FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Cynthia Pellegrino
732-937-7507
June 30, 2011
A project promoting diversity cosponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation (NJSBF) has won a 2011 American Bar Association (ABA) Partnership Award. The award for NJSBF's Street Law program, which seeks to motivate and educate teens about the law in underserved New Jersey neighborhoods, will be conferred at an ABA ceremony in August.
As indicated in the ABA's congratulatory letter, the award committee's "judges were very impressed with the commitment to diversity" demonstrated by NJSBF's Street Law initiative.
"This project has truly been a partnership of the Bar Foundation, our volunteer attorneys and law firms, New Jersey's three law schools and the students who participate, along with the schools that support them," said NJSBF executive director Angela Scheck.
Developed as a pipeline diversity effort in cooperation with the New Jersey State Bar Association and the law schools of Seton Hall University, Rutgers-Newark and Rutgers-Camden, the Street Law program seeks to increase minority representation in the legal profession by introducing middle and high school youths in the inner cities to law as a profession, providing positive role models and developing academic skills in the process.
"The Street Law program is another example of the Bar Foundation's mission to educate the public about the law and help us to insure that our children grow up in a society that embraces diversity and develops platforms for civil discourse," said NJSBF president Stuart M. Lederman. "We are thankful for the ABA's continuing leadership in these areas."
Each year ninety students participate in the program at each of the three law schools, under the guidance of an NJSBF-funded Fellow, and undertake clinic-like pro bono projects. More than 600 youngsters so far have taken advantage of the Street Law lessons, mock trials, field trips and mentoring offered.
"Over the past several years, so many students have gained from this effort, aimed primarily at increasing diversity in the legal profession," said Ms. Scheck. "Many of the students have gone on to college and law school. The recognition by the ABA is gratifying and we are thrilled to be recognized for this program in particular."
NJSBF funding is provided by the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.
Founded in 1958, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation is the educational and philanthropic arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association. The Bar Foundation's mission is to promote public understanding of the law through a free, comprehensive public education program. Among its activities, the Foundation conducts seminars and conflict resolution training, publishes materials, operates a videotape loan library and speakers bureau, and coordinates elementary, middle and high school mock trial competitions.
For more information about the Street Law program or any of the NJSBF's other cosponsorships, fellowships, programs and services, visit online at www.njsbf.org or contact Cynthia Pellegrino, director of grants programs and administration, at cpellegrino@njsbf.org or 732-937-7507.