New John Marshall Law School Scholarship Helps Students in Pre-Admission SCALES Program

CHICAGO, Jan. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The John Marshall Law School in Chicago is offering a new scholarship for prospective students enrolled in its pre-admission conditional program. Since conditional programs are not eligible for federal financial aid, scholarships such as the James N. Zell Legal Opportunity Scholarship are particularly necessary and helpful.

John Marshall has a tradition of opportunity and access that extends back to its founding in 1899. One of the ways John Marshall upholds this tradition is through the administration of a conditional program for admission, where matriculation is contingent upon successful completion of a separate pre-orientation curriculum. This gives an opportunity for admission to students who otherwise would not qualify because they don't meet the requirements.

Barry Zell and his wife Leslie endowed the scholarship through a pledge and estate gift in honor of their son, James, an attorney practicing in New York. The Zells appreciate that John Marshall gives the opportunity to attend law school to students who might not have it elsewhere. They want to ensure that the same opportunity is available to those who otherwise might not be able to afford the program.

John Marshall's conditional program, called SCALES — Summer College to Assess Legal Education — is designed to give the law school a way to measure the ability and potential of applicants who don't qualify for admission through standard indicators like LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs. The program is more extensive than those offered by other law schools, running for seven weeks during the summer prior to the beginning of the fall semester. Participation varies between 50–75 students each year.

About The John Marshall Law School

The John Marshall Law School, founded in 1899, is an independent law school located in the heart of Chicago's legal, financial and commercial districts. The 2016 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools ranks John Marshall's Lawyering Skills Program fifth, its Trial Advocacy Program 16th and its Intellectual Property Law Program 17th in the nation. Since its inception, John Marshall has been a pioneer in legal education and has been guided by a tradition of diversity, innovation, access and opportunity.