The Daniel B. Dixon Scholarship is awarded annually by the Allegheny County Bar Foundation to a law student attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who has completed their first or second year and who has demonstrated an interest in real estate law, academic excellence and financial need. One scholarship in the amount of $1,000.00 is awarded each year; the application deadline is June 10.  

The Daniel B. Dixon Scholarship Fund was established by the ACBA Real Property Section in 2007 to honor Dixon’s lifelong commitment to the law and community. For over sixty years, Daniel B. Dixon worked as an attorney in the real estate field. Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Dixon received his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1938 and served in the Army from 1944 to 1946. Upon his return, Dixon began working at Rose, Schmidt, Hasley & DiSalle, where he worked for the remainder of his career until he passed away in March 2008. Dixon served as president of the ACBA in 1974; was inducted as a charter fellow of the ACBF in 1980; chaired the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the PBA; and chaired the ACBA Real Estate Section from its creation in 1970 to 1972.  

A plaque, which will display the names of each scholarship recipient, has been created in honor of the fund and will be available for viewing at the offices of the Allegheny County Bar Association.  

On an annual basis, the Environment and Energy Law Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association awards scholarships to local second- or third-year law students who express and demonstrate an interest in pursuing a career in the field of environment and/or energy law in Allegheny County upon graduation. The awards are typically in the amount of $1,000 to $1,500 and should be used toward educational expenses such as tuition, books, or bar review courses. Eligibility requirements are: (1) the candidate must be a second or third year law student in good standing at an accredited law school who anticipates practicing in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania upon graduation, and (2) the candidate must have taken a minimum of two environmental and/or energy law courses OR taken one environmental or energy law course and have comparable experience such as participation in an environmental law clinic, an internship with an agency, company, non-profit or firm specializing in environmental or energy law, or a law school environmental or energy law society.  

The evaluation process consists of submission of a resume and a two-page essay explaining the nature of the applicant’s interest in a career in the field of environment and/or energy law, followed by an interview with the Section’s Scholarship Committee. Applications will be accepted electronically from Jan. 16, 2023 to Feb. 28, 2023 and should be sent directly to Jess Rosenblatt using the contact information below. Awards are expected to be made in April or May of 2023.  

For more information and/or to apply, please contact Jessica Rosenblatt at [email protected].  

The Kennedy T. Friend Scholarship Fund was established by the will of Kennedy T. Friend, a distinguished member of the Bar of Allegheny County who died in London, England, on May 26, 1929. The terms of Mr. Friend’s will state that the balance of the income of the trust “shall be devoted to the education at Yale University…or the University of Paris, France, of such child, or children of the members of the Bar of Allegheny County as may be designated by the said Trustees, or their successors…” Any child of an attorney who is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, and/or who has their principal practice in Allegheny County, is eligible for this scholarship if they chose to attend Yale University or the University of Paris, France. 

Children of members of the Allegheny County Bar Association and nonmember Allegheny County attorneys – those having their principal office in Allegheny County – who desire to attend either Yale University or the University of Paris, France are urged to take advantage of the assistance offered by the Kennedy T. Friend Scholarship Fund. The applications for the scholarships should be submitted at the same time as the admission application is made to Yale University or the University of Paris. For further information regarding the grants for either undergraduate or graduate study, please contact David Gordon, Institutional Trust Officer, at [email protected] or 412-762-9965. 

The F.C. Grote Fund annually awards $5,000 scholarships to a student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. 

The F.C. Grote Fund is part of the Lawyers Fund of the bar foundation, which was established: 

• To relieve want or distress among the members of the bar association or their families by making loans.  
• To promote, advance, improve, and facilitate the administration of justice in Allegheny County through dissemination of educational information.  
• To give scholarships, fellowships, and grants-in-aid for research, writing, and other study of law and of the administration of justice.  
• To make loans to deserving law students, without interest and without security, or to create scholarships as outright grants to worthy law students. 
• To acquire, preserve, and exhibit rare books, objects of art, and items of historical interest having legal significance bearing on the administration of justice. 

The Honorable Carol Los Mansmann was the first woman appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Third Circuit, an associate professor of law at Duquesne University Law School, and an outstanding member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and Pittsburgh’s legal community. Read more about the fund and Judge Mansmann 

Applicants must be enrolled in the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University and have completed their first year of the day division or second year of the evening or part-time day division. Applicants must be ranked in the top half of the class. The scholarship award(s) will be based on a combination of academic achievement, involvement in extracurricular and other activities, financial need, and an essay. Should the selection committee deem it necessary, interviews will be scheduled. A scholarship(s) in the amount of $3,000 will be awarded for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. 

Created in 2001 in honor of the retirement of James I. Smith, and in tribute to his 38 years of devoted service to the lawyers of Allegheny County and the legal profession, the James I. Smith, III, Notre Dame Law School Scholarship Fund will provide scholarships to law students from Allegheny County who are enrolled at Notre Dame Law School. 

One scholarship in the amount of $3,000 is awarded annually. 

On an annual basis, the ACBF, in partnership with the YLD, will award scholarships to second or third year law students who meet the criteria listed below. Both the number of awards and the value of each award will be dependent upon the total value of the YLD Scholarship Fund in that year. 

Founding Donors

Founding Barrister 
Marla Nicole Presley, Esq.  
Joseph R. Williams, Esq. 

Founding Advocate 
Corrine McGinley Smith, Esq. 

Lacee C. Ecker, Esq. 

Founding Supporter 
Laura C. Bunting, Esq. 
Bernard D. Marcus, Esq.  
Hon. Kathleen R. Mulligan 

The applicant must meet the following guidelines: 

• Be a second or third year law student at the University of Pittsburgh Law School or Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University; 
• Be a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and intend to maintain active involvement post-graduation; 
• Display a commitment to and involvement with the legal community and/or the community in general; 
• Exhibit financial need; 
• Exhibit academic achievement; 
• Engaged in extra-curricular activities; and 
• Intend to practice in Allegheny County and/or Southwestern Pennsylvania. 

To apply for the Scholarship, an applicant must submit the following: 

• Completed Application; 
• Resume; 
• Essay limited to 500 words explaining why the applicant should be awarded this Scholarship; 
• One letter of recommendation; and 
• Copy of the student’s transcripts. 

Louis Little was a well-known Allegheny County criminal lawyer. Upon his death in 1958, Mr. Little made a substantial bequest to the Allegheny County Bar Association. Through this gift, the ACBA established the Louis Little Attorneys’ Memorial Fund to provide low interest loans to lawyers in need and law school students. 

At the request of the ACBA and the Louis Little Attorneys’ Memorial Fund Committee, the Fund was transferred to the bar foundation, which will administer the Fund to provide low interest loans to lawyers and law school students. 

Since it was transferred to the foundation in 2001, the Louis Little Attorneys’ Memorial Fund has provided over $100,000 in low-interest loans to deserving law school students.

From 1988 to 2019, the Bankruptcy and Commercial Law Section of the ACBA awarded scholarships in honor of Judge Gerald K. Gibson each year to deserving bankruptcy law students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University who demonstrate an interest in the practice of bankruptcy law and excellence in their bankruptcy coursework.  
 
In keeping with, and hoping to expand this tradition, in early 2020, the Section established the Bankruptcy Judges’ Memorial Scholarship Award Fund with the ACBF, which honors all of our former Bankruptcy Judges. The award will continue to honor deserving students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University.  Your financial support of this new Scholarship Fund will be instrumental to its success. The goal is to raise at least $50,000, which will permit the Scholarship Fund to be permanent. Help us reach our goal. 

In 2002, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation created the Lynette Norton Memorial Fund in tribute to Ms. Norton, an accomplished trial lawyer, insurance law expert, and active member of the bar, who passed away suddenly in March of 2002. This fund provides an annual award to a student graduating from the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University who has demonstrated academic excellence, skills in oral advocacy through moot court programs, and a keen sense of ethics and professionalism. The Foundation worked with a committee, comprised of Tybe Ann Brett, Christine Donohue, Kate Fagan, Nora Barry Fischer, Bridget Gillespie, Amy Hay, Vicki Horne, Kerry Kearney, Michelle Lally, Lisa Pupo Lenihan, Lisa Tourek, and Tracey Vinson, to create the Lynette Norton Memorial Fund. This scholarship is awarded by faculty at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Duquesne University each spring; applications are not accepted.