Aug. 6, 2010
Law and Leadership Program Concludes Third Year
A statewide program that seeks to improve diversity in the legal profession completed its third year Thursday night with mock trial competitions across Ohio.
The Law and Leadership Institute identifies promising youth from urban neighborhoods and grooms them to be future leaders in the legal profession by offering them a chance to study law during the summer at an Ohio law school. Nearly 300 students entering the ninth, 10th and 11th grades began their studies on July 6 in six cities: Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.
About 140 ninth-graders participated in mock trials after spending five weeks in class taking courses in criminal law, receiving guidance about the pathways to becoming a lawyer, learning leadership and public speaking skills and how to “think like a lawyer.”
The institute began in 2008 in Cleveland and Columbus and expanded to the four additional cities last year. The original sites housed all three grades this summer and involved two law schools in each city while the four expansion cities involved two grades at each city’s law school.
Much more than simply “job shadowing” 10th-grade students sat for three weeks of classroom instruction and concluded with a one-week internship at a law firm or corporation and 11th-grade students took ACT/SAT preparation courses to boost their college readiness, went on campus visits, and were paired with lawyer mentors on a research and writing assignment.
The program stays with the participating students as they move through high school and next year will grow again to include all four high school grades.
Justice Maureen O’Connor spoke at a reception at the Ohio Judicial Center following the two mock trials conducted by Capital University Law School summer attendees. She congratulated the students on completing the program. “What you’ve learned over five weeks this summer will last a lifetime,” she said. “The critical thinking and problem-solving skills you have acquired through your involvement in this program will serve you well no matter what profession you pursue. I applaud your efforts and look forward to monitoring your success.”
Partners for the 2010 institute include the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Center for Law Related Education, the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio’s metropolitan bar associations, city school districts and Ohio’s nine law schools: the University of Akron School of Law, Capital University Law School, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, the University of Dayton School of Law, Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law, The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and the University of Toledo College of Law.
The Law and Leadership Institute is supported, in part, by grants from the Ohio State Bar Foundation and the Law School Admissions Council.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow, 614.387.9250.