available 

Eligibility Requirements

The Student Emergency Fund is open to St. John’s Law students currently enrolled in classes. 

Application Process

To apply for assistance, please complete the online application.

The Fund Committee only considers completed applications and aims to respond to applicants within three business days. If the Committee asks for additional information, please respond in a timely manner. Be sure to check your St. John’s email regularly for messages about your application.

While funds are limited, the Committee works diligently to help as many students as possible. To accomplish that, we ask you to be thoughtful and sincere about your request. You should also continue to seek help through other channels, including emergency loan assistance through St. John's Office of Student Financial Services.

Additional Resources

If you're struggling with challenges that aren't financial in nature, the University offers support through its Counseling and Psychological Services. The Law School's Student Services team is also here to support you.

Thank you to AccessLex for their generous $25,000 contribution to our Student Emergency Fund.

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Writing Center

About the Listing

The following is a regularly updated listing of external scholarship and writing competition opportunities. While not exhaustive, it's a good starting point in your search for outside funding for your legal education. Many scholarships can be found through the AccessLex Law School Scholarship Databank.

Last updated: September 16, 2024

Overview

• Nassau County Women's Bar Foundation Scholarship (Feb. 14, 2025)
• The Fred Gray Civil Rights Writing Competition (Feb. 28, 2025)
• Hon. William C. Conner Writing Competition (Mar. 7, 2025)
• 2025 USLAW NETWORK Foundation Law School Scholarship Program (Mar. 21, 2025)
• 2025 NYIPLEF Diversity Scholarship (Apr. 4, 2025)

Full Details

Nassau County Women's Bar Foundation Scholarship

One of the missions of The Nassau County Women’s Bar Foundation is to advance the status of women in the law. One of the ways to advance this mission is to grant a scholarship to an outstanding woman who has displayed a commitment to continuing to attend law school through her 2L and 3L years.

To qualify for the scholarship, candidates must meet the following criteria:

1) The applicant must be a woman.
2) The applicant must be a resident of Nassau County.
3) The applicant must have been accepted to and currently enrolled in an accredited law school in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island, Westchester, or Bronx Counties.
4) The applicant must have graduated college with a GPA of at least 3.0.
5) The applicant must have a GPA of at least 2.75 in law school at the time the scholarship application is submitted.
6) The applicant should maintain a GPA of at least 2.75 in law school for the year to which the scholarship funds are applied.
7) The applicant should display characteristics consistent with the mission of the Nassau County Women’s Bar Foundation.
8) The applicant must demonstrate financial need.

Application and submission directions

Application deadline: February 14, 2025

The Fred Gray Civil Rights Writing Competition

The FRED GRAY CIVIL RIGHTS WRITING COMPETITION is a prestigious national writing competition honoring the extraordinary contributions of Fred Gray to the civil rights movement. Fred Gray is a renowned civil rights attorney who played a pivotal role in numerous landmark cases that helped dismantle segregation and advance the cause of racial justice in America. Notably, he represented Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the victims of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. His legal acumen and unwavering commitment to justice have left an indelible mark on the history of civil rights in the United States. 

In 2023, with the generous support of Mark and Becky Lanier, Texas Tech University School of Law established the Fred Gray Endowed Chair for Civil Rights and Constitutional Law to honor Mr. Gray’s profound contributions to the civil rights movement. Now, Texas Tech Law is partnering with The Lanier Law Firm and the Fred D. Gray Institute for Human and Civil Rights to offer the FRED GRAY CIVIL RIGHTS WRITING COMPETITION to law students around the nation. 

This writing competition is an opportunity for law students to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on civil rights and to honor the legacy of a legal giant—Fred Gray— whose work continues to inspire justice and equality. 
Law students are invited to submit original scholarly essays that are thematically linked to the impactful work of Fred Gray and his contributions to the civil rights movement. Submitted essays should demonstrate thorough research, thoughtful analysis, and original insights while exploring critical civil rights issues, including but not limited to: 

•    The right to vote; 
•    The right to be free from racial discrimination; 
•    The right to government services; 
•    The right to fair treatment in the criminal justice system including at trial;  
•    The right to public education; and 
•    The right to gainful employment. 

Eligibility: Any J.D. or LL.M. student—full-time or part-time—currently enrolled in an ABA-Accredited law school may submit an essay.  

Application and submission directions

Award: $7,500 (first place), $5,000 (second place), and $2,500 (third place).

Application deadline: February 28, 2025

Hon. William C. Conner Writing Competition

The Honorable William Conner Writing Competition was established to recognize exceptionally written papers that are submitted by law students and is presented each year at the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner.

The New York Intellectual Property Law Association created a writing competition for law students and appropriately named it “The William C. Conner Intellectual Property Law Writing Competition”, after the Honorable William C. Conner, who was a former president of the NYIPLA. In recognition of his significant contributions to the field of Intellectual Property, in 1992 the Association established this competition in his name.

The competition is open to students enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program (day or evening)  in an accredited law school in the United States. The subject matter must be directed to  one of the following subject areas of intellectual property, i.e., patents, trademarks,  copyrights, trade secrets, and unfair trade practices, as well as antitrust and data  security/privacy issues to the extent they relate to intellectual property.

Application and submission directions

Award: The Winner will receive a cash award of $2,500.00. The Runner-up will receive a cash award of $1,500.00.

Application deadline: March 7, 2025

2025 USLAW NETWORK Foundation Law School Scholarship Program

The USLAW NETWORK Foundation is pleased to share that applications are now being accepted for the 2025 USLAW NETWORK Foundation Law School Scholarship Program. The scholarship program is committed to helping eligible, diverse law students, those who demonstrate a genuine commitment to the communities they come from and have a financial need to achieve their academic and professional dreams.

Eligibility Requirements

•    Applicant is from an underrepresented population and background, which includes but is not limited to, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native American or Other Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx, and/or multiple of the aforementioned racial identities, or who identifies as LGBTQ+; and/or demonstrates a defined commitment to issues of diversity and inclusion.
•    Applicant is a United States citizen, or a permanent resident of the U.S. Applicant is currently attending an ABA-accredited law school within the U.S. and will be enrolled full-time in Fall 2025.
•    Applicant can demonstrate strong academic achievements as reflected in transcripts from an ABA-accredited U.S. law school and from the recipient’s undergraduate institution.
•    Applicant is not a previous recipient of the USLAW NETWORK Foundation Law School Scholarship Program.

Application and submission directions

Award: The scholarship program will award $5,000 each for at least 10 students selected by the program’s scholarship selection committee.

Application deadline: March 21, 2025

2025 NYIPLEF Diversity Scholarship

NYIPLEF’s Diversity Scholarship provides funds to law students from a broad range of backgrounds who will contribute to creating a more diverse student body, currently enrolled in a J.D. at an accredited law school in the New York area (including Connecticut and New Jersey), in good academic standing, and demonstrating intent to engage in the full-time practice of intellectual property law. The scholarship is intended to be used by the law student for tuition and expenses related to attending law school. Scholarship awards are made at the full and sole discretion of NYIPLEF.

Eligibility

• Have the intention to pursue a full-time career in intellectual property law
• Currently attending an accredited law school (rising 2L or 3L) in the greater New York area, and in good academic standing
• No family relationship to an officer or director of NYIPLEF

Application and submission directions

Award: $10,000

Application deadline: April 4, 2025

Canvas

St. John's Law professors use Canvas, a learning management system, to share course information. Canvas provides an easy-to-use clean layout allowing instructors to quickly set up course content and tools efficiently while students navigate course sites and submit work. To learn how to use Canvas, please take the Student Training Course. 

Westlaw

All St. John's Law students have complimentary Westlaw accounts. Westlaw is a tool for conducting legal research. You'll receive your Westlaw registration code during your first semester at St. John's Law. For questions about Westlaw registration, please contact the law library reference team at [email protected]. 

TWEN

TWEN is a platform within Westlaw that hosts some Law School course and student organization information. (Most faculty and student organizations use Canvas, but a few remain on TWEN.) Once you have a Westlaw account, you can access TWEN via Westlaw.

If you have a class that is using TWEN, you'll need to add it to your TWEN "My Courses" listing as follows:

1. Log into Westlaw.
2. Click on the TWEN link at the top left side of the screen.
3. Click on Manage Courses, then select Add a Course.
4. Click "Add" next to the courses you are enrolled in.
5. Click on Add a Course.
6. If you have any questions regarding TWEN , please call customer support at 1-800-850-WEST or contact our St. John’s Westlaw Account Manager, Estee Waxman at [email protected]. Please note, not all of your courses will have TWEN pages. Please do not worry if you don’t find one for a particular class. Your professor will notify you if there is a TWEN page for your class.

About the Platform

West Study Aids is a free resource that puts study aids of all kinds at your fingertips including:

• Videos
• Audio recordings
• Outlines
• Law summaries
• Practice supplements

Create an Account

• Option 1: Users can access all of the West Academic Study Aid Collection without making an account.
• Option 2: Create an individual account to the platform and tailor it to your needs. Creating a West Academic account allows you to annotate, save favorites, listen to audio lectures, download titles for offline access, and more. Here’s how:

1. Go to the West Academic Study Aid Collection.
2. Click ‘Create an Account’ in the upper right-hand corner.  Follow the prompts.
3. Once you create an account you will be automatically logged into West Academic
4. Verify your email address one of two ways:

• If you are already logged in, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner and click My Account. Enter your school or work email address under “My School/Organization” Click “Check for Materials” and check your email for a verification link.
• The next time you log in you will be prompted to confirm your email. Enter your school email address and check your email for a verification link.

Once you have verified your email address you can access all the content available in your subscription and you can log-in independently from your school’s network.

About West Academic

You have access to 15% off print and electronic casebooks purchased through the West Academic store with code SJULAW. For resources purchased or rented through other online or local resellers, West Academic will also provide digital access to our titles with proof of purchase or rental. Please be sure to retain proof of purchase or rental to ensure continued access!

Health Insurance Options

St. John's University

The University offers a Student Health Insurance Plan.

New York City

While the student plan is often the most cost-effective option, you may also have insurance options through the New York City public exchange program. You can find more information on this option at GetCoveredNYC.

American Bar Association

The American Bar Association offers information on obtaining health insurance after your student plan expires. That information includes an FAQ on Individual and Family Medical Insurance and contact information, so you can learn more and connect with an expert about your insurance needs.