Top Law Schools

ok this might possibly be an obvious question...but i'm not familiar with the US scholarship system so i better make sure.
when people say the law schools offer them a certain amount of money, or even a full-ride, does it mean that the schools just give out the money based on the quality of their applications? Do applicants have to apply specifically for a scholarship program in order to get the $$? if not, what's the difference between the two?

Some schools have merit scholarships that are given without specific applications for the scholarship, and some schools have scholarships that must be applied for, and some schools have both. There are no hard rules for this.

edit: It is best to scour the school's website to determine what scholarship opportunities are available.
edit 2: Many posters here can speak to specific schools scholarship infor, it would be easy to ask this in a (.........) 2010/2013 thread