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Street Law / Newsroom / Law in Order
by Julie Mullen for Sun-Times Media
Ricardo Garcia, a student at South Elgin High School, listens to a legal argument being made on the topic of sports law during the Street Law seminar for U46 students on Friday at Sears Holdings in Hoffman Estates. Dave Shields | For the Courier-News
May 19, 2010 |
Seventeen-year-old Taylor Johnson argued her case as passionately as any attorney fighting for a client.
And it worked. Taylor -- representing the family of a man killed by a neighbor's riding mower he borrowed when the neighbor wasn't home -- obtained an award for the plaintiff.
The gleam in her eye that lingered from the victory may just carry her on to law school one day.
It isn't likely that all 120 Elgin School District U46 high school students who attended the Street Law seminar, at Sears Holdings' offices in Hoffman Estates on Friday, will go on to be lawyers.
But for the ones who will, the daylong workshop, held in conjunction with American Corporate Counsel, provided valuable tools needed for success.
Twenty-five corporate lawyer members of the ACC, who work for Sears Holdings and other major area corporations, were on hand to help students argue various fictitious cases.
It's a way for the lawyers to give back, according to ACC past president Jason Brown, who is also an attorney at Pepsi Co.
"Something sparked us all into law. ... Made us know that we can do it," Brown said. "We are here to share our knowledge. They have hungry young minds and the opportunity to learn."
The seminar was initiated five years ago by Kal Gibron, vice president of real estate law and asset management at Sears Holdings. Gibron, an ACC member, coordinates the day's events each year.
"The program is designed to create an interest in legal careers in high school students, especially minority and female students ... (who are) underrepresented in the legal profession," Gibron said. "This is our fifth year hosting the event, and it is the highlight of the school year for many of the students."
Four of U46's high schools -- Elgin, South Elgin, Streamwood, and Bartlett -- were represented at the workshop. Elgin's Larkin High School does not participate in the program.
Breakout sessions focused on areas of law such as product liability, real estate, sports law, sweepstakes and intellectual property.
The workshop follows the Street Law curriculum. Street Law was created in 1972 by a group of Georgetown University Law students, who developed a program to teach high school students about the practical aspects of the law.
Richard Johnson, who teaches the Law II class at Bartlett High School, attended Friday's seminar with his students, including Taylor Johnson. He said that the program has a lasting effect on some students.
"There are students who have attended the workshop who still keep in touch with some of the attorneys," BHS' Johnson said. "It's a mentoring situation ... and they also get to meet kids from other schools. It's just a great thing all around."
For more information on the Street Law program, visit www.streetlaw.org.
Source: The Courier-News and Sun-Times News Group (Reproduced with permission)
Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline Program
Topic: Diversity
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