Choose Law – The ABA YLD 2006-2007 National Public Service Project Seeks to Encourage High School Students of Color to Enter the Legal Profession

By Julia A. Bahner

The ABA YLD, through its Diversity Pipeline project, has recognized that it must assist and encourage individuals of color to become attorneys during all the years of their development. In 2006-07, the Division will stake its claim to a portion of the Diversity Pipeline: Ninth grade high school students of color.

Although great strides have been made, individuals of color continue to be underrepresented in the legal profession. The causes for this underrepresentation are many, but they include fewer financial and educational opportunities, fewer opportunities to be favorably exposed to the legal profession, and fewer role models who have attended college or have become attorneys. Additionally, these individuals may not have access to counselors with a true understanding of the requirements of law school and the requirements of the legal profession. In 2006-07, the Division will seek to address some of these problems through its educational program “Choose Law: A Profession for All.”

The Choose Law project will seek to accomplish its goal to encourage individuals of color to become attorneys through use of a new video, a written curriculum, a website (www.abayld.org/chooselaw), a book, and attorney volunteers. Young lawyer leaders, including Washington state lawyer Benes Aldana, are featured speakers in the video, commenting on how they became lawyers, the obstacles they overcame, and the myriad ways a legal degree can be utilized in various professions. Through Choose Law, the students will be taught the importance of the legal profession and how the law affects all aspects of their lives. The students will also be taught that the legal profession is an honorable profession and that attorneys of color have played a crucial role in its development. Finally, the students will be taught that there are wonderful and diverse opportunities for individuals pursuing a legal career, but that they must begin now by obtaining a good education, making good grades, and staying out of trouble if a career in the law is what they truly desire.

The Choose Law public service project will be highlighted at this year’s ABA YLD Fall Conference in Baltimore, Maryland from October 19-21, 2006. For more information about the conference go to www.abanet.org/yld/fall06. The national Choose Law team will be in Baltimore to answer questions about the project and assist in implementing it across the country. Additionally, volunteers are needed in your area to promote and implement Choose Law in schools and youth groups throughout the state. If you are interested in assisting with this worthwhile project, please visit the Division’s website at www.abayld.org/chooselaw or contact Phenise Poole at ppoole@ralaw.com or Rita Diaz at rdiaz@abanet.org. Finally, as the Washington YLD District Representative, you may also contact me for copies of the project video and the corresponding written materials. The video and the written materials are also available on the website referenced above.

Julia Bahner is the ABA YLD District Representative for Washington and Oregon. She can be reached at julbahner@hotmail.com.