March 2001

School Days, School Days: Public Education, the Teaching Lawyer and Law Week 2001

by Jan Eric Peterson , WSBA President andRon Bemis, Law Week 2001 Committee Chair

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments…. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. 
Earl Warren, Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, 20, 1907

Lawyers and judges in our state have a unique and exciting opportunity to bring public legal education into the classroom during Law Week, April 30-May 4. With the goal of placing "a lawyer or judge in every school," Law Week is coordinated statewide by the WSBA. Local and specialty bar associations, attorney groups, and individual attorneys and judges arrange visits to schools during the first week of May. They meet with students to discuss our justice system, the importance of everyone’s role in it, current legal issues, specific areas of the law, or to hold mock trials in which students play courtroom roles.

Last May, in the first year of statewide coordination, more than 12,000 Washington students, 400 classrooms, 49 judges, and over 400 lawyers participated in Law Week. The program expanded from five counties in 1999 to 14 counties in 2000. It is one of the most successful programs of its kind in the nation.

Many volunteers say that it is their most rewarding professional day of the year. In just one day, every lawyer and judge in Washington has an opportunity to give back to their local communities, to enrich the lives of students, to personally contribute to better public legal education, and to enhance public appreciation of lawyers. WSBA Governor Victoria Vreeland recounted: "Putting on a mock trial with a class of fourth graders was by far the most fun and heartwarming of all the things I have done as a lawyer over the past 25 years."

An abundance of information, including sample lesson plans and sign-up information, is ready for you on the WSBA Law Week Web site. It’s easy to participate. Law Week is quickly approaching, so please sign up today.

• Visit the Web site (www.lawweek.org) to sign up with your local organizer, or contact the statewide coordinator, Lisa KauzLoric, at 206-733-5944 or lisak@wsba.org. 
• Contact a teacher you know and schedule a date and time to speak in his classroom. Your local organizer may be able to assist you with coordinating your schedule. Ask the teacher(s) to spread the word to colleagues and invite them to sign up on the Law Week Web site.
• Help recruit other attorneys and judges by referring them to the Web site or to this column. Ask them to sign up with their local organizers and to contact teachers in their area.
• The Web site provides lesson plans, quick links, teaching tips, and other useful information to minimize your preparation time and maximize your experience.

Law Week is one of many Washington State Bar Association programs designed to increase citizen understanding of the important role that law plays in our lives. Washington’s Law Week coincides with the American Bar Association’s Law Day, celebrated on May 1 across the country. Law Day was established in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to strengthen the United States’ heritage of liberty, justice and equality under the law.

Participation in Law Week 2001 will be an invaluable way to help the youth of your community and be a visible role model. Be part of the solution, and demonstrate your pride in being a lawyer.