Getting Them While They're Young: Two Experiences Using Traditional Legal Practice Skills to Interest High School Students in Attending Law School

Abstract

Take a moment and think back to how you first got the idea to become a lawyer. Chances are, your inspiration was someone you knew personally. Now, imagine that your path had never crossed with that of the person who inspired you. This situation is real life for some young people of economic disadvantaged backgrounds: they never have considered a career in law because they rarely encounter such professionals in positive situations.

Law schools need to be creative when it comes to increasing diversity among their student population. Diversity is a compelling state interest and is important to the legitimacy of legal education and the legal community. The rate of minority enrollment in institutions of higher learning is decreasing, and as a result, so are the number of minority students entering law school. One way that may help to increase minority enrollment is to invest time and resources in the surrounding community. This paper explores two exercises using traditional legal practice skills - research and oral advocacy - as a way to interest high school students in attending law school.

Keywords: race, diversity, pipeline programs, legal practice