Harold Sullivan Scholarship
Direct application
Eligibility
About this scholarship
Students enrolled in an Illinois law school with at least one year of law school remaining, who demonstrate financial need and participation in community service and/or pro bono activities, and who do not have a close family member who is a judge, may apply for scholarships in the Illinois Judges Foundation Harold Sullivan Scholarship Program. Applicants should show commitment to service, integrity, and the pursuit of justice.
Five awards are listed; the top scholarship amount is $7,500. Funds are paid to the recipient’s law school for tuition and other qualified educational expenses. Some law schools may provide matching funds. The program includes awards such as the Justice Mary Jane Theis Scholarship.
Complete the Harold Sullivan Scholarship Program application and gather documentation of financial need, enrollment, and community service or pro bono involvement.
Essay questions
What else to submit
- Application
- Documentation of financial need
- Enrollment documentation
- Documentation of community service or pro bono involvement
- Separate financial-need response
- Separate community-service/pro-bono response
- Separate 750-to-1500-word legal writing essay in PDF or DOCX
- Responses must be submitted in typewritten, double-spaced, 12-point font, with one-inch margins.
- Legal writing essay prompt 3 must be 750-1500 words, not including citations.
- Each of the three responses must be a separate document in PDF or DOCX format, attached to the submission email.
- Eligibility: enrolled in an Illinois law school with at least one year remaining; demonstrated financial need; community service or pro bono experience; no close family member who is a judge.
- Letters of recommendation and personal/professional references are NOT accepted.
- Application includes a publication agreement (IJF may publish the essay) and a photo release.
- The legal essay prompt is a new fact pattern each year; the prompt above is from the 2025 cycle application form.
- Responses must be typewritten, double-spaced, 12-point font, with one-inch margins.
- Letters of recommendation and personal or professional references are not accepted.
- Application includes a publication agreement and photo release.