CLEO EDGE 2015 by CLEO inc.

THE MAGAZINE FOR TOMORROWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LAW STUDENTS

THE 3 HOTTEST LEGAL DEBATES:

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FINANCING A LEGAL EDUCATION FOOD JUSTICE CHRISTIAN SCOTT ATUNDE ADJUAH PRE-LAW TIMELINE LAW & DIVERSITY IN THE FILM INDUSTRY CLEOSCHOLARS.ORG

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OPENING Doors The road to law school should be open to students from all backgrounds. For more than four decades, CLEO has helped pave the way. To date, CLEO has helped more than 8,500 students complete law school and begin a legal career. We at Womble Carlyle share the belief that a more diverse profession is a better profession.

Pam Rothenberg Womble Carlyle Real Estate Attorney CLEO Council Member 202.857.4422 | PRothenberg@wcsr.com

WCSR.COM WOMBLE CARLYLE SANDRIDGE & RICE, LLP 0813_8009

Diversity and Inclusion are core values at Andrews Kurth. It takes a leader to know how to align business objectives and resources. Working together, we have created an inclusive culture that benefits our entire firm community. For straight talk about diversity and inclusion, visit andrewskurth.com.

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2015 CLEO EDGE

contents FEATURES 38

Pre-Law Conversation with Community College Students By Matthew Niziol Interview with Christian Scott aTunde adjuah By Mai Sennaar “CLEO Words of Wisdom (from CLEO Fellows, Associates, and Affiliates)” Immigration: The Reality of DREAMers By Mai Sennaar

The Polarizing Drug: Marijuana By Mai Sennaar

Ron Simons on Why Law & Diversity Matter in the FIlm Industry By Mai Sennaar

Unraveling DOMA to Tie the Knot By Mai Sennaar

Food Justice: Interview with Filmmaker Sanjay Rawal By Mai Sennaar

What Is Your Social Media Brand? By Bernetta J. Hayes

109

“The Importance of Legal Research” reprint from Student Lawyer magazine By Shawn G. Nevers Live Your D.R.E.A.M.

SPOTLIGHTS 82

CLEO Fellow & Alum Spotlight: Cesar Palma

CLEO College Scholars Spotlight: Seerat Sandhu

THE CLEO ADVANTAGE 11

CLEO at a Glance

CLEO Programs

Achieving Success in the Application Process (ASAP)

1L Prep – Attitude Is Essential (AIE)

CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute is Key to Law School Success

Pre-Law Timeline

124

2014-2015 CLEO Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education

MONEY MATTERS 34

Strategy for Financing a Legal Education: Investment in Yourself By Reyes Aguilar “Excerpt from the CLEO Blog: Law School - I.O.U. (Pre-Law Financial Aid Timeline)” By Matthew Niziol

SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS 23

Countdown to College A Timeline

115

Summer Reading List for the Secondary School Student

LSAT PREPARATION 58

LSAT Sample Questions

COLLEGE SCHOLARS The College Years…

The Freshman Year By RJ Holmes-Leopold

The Sophomore Year By Dr. Robert Webking

The Junior Year By Elizabeth Boretz

The Senior Year By Glenn Bell

The Law School Admission Committee: To Apply or Not to Apply By Tracy Simmons & Michael States

Making Your Personal Statement Personal By Michael States

101

Building an Application Strategy (includes the Boston College Law School Locator)

117

Summer Reading List for the College Scholar/PreLaw Student

IN EVERY ISSUE 7

A Message from the CLEO Chair

111

Internet Resources

113

Writing Resources

120

Financial Contributors

126

Pre-Law Astrology

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

The real beauty of diversity is found in the individual pieces that make up the whole. Cultural diversity is what makes our world so rich â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the more we learn about each other, the more enriched we become and the more connected we feel. Celebrate this beautiful mosaic of life.

ATLANTA AUGUSTA CHARLOTTE DENVER LOS ANGELES NEW YORK RALEIGH SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SEATTLE SHANGHAI SILICON VALLEY STOCKHOLM TOKYO WALNUT CREEK WASHINGTON D.C. WINSTON-SALEM www.kilpatricktownsend.com

in every issue

“

Having a diverse legal profession... is as important today as it was almost 50 years ago...

COURTESY OF SUBJECT

”

a message from the CLEO Council Chair

hese are exciting times for those interested in law and its impact on our daily lives. Before our very eyes, fundamental issues such as immigration, legalization of marijuana and GLBT rights are being debated in living rooms, classrooms and boardrooms. Most importantly, are being decided in courtrooms all over the country. Needless to say, the resolution of these issues will impact us for generations to come. Moreover, the wide availability of information facilitated by technology has shined the spotlight on the important, but less well known and understood role of the law in technology and how we use it and in areas such as fine arts and entertainment.

Having a diverse legal profession to address these issues is as important today as it was almost 50 years ago to address civil rights issues. That is when CLEO helped the first group of students from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds become lawyers. Know that CLEO is just as committed to helping you today. Congratulations on taking the first step! We hope that you will choose to continue on your journey to the practice of law with CLEO as teacher, mentor and navigator. And, that it will be rich with learning, achievement and service to your community.

Angela Birch Cox Angela Birch Cox Chair, CLEO Council

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

2015 CLEO Edge Staff

Cassandra Sneed Ogden Executive Director

Leigh R. Allen II

Director of Mentoring & Development

Lynda Cevallos

Pre-Law Coordinator

Bernetta J. Hayes

Admissions Administrator

Julie D. Long

Project Research Assistant

The CLEO Edge Magazine Editor-in-Chief:

Lynda Cevallos Graphic Designer:

Jewell Green Jewell Green Design jewellgreen.com Printer:

The materials contained herein represent the opinions of the authors and editors and should not be construed to be those of CLEO, Inc. unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of the Association. Nothing contained herein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and readers are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. These materials and any forms and agreements herein are intended for educational and informational purposes only. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission.

For information contact: CLEO • 1101 Mercantile Lane, Suite 294 • Largo, MD 20774 • 240.582.8600

www.cleoscholars.org • www.cleodivercitynetwork.org

Training Tomorrow’s Lawyers, Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders Connect with CLEO /cleo.scholars

/in/cleo1968

/cleoscholars

/cleoalumni

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WINTER/SPRING 2015

Reyes Aguilar is Associate Dean for Admission and Financial Aid at the University of Utah Quinney College of Law. Early in his career he served as Director of the Rocky Mountain Region CLEO Summer Institute. He is active in the Law School Admission Council serving on its Board of Trustees and the Financial Aid Advisory Group. In 2009 the American Bar Association appointed him Vicechair of the Government Relations and Student Financial Aid Committee for a three-year term. His community engagement includes service with the Utah Coalition of La Raza Youth Leadership Conference and the American Red Cross High School Leadership Camp. Dean Aguilar regularly presents at national conferences, speaking on topics that include law school admission, financial aid, and diversity. In 2003, the Utah Minority Bar Association recognized him as its Honoree of the year. Mr. Aguilar earned a B.A. from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from the University of Utah. Glenn E. Bell is a strong advocate for diversity, and his career has spanned many disciplines. A graduate of Hampton University, Glenn joined the Language Arts staff at Prentice Hall. Upon leaving publishing, he joined the United Nations Association of the USA, working Historically Black Colleges and Community Colleges to build their Model United Nations programs, assisting several MUN teams in becoming award winners. Glenn joined the staff of the Law School Admission Council, where he served as a key member of the Diversity Initiatives team. This led to New York Law School, where he served as the Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. Glenn is currently a private admissions consultant with Keys4College and Educational Leadership Initiatives, a part of Social Investment Partners, LLC. Elizabeth Boretz, Ph.D. is the Founding Director of the Calvin E. Bright Success Center at the University of California-Merced, having begun her career as university faculty in the humanities. She transitioned to fulltime support of student success for the state’s most ambitious, underrepresented undergraduates in the University of California in 2005. In addition to leading a diverse team of dedicated professionals who counsel students on success strategies in college, Dr. Boretz writes and implements federal grants to serve high-risk student programs, and provides individual coaching and guidance for students pursuing highly competitive fellowships, awards and graduate programs. She has been the Advisor to the Merced Pre-Law Society since the students first formed the organization on campus in 2006.

Magazine Contributors Dom De Leo is the Associate Director, Graduate School Advising, at Boston College. De Leo received his B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame, M.Ed in Special Education from Boston College, and his MBA in Computer Science and Marketing from the Boston College – Wallace E. Carroll Graduate School of Management. Bernetta J. Hayes is the Admissions Administrator of CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute. In addition, she is the Program Specialist for CLEO’s secondary school program. She is a former communications executive who served during the Clinton Administration. She has been a travel writer for major publications, as well as an English teacher to high school juniors. She has also taught résumé writing to adults. She has a B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Master of Arts degree from The George Washington University.

RJ Holmes-Leopold is the Director of the Career and Civic Engagement Center at Cornell College. He is a 1999 graduate of the College with a degree in Politics and Communication Studies, and he also has a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland, College Park. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate in higher education in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership studies at the University of Iowa. He is currently President of the Midwest Association of Pre-Law Advisors (MAPLA), and has served as coeditor of the MAPLA Briefs newsletter along with being the MAPLA webmaster. He is a member of the Pre-Law Advisors National Council (PLANC) and is the conference chair for the 2016 PLANC National Conference. Matthew Niziol has been advising undergraduate students for more than 15 years at both community college and university levels in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Since 2007 he has served as High School Outreach Coordinator and Academic Advisor for First Year Students at the Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun Campus. He has been primary contributor and moderator of the CLEO Diversity in Legal Education Blog, written articles for the CLEO Edge Magazine, and has presented at CLEO Scholars and Achieving Success in the Application Process programs since 2006. As a Prelaw Advisor, he has presented on topics related to prelaw success, recruitment of First-Time-In-College students, and academic retention and collegiate success specific to underrepresented students at regional and national conferences.

Mai Sennaar is an aspiring attorney and an Honors graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her plays include: The Fall of the Kings (2014 Atlanta Black Theatre Festival), The Broken Window Theory (2012) (starring Tony award-winner Tonya Pinkins, directed by Tony award-nominee Michele Shay, music by Dianaruthe Wharton, composer of the Broadway Production For Colored Girls), A Gift At Parliament (directed by Broadway director Louis Scheeder). Sennaar has directed actors from Harvard University, Juilliard, NYU, etc…as well as award-winning actress Stephanie Berry (Finding Forrester starring Sean Connery), actor Morroco Omari (Girlfriends TV Show, A Streetcar Named Desire, Broadway) among others. She is the writer of the new Artist Spotlight Blog for CLEO Edge Magazine--Exploring the Convergence of Law & the Arts. Tracy Simmons is the Assistant Dean for Admissions, Diversity Initiatives and Financial Aid at University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Tracy has worked in legal education for over 14 years. Tracy has served on the Law School Admission Council’s Diversity Initiatives Committee, Services and Program Committee, Admit-M Advisory Committee, the Annual Planning and Educational Conference Workgroup and served as Chair of the Newcomers Workshop. Currently, she serves as a consultant for the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Achieving Success in the Application Process. She is a member of LSAC’s Finance and Legal Committee, the Access Group Financial Education Advisory Committee, and is Chair-Elect of Pre-Legal Education and Admissions to Law School Section for Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Michael States is the Assistant Dean for Admissions at University of North Carolina. Dean States has been the Assistant Dean for Admissions at the University of North Carolina School of Law since August 2004. He has served on the Law School Admissions Council’s Finance and Legal Affairs Committee and from June 2011 to May 2014 was a member of its Board of Trustees. He has served on the planning group for the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) Annual Meeting and Educational Conference and in 2013 served as the Conference Chair. He has served as the President of the Midwest Alliance of Law School Admissions (MALSA), and is a past Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on PreLegal Education and Admission to Law School.

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

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in every issue

CLEO at a Glance The Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) was founded in 1968 to expand opportunities for qualified low-income, disadvantaged, and minority students to attend law school. CLEO is funded by

private contributions from law firms and corporations as well as alumni support. Since CLEO’s inception, more than 10,000 students have benefited from CLEO programs and joined the legal profession. CLEO College Scholars Program Who Is Eligible: Freshmen, sophomores or juniors interested in attending law school. What: The Road to Law School, Sophomore Super Saturdays, and Juniors Jumpstart the LSAT. When: Throughout the year. Where: Various locations across the country. Deadline: Varies (Log on to www.cleoscholars.org for deadline dates). Cost: Free. Achieving Success in the Application Process (ASAP) Who is Eligible: College juniors, seniors, and postgraduates who plan to apply to law school. What: Intensive weekend pre-law event to help participants develop the tools they need to understand the application process and become competitive law school applicants. When: Summer. Where: Various law school locations. Deadline: April 1. Cost: $100. CLEO Ambassadors

Who is Eligible: Juniors who have participated in

CLEO College Scholars programs. What: CLEO Ambassadors distribute information about the CLEO program on their campuses. When: Rising juniors may apply at the end of their sophomore year. Where: CLEO seeks representatives from as many campuses as possible. How: Contact CLEO at cleo@americanbar.org. The CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute

Deadline: October 1-December 15, 2014 (early

acceptance dates) and February 15, 2015 (final deadline). Cost: $2,000 (includes room, board, and instructional materials). 1L Prep – Attitude Is Essential (AIE) Who is Eligible: College graduates who are accepted into an ABA-accredited law school. What: Intensive weekend pre-law seminar designed to introduce and prepare students for the rigors of the first year of law school. When: Summer. Where: Various law school locations. Deadline: May. Cost: $100.

Academy of Excellence Seminar Who is Eligible: All CLEO first-year law students. What: A program designed to reinforce analytical

reading, writing, studying, and test-taking skills introduced in the pre-law preparatory programs. When: Fall. Where: Various locations or online. Cost: Free. Bar Preparation Seminar

Who is Eligible: CLEO third-year law students who

plan to take the July or February bar. What: A program designed to introduce graduating law students to the demands required to prepare for the bar examination. When: To be determined. Where: Various locations or online. Cost: Free.

Who is Eligible: Graduating seniors or graduates who

plan to attend law school in the fall of 2015. What: A six-week residential program designed to prepare participants to be more competitive law school students. When: June - July. Where: Various law schools. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

DISCOVER VALPARAISO LAW

TRADITION We are one of the oldest law schools in the country; established in 1879.

LAW CLINIC

Nine “live-client” clinics housed in our very own law firm on campus and in Chicago.

COMMUNITY Our supportive community of colleagues and faculty are dedicated to your success.

DIVERSITY • TRADITION • CURRICULUM • COMMUNITY • CLINICS

LAW

valpo.edu/law • law.admissions@valpo.edu • (219) 465-7821

WARM: Located in sunny Southern California. WELCOMING: Named the 5th Best Environment for Minority Students,* we’re the most diverse law school in California, and third in the nation.** WHITTIER LAW SCHOOL: ABA accredited for 36 years. We invite you to find out more.

*Princeton Review, 2013; **U.S. News and World Report 2015

the CLEO advantage

CLEO Programs Road to Law School Learn about the law school admissions process and be exposed to topics such as: analytical reasoning and logic critical reading and writing mock admissions college curriculum choices financial planning for law school

Sophomore Super Saturdays

Juniors Jumpstart the LSAT

While there are no prerequisite courses for law school applicants, there are important skills that you will need. These seminars will help you improve analytical and logical reasoning abilities, reading comprehension, and writing skills, which are tested by the LSAT and considered essential to success in law school.

How do LSAT scores impact your law school admission? This program exposes students to various LSAT preparation strategies that can help them improve and achieve competitive scores. Students are administered practice LSATs and taught the benefits of systematic and disciplined LSAT preparation.

The above three programs will happen simultaneously at the following locations and dates in 2014-2015

October – Fort Worth, TX October – Chicago, IL

November – New York, NY

Achieving Success in the Application Process (ASAP) This regional program provides college juniors, seniors, and post-graduate students with the tools they need to become competitive law school applicants and exposes them to all aspects of the application process, including: selecting a law school drafting personal statements

January – San Francisco, CA

February – Southwest/Southeast Region March – Washington, D.C.

CLEO Connection Register for CLEO CONNECTION which engages pre-law students in a lively, in-person discussion with peers, law school faculty, and attorneys in order to enhance the student’s social perspective on the law school application process and law school success. The CLEO CONNECTION will help students make “real connections” to the road to law school.

preparation strategies the impact of the LSAT and GPA on applications early acceptance programs debt management selecting sources for letters of recommendation common mistakes committed by law school applicants

For future dates and locations as well as to register and apply for these programs, please visit

www.cleoscholars.org. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

the CLEO advantage

Achieving Success in the Application Process Last summer for the eighth year, CLEO proudly offered Achieving Success in the Application Process (ASAP), a pre-law program designed to prepare upperclassmen and postgraduates for the law school application process. ASAP provides counseling, mentorship, and test preparation techniques to better prepare participants for the rigors of the law school application process. By exposing students to the nuances of the admission process, ASAP provides participants with a clear understanding of the dedication and commitment required to become competitive law school applicants.

In addition, ASAP seminars participants have the distinct advantage of establishing mentoring relationships with CLEO students who will begin law school in the fall. ASAP is held in conjunction with CLEO’s popular 1L Prep - Attitude is Essential (AIE) seminars each summer.

The ASAP curriculum focuses on aspects of the application process that are frequently overlooked or undervalued by students when applying to law school, including: • Selecting a law school

• Drafting an effective personal statement

• Choosing sources for letters of recommendations • Preparation strategies for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

• The impact of LSAT scores and grade point

averages (GPAs) in the selection process

• The significance of the early application process offered by many law schools • Debt management and developing credit worthiness

• Common mistakes committed by law school applicants

For further information or to apply online, visit www.cleoscholars.org Deadline: April 1, 2015

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

the CLEO advantage

1L PREP-

An experience you do not want to miss!

TARGETED STUDENTS: Incoming first year law students who will enroll in an ABA-accredited law school during the same fall they attend the CLEO 1L-PREP AIE seminar. BENEFITS: • Law school orientation • Skills-building workshops • Network opportunities

Training Tomorrow’s Lawyers, Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders For further information or to apply online, please visit our website at

www.cleoinc.org/aie

In existence since 2000, CLEO’s 1L Prep – Attitude Is Essential (AIE) regional seminars are designed to familiarize incoming first year law students with the rigors of law school and to acquaint them with the various resources that are available to meet those demands. The workshop sessions and accompanying handout materials cover such topics as, legal analysis and writing, class preparation, time management, the Socratic Method, case briefing, and understanding IRAC. Additionally, 1L PREP AIE helps students prepare for the major transition from undergraduate to professional school and motivates them to succeed. Participants who successfully complete the program and enroll in an ABA-accredited law school are eligible to receive continued academic and professional development support throughout law school from CLEO.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: MAY 1, 2015 WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

the CLEO advantage

PREPARATION! PREPARATION! PREPARATION!

CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute is Key to

Law School

Success

(You fill in the blank with judge, lawyer, politician, etc.) Thus goes the refrain from CLEO alumni nationwide. For more than 46 years, CLEO, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity has worked diligently to provide pre-law recruitment, counseling, placement assistance, and training to increase the number of qualified students in law school through its premier program the Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute. Alumni testimonies to CLEO’s effectiveness come from federal judges to members of Congress to successful business people. Since 1968, more than 10,000 diverse and/or economically disadvantaged students have been oriented to law school through CLEO’s rigorous, residential pre-law program that prepares students for law school. During the 2014 Summer Institute, only 55 students were selected to participate. The Institute, hosted at The University of Mississippi School of Law, is designed to develop abstract thinking and legal writing, as well as analytical, test-taking, and study skills. How does CLEO’s Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute work? The following information should help you get on the CLEO track to becoming a successful law school student. 16

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

HOW DO I APPLY TO THE CLEO SIX-WEEK PRE-LAW SUMMER INSTITUTE?

CLEO applications are accepted online only. To apply, please visit our website, www.cleodivercitynetwork.org. First, you MUST register for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS) through the Law School Admission Council (www.LSAC.org). The CLEO CAS Code is 5096. After completing the CAS registration, you may then complete the application on the CLEO website. Be sure to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY before you begin the Institute application. Upon receipt of the application, CLEO will request an applicant’s CAS file from LSAC. You must take the LSAT by February, 2015, to be considered for the Six-Week PreLaw Summer Institute. Applicants for admission to the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute should: ff Have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university earned prior to the start of the CLEO SixWeek Pre-Law Summer Institute ff Obtain LSAT scores and CAS subscription ff Be prepared to upload a personal statement

“If I hadn’t attended CLEO, I would never have become a __________ .”

the CLEO advantage ff Apply online by February 15, 2015, at www. cleodivercitynetwork.org under the Pre-Law Programs tab/Six-Week Summer Institute.

within 10 days of being accepted into the Summer Institute program. The remaining $1,800 balance is due 20 days from the date of the acceptance letter.

ff Pay a nonrefundable $30 application fee as part of the online application; only credit cards are accepted. No fee waivers will be granted.

A nonprofit organization, CLEO pays the law schools that host the Summer Institute approximately $4,000 per student for her/his six-week, pre-law experience. A few students selected from the low-income category pay a fee of $700. These students are generally first-generation college graduates from families that are living below the poverty level. Applicants whose parents earn above $40,000 annually will not be considered for low-income status. Low-income applicants must submit a copy of his/her Student Aid Report to CLEO in order to complete his/her application. The SAR is obtained from the U.S. Department of Education at http://studentaid.ed.gov/fafsa.

ff Apply to at least one CLEO Consortium Partner School or Supporting/Sustaining Institution. ff Return the Student Aid Report (low-income applicants only) by March 30, 2015. Note: Any changes in application information after its initial submission should be sent to Bernetta.Hayes@americanbar.org.

If an applicant has been accepted to the Summer Institute, he/she will be notified by email. WHAT ARE THE ACADEMIC CRITERIA FOR THE SUMMER INSTITUTE?

The Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute is designed to assist all diverse and/or low-income students seeking a solid preparation for the first year of law school. Most of the program participants have either already been accepted into a law school or have received a “conditional acceptance.” Students seeking law school placement assistance usually have marginal academic criteria (i.e., LSAT score and GPA which meet a law school’s admission standards, but are in the lower percentile), yet have other indicators of a strong likelihood for success. Although CLEO is extremely liberal with respect to academic eligibility, it is unlikely that a student with an LSAT score and GPA in the lowest percentile will be selected without a strong recommendation from a CLEO Partner School or Supporting/Sustaining Institution. HOW DOES CLEO MAKE ITS DECISION?

Admission to the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute program is selective. Each year hundreds of applications are received for consideration. In an effort to increase diversity for members of underrepresented groups in the legal profession, CLEO considers such factors as age and economic, educational, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. Admissions decisions are the responsibility of the CLEO Admissions Committee, Summer Institute directors, and the admissions directors of the CLEO Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO ATTEND THE SUMMER INSTITUTE?

The cost of participating in the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute is $2,000. This includes room and board for six weeks, books and materials, and administrative costs. Transportation to the Summer Institute is not included. A nonrefundable $200 deposit is required

WHAT IS CLEO’S REFUND POLICY?

A nonrefundable $200 deposit is required within 10 days of being accepted into the Summer Institute program. The remaining $1,800 balance is due 20 days from the date of the acceptance letter. A 90% refund of the $1,800 will be granted provided that the request is made in writing and received in the CLEO office by April 24, 2015. NO refunds will be made for cancellations received after April 24, 2015. WHERE ARE THE INSTITUTE LOCATIONS?

The Summer Institute locations vary from year to year. Most recently, they have been held at The University of Mississippi School of Law. Students are generally assigned to a location away from their permanent residence so they can devote their full attention to the program. All participants must reside in the dormitory. The Institute begins in early June. DOES CLEO OFFER PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE?

CLEO participants who successfully complete the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute program and demonstrate a probability of success in law school are certified as CLEO Fellows and are eligible to receive law school placement assistance. CLEO Institute Directors devote substantial energy to secure active consideration of those participants who have not gained admission to law school, either prior to or during the course of the institute, by CLEO consortium partner schools and supporting institutions. While every effort is made to place all Summer Institute participants, CLEO cannot guarantee that all certified CLEO Fellows will be admitted to an ABA-approved law school at the conclusion of the Institute. CLEO does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability regarding admission, access to, treatment, or employment in its programs and activities. For further information or to apply online, please visit our website at www.cleodivercitynetwork.org. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

National Bar Institute C LE O C ON STI T UE N T ORG A N I Z A T IO N

Endowing Our Youth Preserving Our Legacy Educating Our Communities

Law Student Fellowships · Martin Luther King, Jr. Advocacy Competition Law & Community Grants · Crump Law Camp Bailey & Prevot NBI Annual Golf Tournament National Bar Institute 1225 11th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202.842.3900 www.nationalbar.org  Click on “NBI”

the CLEO advantage

Pre-Law Timeline J Freshman Year August •

Grades count in law school admissions. Do your best from the very beginning!

September •

Visit www.cleoscholars.org and register for the College Scholars Program and CLEO Connection.

K Sophomore Year August •

Get a head start on LSAT prep. Register for a formal logic course in college.

September •

Junior Year

September

August •

Request applications, if needed, from the law schools to which you plan to apply (most law schools have online applications).

September •

Attend law school forums and order a FREE copy of the CLEO Edge Magazine.

•

Apply for ASAP and register for the College Scholars Program and CLEO Connection.

October •

•

Start filing out your applications and working on personal statements.

•

Take the October LSAT, if necessary.

November •

Submit law school applications for early review process (check deadlines carefully!).

•

Submit your application for the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute for early acceptance— deadline is November 30, 2014.

•

Meet with a pre-law advisor to discuss the law school application process and your personal plan of action.

•

Stop by your school’s pre-law advising office and pick up an LSAT & CAS Information Book, or download it online at www.lsac.org

December

•

Apply for ASAP and register for the College Program and CLEO Connection.

January

October •

M Senior Year

Order LSAT preparation materials and/or register for a preparation course. PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE, and PREPARE!

December •

Begin choosing law schools to which you would like to apply.

March •

•

Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

•

Send your updated transcript with fall semester grades to CAS.

•

Submit applications to law schools (check deadlines carefully!).

February •

Application for the CLEO Six-Week Pre-Law Summer Institute is due February 15, 2015

•

Seniors taking time off before applying to law school may apply for ASAP.

June •

Take the LSAT. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

Uniquely

PERSONAL

QUALIFIED

Faculty and administration follow an open-door policy

Uniquely

Highly accomplished, diverse faculty

Uniquely

RESPECTED

COMMITTED

National championship-caliber student Trial Team

Specialized Academic Success and Bar Prep programs

Uniquely Barry Barry University School of Law in Orlando, Florida, isn’t just another law school. We are a private, ABA-accredited, mission-oriented institution that prides itself on offering students a personalized learning experience in a diverse, caring, supportive environment. At Barry Law, you won’t just learn to think like a lawyer – you’ll learn to be a lawyer. Our Admission to Oath program starts preparing you for law school and the bar exam before you ever set foot in the classroom. And our Clinical Programs, Externships, and Practice Ready Institute will give you the experiential edge you’ll need to hit the ground running after graduation. Our students choose Barry Law because they know we are deeply invested in their success. Go to www.barry.edu/law today and find out how you can become part of the Barry Law success story!

6441 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 321-206-5600

BARRY.EDU/LAW Barry University School of Law is fully accredited by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. Further information as to the Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools by the American Bar Association may be obtained from 321 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60654, (312) 988-6738.

A diverse community of leaders. The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law At Moritz, diversity is a way of life that is embedded into our culture and spirit. We do not strive to just create a diverse community; we strive to create a community of leaders ready and able to address the issues facing our diverse world.

Our class offerings encourage students to think critically about civil rights, race, immigration, sexual orientation, and social policy. Our symposiums and conferences are designed to bring world-class leaders to campus and promote discussion and solutions to some of the most sensitive and important issues facing our society today. Our communications and multitude of student groups are designed to make all feel welcome and ensure all are recognized.

inspire.

moritzlaw.osu.edu lawadmit@osu.edu

Law Schoo

an Francisco

iation of S The Bar Assoc

What we offer: Pre-Law Toolkit

Free one-on-one consultation to develop your personalized law school plan

Free mentorship opportunities with diverse law students & attorneys

Law school campus tours

Access to numerous law school preparation videos

Discounted LSAT prep course with Kaplan

To learn more and sign up email destinationlawschool@sfbar.org

The Justice & Diversity Center of The Bar Association of San Francisco is committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession. We are here to support you as you apply to law school. Participate in our Destination Law School Program (DLS). DLS provides information and resources about law school and the legal profession to diverse undergraduate students in colleges located in the Bay Area. The purpose of this program is to increase the number of diverse graduates that are going to law school.

secondary school

Countdown College A Timeline

STUDENTS: OJO Images Ltd / Alamy; BACKGROUND: venimo / Alamy

Want to know how to get ready for college? Make sure you graduate from high school. Start preparing as early as your freshman year. Take required and challenging courses in high school. The College Board (www.collegeboard.org) recommends creating a sound educational portfolio by taking at least five solid academic classes every semester. Do your best every day in your classes and try to get good grades. And while every school district has its own criteria, the following classes are standard for success in high school and beyond: `` English `` Math `` Science `` Social

Studies

`` Foreign `` The

Language

Arts

`` Computer

Science

Also consider taking Advanced Placement (AP) and Independent Study classes that can help you get started early on college credit. To view the Countdown to College Timeline, visit our website: http://bit.ly/cleotimeline

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

college scholars

Preparing for Law School as a

Freshman

College Student

By RJ Holmes-Leopold, Director of the Career and Civic Engagement Center, Cornell College

1. You have a pretty clean slate, it’s up to you what goes on it moving forward.

As you start your college career, the decisions you make now can have significant implications for the options you have at the end of your time in college. While law school may seem like an eternity away, the education will go by fast. To help you maximize your time and preparation for the law school admissions process and success as a future attorney, here are six quick tips to keep in mind as you navigate your first year in college. 24

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2. Take courses you find interesting and that you will excel in. Your grades matter. In combination with your LSAT score, your undergraduate GPA forms an impression of how likely you may be successful in law school. Your main objective when choosing courses and ultimately a major program of study should be about how engaged you’ll be in the coursework. The more interested you are in the subject matter—especially in courses that really challenge you—the more you are likely to invest the time and effort required to do well in the class. Consequently, your grades should be a fairly accurate reflection of your academic ability. At the same time, don’t be afraid to take a risk and enroll in a course outside of your comfort zone throughout your undergraduate career. You might find a new area to be passionate about or learn something that can help you become a well-rounded individual and more insightful future lawyer.

four years of your undergraduate

For the most part, what you have accomplished prior to starting college won’t have much of an impact on whether you get into law school. That’s not to say your academic achievements, co-curricular activities, volunteerism, and work experience throughout high school don’t matter. What it does mean is that what you choose to do with your time at college—how well you do in class, the leadership and volunteer activities you participate in, the internship and research experiences you complete— will have an impact on how law school admission committees view your candidacy. Think of it this way, what story do you want to tell the law school faculty member looking at your admission application about what you’ve accomplished in college? As a new college student, you have a blank slate to work with—what will you create?

college scholars

3. Take courses that help you refine your skills…regardless if you become a lawyer.

5. Take the time to explore the legal industry.

While a degree in political science is really popular for pre-law students, you don’t need that major to go to law school. In fact, you can choose whatever major you want. What is most important are the skills you get to develop as part of your program of study. For example, how will the English class help you become a better communicator in written form? In what ways will the Biology course improve your logical reasoning skills? How does the Art History class enhance your critical thinking abilities? Will the Spanish course help you with your analytical reasoning? The aforementioned list of skills are prerequisites not only for success in law school, but success in life, and you will want to have a solid foundation in them regardless of what you choose to do after graduation from college.

Practicing law is so much more than what you might see on TV or in movies. In fact, the majority of attorneys don’t practice law inside of a courtroom. You want to take the time early in your undergraduate career to talk to people who are in law school to learn about what it’s really like as a law student. You should also network with individuals who have built careers as practicing attorneys in law firms or as corporate counsel, and those who have gone on to become judges. A law degree is also useful beyond the practice of law so you will want to meet people who have gone on to pursue other industries with their law degree (e.g., corporate executives, non-profit leaders, sports administrators, higher education professionals). Connecting with these people can help you gain practical insight into what it’s like to be a lawyer and give you ample information to reflect upon to ensure a career in law is the right choice for you.

4. Get involved in activities that help you develop “soft skills.”

The path to becoming a lawyer isn’t just about knowing the law, it’s also about knowing how to be with other people and collaborating in the context of an organization. Your college campus undoubtedly offers a multitude of student activities that will help you develop the interpersonal skills you need as a young professional. Activities like: student government, cultural identity groups, club sports, intramurals, performing arts, academic interest, and campus programming offer multiple opportunities for you to develop tangible skills outside of the classroom setting. Some of the important skills you can gain from being involved in campus activities include how to work with people on successful projects, learning from failures, handling conflict, giving/receiving constructive criticism, and building trust among team members. Your ability to develop and improve upon your interpersonal skills will serve you well long after your time in college and in law school.

6. Connect with your Pre-Law Advisor/ Advisor. Your campus pre-law advisor can be an excellent partner for you in your journey towards law school. If you don’t get to connect with them during orientation, make sure you seek them out sometime during the fall semester to introduce yourself and to express your interest in pursuing a career in law. Many pre-law advisors coordinate workshops to help pre-law students learn what they need to know to be successful law school applicants and work with students personally to get the support they need to make an informed decision about becoming an attorney. Get on their campus mailing list so you know about the opportunities and resources available to you.

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

college scholars

Preparing for Law School as a

Sophomore College Student

By Dr. Robert Webking

So now you’re a sophomore -- you are in the second quarter of your collegiate career. It is time to try to make or confirm some basic decisions about how the rest of your college career will go: what its focus will be and how its parts will come together to contribute to your overall goals. One of those, you think, might be to pursue a law degree when you are through with your undergraduate years. It is helpful that you have learned that relatively early in your academic career, for now you can plan with studying law very much in mind. Of course the academic decision with the most far-reaching effects on your work over the next few years is to choose your major. That affects not only the quarter or so of your college courses that are in the major field itself, but also as much as twothirds of the courses that you take outside the major department. How does the ambition to go to law school affect your choice of major? Here are some of the subjects that a group of people who earned both bachelor’s degrees and law degrees within the past few years spent their professional time working on during a recent week: ff building construction

ff age discrimination

ff World War II memorabilia

ff renewable energy resources ff child custody ff bankruptcy ff church property

ff migratory bird patterns ff a family divided by immigration regulations

These lawyers followed a variety of undergraduate majors, from finance to political science to biology and engineering, yet their work during this week 26

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That is not at all unusual. There is no particular subject matter, or set of subject matters that law schools require or prefer people to master. For the law deals with pretty much all subject matters. But though those lawyers were not thinking about Milton, or osmosis, or the two-party system, or organic chemistry as they worked with legal issues, they were thinking, and analyzing, with care and precision to try to understand and explain how the law affects the issues that they were working with as regards their clients. As far as the law and the law school are concerned, what was important about the undergraduate education was not so much what people were thinking about, but that they were thinking about complex things with accuracy. They were using the analytical skills of a lawyer. Those skills are developed and the ability to apply them to legal issues is shaped in law school. And, that development occurs on a foundation of critical thinking that is built in the undergraduate years. That capacity to analyze the data of human knowledge and experience is developed in almost all undergraduate curricula. It is what is “higher” about higher education. On most campuses there is no “pre-law” major or even set of courses that a pre-law student is expected to take. What law school requires is developed learning and thinking skills, the skills people acquire when learning microbiology, statistics, accounting, literature, and most of the things taught rigorously in colleges and universities.

ff public education

had this in common: nobody was working on legal issues that had to do with the subject matter of his or her undergraduate major!

college scholars So your choice of major matters, but not because some major will teach you the things you need to know better than others. The choice of major can be crucial in using your collegiate life most effectively to make yourself into a more complete, thinking human being. Virtually every academic discipline employs and develops analytical thinking, but you are more likely to develop those reasoning skills thoroughly when you are using them to reason about something that interests you. From the pre-law perspective, then, you should major in what you want to study, or in what you like to walk around thinking about. You will do better, thereby developing better credentials for law school. You will become a happier, more fulfilled person. And in the course of those things you will work harder and with more focus and, so, develop your reasoning skills more thoroughly and get better grades. So the most important thing — as qualification for law school, a skill essential to success in law school, and for life as a lawyer — is very highly developed analytical skills. But there are some other things you can get from college that are important for law school. We noted that lawyers work with a great variety of subjects from many different perspectives. They learn about the particular facts or problems in a situation, study the law, relevant court cases, and so on, and make arguments about how issues or disputes ought to be resolved. Now we add that when they make those arguments, when they use those lawyerly analytical skills, they most often do so in writing. It is the basic tool for doing the work of the law.

More than anything else, law students report wishing their writing was better so they could express themselves more clearly and so they would not have to use valuable time that could be spent on learning and analyzing to make sure their writing is sound. What would texting be like if you had to look for each letter every time you formulated a text, or if you didn’t have autocorrect to rely on (or didn’t know how to use it), or if you constantly had to look up the technical and social rules for composing and sending a text? You would not do it as much, and you would not do it as well. You would lose your thoughts about what you want to say because you were distracted by figuring out how to say it. But those things aren’t a problem because you have practiced the craft of texting so much that it is second nature. You want that same thing for writing. So every chance you have--in major courses, in other requirements, and in electives--look for classes that will make you write, and then challenge yourself to make sure that your writing in those courses is always right.

“the most important thing is very highly developed analytical skills”

Law students invest many well-focused hours learning what they need to learn and thinking it through to make arguments well. Then they express those arguments in writing. And that is in every course in every semester. Often a course grade depends entirely on a single written exam. When you are in the midst of this intense work to understand and present complex arguments, you don’t want the medium to be a barrier – to make it difficult for you to express what you mean or for your reader to see what you mean to say. Any moment your reader is distracted by your writing—poor punctuation, clumsy sentence structure, mistakes in subject-verb agreement or pronoun-antecedent agreement, using “we” when it should be “us,” or “further” when it should be “farther”—is a moment when she is not paying attention to your argument and not listening to what you want her to hear.

Also it is helpful to get into the habit of paying attention to the news. An awareness of current events is quite important in the law and law school because it makes it easier to understand and analyze whatever “real world” problems or issues might come up in class. Professors often use examples from the news to illustrate their points. If you are already in the habit of reading the main articles on whatever news website you like, then you will keep that habit going through law school (also because you will want things to read that aren’t your text books). However, it is hard to create that habit while in law school because you are just too busy.

There are some programs designed to supplement your undergraduate studies with intensive development of analytical skills, and with application of those skills to the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). These are very hard work that pay off in improving the abilities that you need in law school and to get into law school. Check with your pre-law advisor for information about programs that might be available to you. Finally, in your relaxation and recreation, in the movies that you see, in the mysteries that you read, and in the political commentary that you watch, learn to be aware of your thought process and notice it in others. Appreciate when it is good, and think about how to improve it when it is not. Get in the habit of learning from analyzing yourself and what is around you. Your law school will help you develop that habit to a very high level and will show you how to use it in interesting and important ways. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

college scholars

Preparing for Law School as a

Junior

College Student By Elizabeth Boretz

analytical skills. Seeking the support of writing tutors and your instructors along the way, and placing as much care on how you express yourself as on what you are saying, will optimize your progress as a scholar and future professional. When you cannot communicate through a handshake, smiles, and eye contact, you must learn to convey your sincerity and professionalism in written form. Writing well is a universally recognized way of expressing your respect for the reader. Tell Your Story Your story is exceptional and captivating. As an underrepresented student, you must remember that your family’s sacrifices, achievements, and the obstacles that you have overcome empower you to enrich any group or profession that you join. In your personal written statements for scholarships, internships, law school admission, and in casual or formal oral interviews, share openly about yourself. I have read hundreds of drafts of students’ personal statements. The narratives that stand out are the ones that transported me into the student’s or his or her family’s brightest or darkest moments, and then tied those stories to the student’s sense of purpose today. You can be formal and professional, while still being personal in how you present your uniqueness. Use this year to define and embrace your own story.

Refine Your Writing Continue taking as many opportunities as you can to develop and enjoy your writing; this is a lifelong reality whether you are in law or most any elite profession. In large part, how you present yourself in writing will determine how employers, educators, admissions professionals, and colleagues rate your credibility and competence. In your Junior Year, you are faced with larger written projects in class. These projects will advance your expertise and

Immerse Into the Professional World The connections you make by volunteering or interning in a law office, even just an hour or two a week, will prove to be invaluable. However, there are other important ways to prepare yourself for law school admission. Focus on your major, whether it is in management, engineering, art, social sciences, or anything at all, and find an internship relevant to your field of study. While you are there, make your law school aspirations known, and see what the ties

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Your Junior Year status means that you have committed to a major, having come to recognize your genuine talents and passion. You have taken the courageous step of being true to yourself by following the pathway that has illuminated itself before you. This also means that your circle of friends is shifting; you may be feeling disloyal to your family at times, and self-doubt may occasionally tempt you to stop and turn around. Build your confidence and preparedness this year, so that you will be ready for your application season that is coming up in another year or more, depending on your plans. Your areas of focus this year need to be in advancing your writing, knowing how to tell your story, immersing yourself into the professional world, taking risks and being competitive, and gaining familiarity with the LSAT and application process. In a nutshell, Junior Year is the time to harness the power of your support system and take control of your destiny.

are between your major area of study and the field of law. If you have not yet done so, visit a career counselor on your campus. This is the time to break away from the student jobs you held in your first years of college and to seek paid or unpaid work where you are taking a pre-professional role. Even if you need to travel far away for the summer or a longer period to do this, work with your family and campus resources to find a way to make it possible. Gain Familiarity with the LSAT and Admissions Process First and foremost, take advantage of all of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s (CLEO) programs available to you. If you have not yet attended an LSAT workshop or practice test hosted by CLEO on your campus, speak to your prelaw advisor to learn more. Also, explore the forprofit test preparation organizations, as they offer many free-of-charge training sessions and exam preparation materials in print and online. On your own or with your campus’ pre-law organization, visit law schools and meet with admission professionals. If you need to, ask questions about support for application fee waivers and tuition assistance. Plan your timeline and strategy to ensure that you will know when to apply and how to map out the longterm preparations for that.

college scholars

Take Risks Applying to law school, earning your law degree, and facing the job market will be competitive experiences. Prepare yourself in your Junior Year by seeking opportunities to compete: run for office in your student government; enter an elite or prestigious national competition, such as Truman or a local debate or speech competition or other award; find out how to join a community organization’s Board of Directors; or ask your professors about opportunities to research, publish, or present at a conference. The sooner you can overcome the feelings of intimidation or fear of rejection in unfamiliar situations, the sooner you will see that you have the confidence to heighten your goals and take risks. Set a short-term goal to take a new risk, and enlist your friends, mentors, or others whom you trust to hold you to these commitments.

As an underrepresented student pursuing the field of law, you are a source of pride and hope for your community. Walking through your Junior Year, remember that you are now a role model for the less experienced students who will follow behind you, and it is up to you to stay on course with your goals. Stride into the role of pre-professional with confidence and openness to risk, stay true to your story, make connections, and make your needs and talents known.

Prepared for the practice Stetson can help you become a great attorney: ~ Full-time and part-time J.D., J.D./M.B.A. and LL.M. programs ~ Practical skills training from the law school ranked #1 in trial advocacy and #6 in legal writing by U.S. News & World Report ~ Listed as top-20 law school for Hispanic students by Hispanic Outlook ~ More than 450 clinic/internship opportunities available each year ~ World, national and regional championship advocacy teams ~ Extensive academic success and bar preparation programs ~ More than 40 student organizations, including Black Law Student Association, Learning trial advocacy at the #1-ranked school in the nation provided me with the tools and understanding of what it takes to be a great litigator. —Howard Williams ’12

Assistant Public Defender Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit

Hispanic Bar Association, Asian-American Law Student Association, South Asian Law Student Association, Lambda Legal Society, and many legal interest organizations

Contact Stetson Law Admissions today at (877) 529-7838, lawadmit@law.stetson.edu or www.law.stetson.edu.

college scholars

Law School Preparations for College

Seniors

Glenn E. Bell, Educational Leadership Initiatives and Keys4College

GPA. Law schools will have access to your entire undergraduate and graduate transcripts, but in most cases, the heaviest emphasis will be put on your undergraduate GPA. All the courses you have taken from the time you receive your high school diploma to the time you receive your initial Bachelor’s degree will be considered as part of your GPA for law school admissions. While your graduate school degree is important, your graduate school GPA will not weigh as heavily in a decision.

This is the ideal time to apply to law school. The process can take up to a year, so it will be in your best interest to get started early.

Your GPA will not stand alone as a number without context. Rather the admissions committee will see what courses you have taken, in the order that you have taken them, and how you performed semester by semester. This will provide context in the event that you have had a particularly challenging semester.

Your application package is made up of seven parts: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

your grade point average (GPA) transcripts LSAT score the actual application the letters of recommendation (LOR), personal statement (PS), and any supplemental statements that you submit.

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LSAT. It is important to create an account with the Law School Admission Council (LSAC). LSAC helps you to manage the application process through several services. The summer prior to your senior year, into the first semester of that year, is an excellent time to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) through LSAC. The LSAT is a test of logical and analytical reasoning, and reading comprehension. These skills are essential for the study and practice of law. In addition, is correlation established between success on the LSAT and the Bar Exam. While the test is not a predictor

Your senior year of college can be a very exciting time. The anticipation of graduating and heading out into the “real world” can be a bittersweet prospect for many students. But for those who are planning on attending law school, there is still a lot of work to do in your last year of your undergraduate experience.

college scholars of how good a law student or lawyer you will be, it is the only criteria in your application package that is consistent for every applicant. Preparation is the key to success on the LSAT, and no matter how you prepare, the effects are cumulative, meaning the preparation is practice. As you practice, you become more adept at the skills tested, and you become better at them. Think of this in the context of a sport, or a musical instrument, the more you practice a particular skill, the better you become at it. No one begins the process as an LSAT Master, this will come in time over the course of your preparation. This is a marathon – not a sprint! There are many services that offer LSAT preparation, but cost can be prohibitive, so many students choose to prepare on their own. The good news is that there has been no study to support the benefits of a specific type of preparation, only evidence that students who prepare perform better than students who do not. Think about your personal learning style, and assess which method of preparation will benefit you most. It is vital that you plan to take the LSAT only once, achieving your ideal score the first time you take it. Some students want to take the test just to see what it’s like. This may be a serious tactical mistake, as students often do not improve significantly in multiple administrations of the test. Too often, students can score lower on subsequent tests, which will not be ideal in the eyes of the admissions committee. PS. Your personal statement is the part of the application package where you get to talk about your dreams, goals, and reasons for applying to law school. Many law schools provide a specific question to which you can respond for your personal statement. Applicants are strongly encouraged to adhere to the application’s instructions. In cases where the application does not provide a format, students may write their personal statement on the topic. The personal statement should share more than occurrences from your life. It should convey how you felt about those occurrences, how it has influenced your decision to apply, and how it will assist you in succeeding in law school and the legal profession. When considering the length of a personal statement: consider how long a personal statement you would like to read.

Supplemental Material. Many law schools offer the opportunity for you to add a supplemental statement to your application package. The most common of these is a diversity statement. Often, students are reluctant to write a diversity statement because of concerns that an admissions committee will view it negatively. The opposite is true; so long as you have a well-written diversity statement it can add tremendous value to your application package. It gives the committee additional information about who you are and what value you bring to an incoming class. As with all submissions, details and specific examples will serve you best in a diversity statement. LOR. It is important to get letters of recommendation from professors who know you and will speak positively about your ability to excel while performing complex, high level work. Recommendations from professors you have had in the past will carry the most weight, however, if students have been out of college for 5 years or more, professional references are often permitted and can serve as strong letters as well. Choosing Your Law School. Perhaps the most important decision you will make in this process is where to apply to law school. One of the great tools for assessing your quantitative criteria, LSAT score and GPA, is the Boston College Law School Locator. This online tool allows you to see which schools are looking for applicants in your score range. This is an excellent starting point for your search, but remember, law schools look at a variety of criteria in making decisions about applicants. One method is to make a list of the attributes that you are looking for in a law school. Find the 5-7 schools that most closely match the list, and apply to those schools. Once the acceptance letters start rolling in, it’s important to visit as many schools as possible. The best way to get to know the school of your choice is by walking around the campus and talking to students. Many law schools offer specific days for admitted law students to visit. The transition from your undergraduate experience to law school can be a very smooth and enjoyable one if approached properly. As you wind down your college days, and prepare for professional school, keep in mind that this is not a time of endings, but an ideal time to prepare for your next educational experience. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

vi b r a nt l e A r n i n g e x p e r i e n c e

f o r A n e v e r - c h A n g i n g wo r l d

Real-world curriculum • Globally diverse faculty members and students More than 8,500 alumni in 46 states and 8 countries

For more information, please visit www.nsulaw.nova.edu or call (954) 262-6117. The Law Center admits students of any race, sex, sexual orientation, age, color, nondisqualifying disability, marital status, religion or creed, or national or ethnic origin. Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad Law Center is a member of the Association of American Law Schools and is accredited by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association (321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60610-4714, Telephone number: 312-988-6738). 09-093-12NOM

DIVERSITY IN ACTION Since its founding in 1891, New York Law School has emphasized diversity, seeking to find students from widely varying backgrounds to add depth and vigor to our community. • Minority students make up 33 percent of our most recent entering class. • We are located in TriBeCa, the heart of New York City’s legal, financial, government, and emerging tech districts. • Our Evening Division is a part-time, four-year course of study. Students are fully integrated into co-curricular activities such as law review and moot court. • Our new two-year accelerated J.D. Honors Program offers admitted students at least a $50,000 merit scholarship. Students can participate fully in co-curricular activities and obtain paid fellowships following graduation.

WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL 185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013-2921 | Toll Free 1.877.YES.NYLS | T 212.431.2888 | E admissions@nyls.edu | www.nyls.edu

boston college law one community "What makes BC Law so special? My answer has always been the same: this is an unbelievably supportive community, where faculty, administrators, students, and alumni come together to create a vibrant academic and social experience." —Tracey West, Associate Dean for External Relations, Diversity and Inclusion

BC Law has a tangible sense of community that makes going to law school here different than anywhere else. Combine that with the very best faculty, academics and real-world programs, and it's easy to see why we're so unique.

• 25% Students of Color

Visit our website, or call our admissions office to schedule a tour and come see what we have to offer. You'll be glad you did.

• Top 25 clinical programs

• 16 Moot Court Teams • 5 Law Reviews • #1 for most 'superlawyers' in New England • Annual diversity retreat, special programs

• Top 20 school where big firms recruit

money matters

$trategy for Financing a Legal Education:

BY Reyes AGuilar

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

Â© Rido

Set A Financial Plan for the Long Term Investment in Yourself

money matters Financial matters will play an important role in your preparation for law school. Earning a law degree is a pursuit worth the investment-if you approach meeting the costs associated with attending law school as part of a financial plan for the long term. Developing your strategy for this financial plan will require research, resource acquisition, wise resource allocation, and due diligence. This will take time and oblige you to be active in taking control over planning the financing of your legal education. Similar to the law school experience, financing your legal education is a proactive endeavor. Understand the Total Costs Associated With Financing A Law Degree I’ll state the obvious: A legal education is expensive. Based on American Bar Association data, in 20132014 the national average for law school tuition was nearly $24,000 for residents at state supported law schools, $36,500 for non-residents at state supported schools, and $42,100 for private schools. Moreover, the national average debt for 2012 graduates of public law schools was $84,600 and the average for graduates of private law schools, was just over $122,150. It is worth noting these debt figures reflect borrowing only for law school. The salaries of the most recent graduating class can be viewed as one of the early dividends in the longterm investment of a legal education. The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) has a helpful website for looking at this data: www.nalp.org/ research. NALP reports that the national median salary for lawyers who graduated in 2012 was $61,245 and the overall employment rate was 84.7%. These statistics reflect the salary and employment rate information for all the Class of 2012 graduates who reported this information and it is for all types of employment-not just law practice. There is another important statistic, however, that reflects the employment rate for members of the Class of 2012 who are working in positions that are full-time and require the employee to have passed the bar exam. The employment rate dropped to 60.7% when looking at 2012 graduates who were in those full-time positions that required passing a bar exam. While the data above is helpful in gauging some costs and salaries associated with attending law school,

the information does not give a full measure of the expenses one will incur. The full cost of earning a law degree can be viewed in three parts: 1) the application process; 2) the period of enrollment; and 3) the year of licensing.

1. The Application Process The admissions process will include costs for registering for the LSAT and subscribing for the Credential Assembly Service (CAS). There will also be LSAT preparation and campus visits as well as moving expenses. The fixed costs of applying to law school are LSAT registration, CAS, Law School Reports, and individual law school application fees. These costs can easily approach $1,000--depending on the number of law schools to which one will apply. The variable expenses in the application process will include things like LSAT preparation, campus visits, seat deposits, and moving expenses, if you are relocating to attend law school. These particular costs can vary widely depending on a number of factors, but I think it is reasonable to consider a range of these costs to be $1,000-$2,500. This is not an allinclusive list. You will need to take time and consider the costs you will incur associated with applying to law school.

2. The Period of Enrollment The same is true for the period of your enrollment. The three basic questions to ask when starting the process of comparing the cost of individual law schools are: a) what is the total cost of attendance; b) what is the tuition portion of that cost of attendance; and c) what is most recent graduating class’s average debt. These are starting point questions you can build on based on your financial situation. There is a helpful data source for this information: the ABA Standard 509 disclosures. All ABA accredited law schools must post this document on their websites. This document will make it easier to compare data from school-to-school. All the documents are in the same format and it is required to be “posted conspicuously and in a readily accessible location.”

3. The Year of Licensing After you graduate there are still expenses you will incur to get licensed and prepare for practice. This will include bar exam registration and preparation, licensing fee once you pass the bar, moving expenses, updating technology, and entering repayment on your student loans. As part of this process, it is important to know that most government and WINTER/SPRING 2015

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money matters public service organizations are not able to hire new attorneys until the they have passed the bar and been sworn-in. For some large jurisdictions this can take up to nine months after graduation. While some firms and organizations do provide help with some of these costs, it is important to prepare for meeting those expenses on your own, if necessary.

information you gathered earlier to determine what your package would be for the next school year. Know the elements of the cost of attendance budget (tuition, books, technology, room and board, travel, and miscellaneous) and understand what changed from the previous year. These costs will vary from school-toschool and student-to-student.

Early in this process you need to also consider your debt aversion. This is similar to deciding on a level of risk aversion one contemplates when considering stocks in which to invest. As you consider law school, know the level of debt to which you are willing to expose yourself. Then balance that with the employment and salary data as well as the essential elements for your job satisfaction and long term earning potential. A general understanding of the costs (debt) and benefits (earnings and job satisfaction) is essential in determining if attending law school is the right route for you.

For scholarships, know the details of the award and understand conditions that must be met to maintain an award. It is often the case that renewable or multi-year scholarships require a minimum GPA or class standing. GPA distributions vary greatly so it is important to know what percentile ranking a required GPA has so you can understand the relative standard you will be held to in maintaining your eligibility for the scholarship.

Resources Acquisition

Once you have identified the costs associated with financing a law degree, you will need to work on finding the resources to meet those costs. Gather information, do the research, and set aside the time necessary to develop this part of your plan. These resources come in a variety of forms that may include: loans, scholarships, work-study, VA Benefits, wages, employment benefits, gifts, and savings. Helpful website links for information on financial aid generally and loan programs in particular are: `` Law School Admission Council www.lsac.org/jd/financing-law-school/financialaid-overview

`` FinAid! The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid www.finaid.org

`` Heather Jarvis Student Loan Expert askheatherjarvis.com

`` Federal Student Aid www.studentloans.gov.

Get the Details

Once you receive offers of admission, you will need to sort through your choices and come to a decision about the school that is right for you. As part of that process, you need to get detailed information about your financial aid packages, student debt, and employment to plan for your next three years of law school costs and gauge the feasibility of the investment paying long-term dividends. Tuition and other education related costs change from year to year. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rely exclusively on the general 36

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If you will be borrowing student loans, salaries should be considered as a resource in repaying those loans. While one should certainly look to those early employment rates and salaries statistics, also consider the other things that matter most to you. Compare that with the areas of practice or the types of job skills developed in law school that would best suit you. Then look at the salaries and employment rates in those fields. Be sure to include both the earlycareer information as well as mid-career data. The law schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; career services offices and the NALP website will be helpful resources.

Exercise Prudence

Be wary of debt. It is essential that you acquire debt in a prudent manner and at a reasonable level. Education-related debt can be sensible, but too often there is over reliance on loans-especially credit cards or other consumer debt. Know that law school graduates are subjected to credit checks and review of their financial history as part of the character and fitness evaluations they go through when applying for bar admission. It is important to comprehend the expenses of attending law school. Before simply deciding whether or not to enter law school based on cost alone, get the full picture. For some it may be too high a financial cost. However, do consider the other things that matter most to you in entering a profession that will fulfill you. This may include essential elements that are hard to measure in gauging job satisfaction. Some of these elements may include independence, making a difference in the lives of others, long-term earning potential, civic engagement, and others. You get to make the list. It is necessary to weigh employment and salary data, but include more than just the at-graduation and nine months after graduation data. Remember this is a long-term plan youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re constructing.

Investing in yourself and preparing for your future. We’re here to help you better understand how you can pay for your legal education.

At Access Group, we work to further access, affordability and the value of legal education through research, policy advocacy, and direct member and student educational services.

Visit AccessGroup.Org to learn more about: • paying for law school, • deciding how much to borrow, • managing your loan repayment, • maintaining good financial habits, and • much more!

We’ve been providing services to schools and students for 30 years. As strong advocates of borrower education and financial literacy, our goal is to help you make smart financial decisions that will continue to benefit you in the future. Whether you’re just starting your educational journey or have already graduated, the smart financial strategies you adopt now will be with you for a lifetime.

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college scholars

On Becoming A Pre-Law Student… An Open Conversation with Community College Students BY Matthew Niziol

Community college students, you are the new “hope” for law schools. Why? The U.S. legal system and legal community need to reflect the diversity of the broader society and embrace its varied perspectives. Typically community college students are diverse, first generation college, adult, veterans, and/or lowerto-middle income students. You demonstrate academic success and an ability to cope with changing academic environments. You interact with international students daily and are found in large, mid-size, and small cities, as well as rural communities. As a community college student you have all the ingredients to make your law school dream come true.

1. Manage transitions. Learn to manage the

transition from high school to college, from undeclared to declared majors, from Associates degree to Bachelor’s degree, and from home-life to student-life. Students who do not master these transitions get lost in the crowd, lose focus on academic progress, and often fail to earn a degree even though they pass their classes. Use your advisor to help you cope with the challenges of being “in transition.”

2. Strengthen your GPA. High school GPA and SAT/ACT scores were not kind to all students. Beginning your General Education classes in the smaller community college environment with the highest GPA possible will make you an appealing law school candidate in the application process your junior year. Many community college students start their education with Developmental Math and English that can derail a pre-law student’s timeline, and deflate their self-esteem. Don’t let these extra classes deter you. Developmental classes won’t influence your GPA, but they will make it possible to get 38

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3. Know thy professor. All community college classes are supported by math and writing centers, tutoring, and student-focused faculty, whereas, universities can only offer these benefits to honor students. There will be no auditorium-sized lectures for you. Therefore, your responsibility is to get to know your professors. At the beginning of each semester, choose the professors who will write your Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for transfer; then do the things you want them to write about. Visit during your professors’ office

top: © Warren Goldswain / BOTTOM: © Ammentorp | Dreamstime.com

What can you do to enhance your chances of becoming a successful law school candidate?

high grades in these areas later; and they do take up class time on your calendar. If you are taking Developmental classes in the fall and spring, plan to take classes in the summer to stay on track for transfer. GPA is crucial for your transfer (now and into law school), so find the resources to strengthen your GPA from week one, not at mid-term.

college scholars hours and expect that they will know you. Ask questions in class that encourage discussion. Connect classwork with campus activities with the confidence that your professor knows what is happening on campus. Good luck trying that at a 30,000 student university! As a community college student, YOU will benefit from these engaging educational interactions later when you have small and interactive law school classes.

4. Plan today’s classes with tomorrow’s degree in mind. Pre-law students

often ask what major to choose for law school. Community college students should ask which degree program transfers to a university. Community college degrees are usually very broad like AS-Science, AS-Business Administration, AS-Liberal Arts. So, pre-law students often find themselves assigned to ASSocial Science degree along with students in history, political science, and public administration. The name of the community college degree is less important than the skills of critical reading, research, intensive writing, small group work/collaboration, and analysis. Ask your academic advisor to recommend majors and classes and professors that teach as well as reinforce these skills. The majority of your “core” classes transfer to universities, but your academic advisor will guide your choices so you do not waste money on non-transferrable classes. Be wary of paralegal degree programs because they often do not transfer to universities.

5. Seek academic success. Visit your advisor often

to learn “assertive advising skills” so when you transfer you will be an “assertive” student and self-advocate in the law school application process. Community colleges offer you an “available” advisor not an “invisible” advisor. An “assertive student” searches for key components of success by finding the advising center, financial aid/scholarship office, student life office, and their professors’ offices early. An assertive student doesn’t blindly take the next class in sequence. S/he chooses professors that teach beyond class content and include skills for research, writing, and group projects. Look for honors classes to make the “Core Curriculum” pop from your transcript. And, every semester you are going to apply for scholarships to pay for books, classes, and parking passes because the cost of attendance at the university will double your community college tuition. Practice advocating for yourself at the community college level and you will learn how to advocate for clients as a lawyer.

6. Engage in campus life and beyond.

University tuition, campus population, and student activities will exponentially increase in comparison to your community college, but bigger is not always better. More students in a student organization make it harder to move into leadership positions. Community college students can perfect leadership skills on smaller campuses making a more meaningful and sustainable impact than most university freshmen who get lost in large students’ organizations. Your goal over four years is to find the

clubs and special events that relate to your major or career and to eliminate other clubs that distract from your success. The most daunting co-curricular task for community college students is attending regional and national events/conferences. Academic advisors and professors can help you search for programs like Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) to prepare you for law school, as well as conferences related to your major. Push your college staff to help you find these events, but don’t be deterred if you are referred to another office. Be tenacious. Your university counterparts are meeting each other at conferences and you need to be there too!

7. Prepare for Tomorrow’s Success.

Community college students should sail through the law school application process, because you get so many chances to practice completing applications (high school to college, college to university, then university to law school). Most university students complete their only application for admission as a senior in high school--with their parents’ help. Take advantage of your university transfer to master the process of choosing schools based on: testing scores, tuition cost, financial aid, size, location, reputation, and access to faculty and student-friendly environment. The selection process will be roughly the same for law school. Learn when and how to request Letters of Recommendation, gather transcripts, complete personal essays, apply for financial aid, and submit application fees. “Satisfactory Academic Progress” is college jargon for good grades. Since community college students usually commute, don’t overload your semesters. Register only for the number of credits you can complete with a “B or better” GPA. Prelaw students with poor grades at the community college plead to law school admissions staff, “I was better/more focused at the university in my major.” That might be true, but GPA is all consuming in the application process and the Law School Admissions Council counts every grade. Finally, how will you cover the tuition bill? Scholarships! Students applying for scholarships and FAFSA at a community college can save money for university and law school tuitions. Learning now to apply for and win scholarships every semester will pay dividends. Now that you have the information necessary to be a community college student on the pre-law track, embrace the intimate environment of the community college and capitalize on being a Big Fish in a Small Pond. Seek the college structures that support your aspirations and leave a good example for the students after you to follow. And, go buy your college’s t-shirt and wear it proudly. Note: The term community college includes all 2-year institutions; universities include all 4-year institutions.

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money matters

Excerpt from the CLEO Blog:

I.O.U.

Law School: by Matthew Niziol

Plan early and start saving now! This is the one rule of financing law school that is applied to students from freshmen to post-grads.

Sophomore /Junior Year:

Senior Year:

1.5-2 Years Before Enrollment

1 Year Before Enrollment

Begin researching and obtaining information on costs associated with applying to law school. Establish a budget for:

Apply for and obtain finance specific information for your schools of interest:

 LSAT & Credit Assembly Service (CAS) Registration Fees

 LSAT Preparation Costs  Application Fees  Check on application fee waiver policies for law schools

 Check the Law School Admission Council’s fee waiver policy for LSAT & CAS Registration

Junior Year:

1-1.5 Years Before Enrollment Begin researching and obtaining general information on:

 Cost of Attendance  Financial Aid process  Financial Resource Options  Student Debt  Starting Salaries for Lawyers (Various

employment sectors and geographic regions)

 Legal Employment Outlook

 Complete Free Application for Federal

Student Aid as soon as possible. (www. fafsa.ed.gov). Update list of schools to receive information.

 Know if need and/or merit-based scholarship applications must be submitted for each school and when they become available.

 Complete and submit scholarship applications.

 Once admitted, complete and submit

institutional Office of Financial Aid forms ASAP.

 Know Cost of Attendance Budget for each school to which you apply.

 Know Financial Resource Options (may

differ slightly from school to school): savings, work (not recommended first year), gifts, employment benefits, VA benefits, loans, scholarships, research or teaching assistantships in other departments, etc.

 Run your credit report. Request it for free at www.annualcreditreport.com. Know how negative indicators will affect your financial aid eligibility.

 Set a budget and plan for making school visits.

 Plan for paying a seat deposit. Typically due beginning in April.

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money matters

Senior Year:

½ Year Before Enrollment

Financial aid process should be well under way. You have applied for and have specific information on schools to which you are being admitted:

Financial aid process should be completed and you are making final arrangements for disbursement of aid:

 Know updated Cost of Attendance Bud-

 Sign and return promissory notes.

get for each school to which you have been admitted for your first year of enrollment.

 Know if you have been selected for veri-

fication by offices of financial aid. Submit the required paperwork as soon as possible. If you are selected for verification your award letter will not be generated until you complete verification.

 Review financial aid award letters (loan

information) from offices of financial aid. Know what you are being offered and the differences between the loans.

 Review scholarship award letters (if of-

fered). Know conditions of scholarship awards—especially for renewable or multi-year awards.

 Accept awards formally for financial aid © Can Stock Photo Inc. / hjalmeida

Senior Year:

1 Year Before Enrollment

package, and if offered, scholarship award for the school in which you will enroll.

 Complete and return documentation for scholarship disbursement (if necessary).

 Complete loan orientation (an institutional requirement usually done online).

 Know disbursement date for loans and

scholarships. You may need to make arrangements for book and supplies purchases if disbursement does not happen until after first day of class.

 Make arrangements for direct/electronic deposit of aid disbursements--if available.

This is a sample financial aid timeline parallel to an admissions process time line presuming enrollment in the fall as a full-time student. You can find additional CLEO resources for financing law school by visiting our blog at cleoscholars.org.

 Know when to expect promissory notes and/or documentation to complete for scholarship disbursement.

 If necessary, set a budget and plan for

moving to location of law school. Remember, financial aid support does not include this expense.

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CLEO EDGE

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Experience the Fordham Law difference at law.fordham.edu or contact our Admissions Office at 212-636-6810.

“I am senior director of global legal operations and compliance at Discovery Communications.”

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— Kenneth Parker, JD’97

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— Adesuwa Ighile, JD’14

These three professionals are from different backgrounds and have chosen different career paths. But they have one thing in common: They are all from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Our student body represents the community, nation, and world. Our entering class reflects this: 25% are from diverse ethnic backgrounds; 66% are from outside Indiana; 41% have had work experience prior to law school. Let us show you how the Maurer School of Law can help you chart a professional career that’s right for you. Whatever you decide to do, as a Maurer graduate, you’ll enter the workforce as a prepared professional — in every sense of the word. Contact our admissions office at 812.855.4765, or lawadmis@indiana.edu.

feature

Grammy-nominated, Award-winning Artist

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on the need for

Resilience, Disagreement & a Knowledge of the Bottom Line in

Life Music

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feature Reflecting on the themes and conceptual elements of his evocative double album Christian aTunde Adjuah, the artist shares the connection between its title and his name and challenges us to expand our definitions of diversity. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (CS): I always like to start by saying that I completed my name, not changed my name, because my entire life I have navigated the world as Scott. I came to the conclusion that I’d automatically accepted the types of things that led to me being called Scott. To be completely honest with you, the majority of the things that go handin-hand with blacks in America having these surnames, I absolutely abhor. So it was really important for me to establish that my identity politics pointed towards something other than what was assigned to my forebears. When I am doing a contract, all of the names are there because I will never not be Scott but I want you to also acknowledge that this is a part of my history and that I am not forgetting that it’s a part of my history. Mai Sennaar (MS): I wanted to talk about the track Alkebu Lan. My father’s name is Alkebu-Lan and very seldom do I see that name anywhere else. What inspired that song? CS: I love so much just being able to know that that was what certain people called the Land before the Greeks got there and named it Africa. You know, not everyone is comfortable brandishing a name that has such a weighted and dark history. Now, the interesting thing about this song is that within the last couple of months I’ve gotten about 40-50 emails and different things because there is a trumpeter who will remain nameless and is becoming a really acclaimed recording artist. He actually ripped the song and created one that basically sounds just like Alkebu Lan. He named it--it was something like “Africa Bop” or “Africa Song” and it incensed me. But at the end of the day, I always learned as a younger person that when you create something it becomes for the world, and if you’re good at what you do, you’re going to influence other people. So for that part of it, I don’t really admonish the person. What I do have a problem with is taking the ideas of the song, its conceptual elements, and then naming the song “something, Africa” because I don’t even know if this person knows why I named the song, what I named it. I feel like it’s probably the biggest slap in the face for them to revert back to a name that automatically ties back into the name that I was trying to get away from.

MS: For an artist that’s just starting out, that just wants to have their play produced or their song heard, sometimes they’re not keen on protecting themselves. What advice would you give? CS: It is incredibly important to make sure that you have things copywritten, trademarked, patented in terms of protecting your intellectual property. But sometimes you have to have more visceral approaches to protecting the things that you work for and that you love. Sometimes a copyright is not applicable to being able to protect yourself from an exploitative club owner or promoter, right? It’s important to get your business chops together, do as much reading as possible and get your legal [affairs] together because the vast majority of people that you’re going to deal with in the business environment are about the bottom line. And that has absolutely nothing to do with the creative process. You have to do your due diligence and bounce your ideas off of people with different perspectives and weigh all of the things that you hear. MS: There’s an interview after you won the Edison Award, where you talk about being able to sell your CD’s quite successfully and then ended up having them shipped back to your doorstep, and all the trials that it led to… CS: Yeah, those were rough times.

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feature MS: It sounded very rough. I thought, he’s really resilient to have stuck with it [the music]. Could you share a little bit of that story with us? CS: In terms of the situation with the Virgin Megastore and Tower Records...that was a really complicated time for me. I went through being heavily vetted by some of the best and most notable labels of the day when I was really young -- 16 years old. By the time that I was 18, I realized that their general approach to how someone becomes successful was incredibly linear and lacked a lot of vision. In my opinion, there were a lot of exploitative tendencies that my family didn’t feel that I needed to be a party to at that age. I decided to start my own record label with a group of friends at Berklee [College of Music]. We did it like I saw the Hip-Hop guys do in the streets in New Orleans: making physical copies, going around by word-of-mouth, playing as much as possible, spreading the word through promotional materials and literally being on the streets selling things...catching people in places where they didn’t expect to hear great music and letting them know that they didn’t have to go through traditional channels to get it. MS: And you were quite successful at this, it went pretty well for you guys, I understand.

CLEO EDGE

MS:Wow. CS: Yeah! ...After that I went about the business of trying to get my records into stores in New York, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, Los Angeles… and it went incredibly well. And part of the story that you know is my record was outselling that record we were talking about. I got home one night after class, and there were tons of boxes of my CD’s that had been shipped back to my address. So, I went into the Virgin and Tower Records in Boston with my brother, with a video camera. They were like “You can’t come in here with the camera.” They had the security escort me out. Now mind you I am still looking at posters of my face on the Top 20 countdown, I had the number 2 or 3 record in the store but there were no more copies of it because they sent them all back. I went back the next day without the camera and spoke to a guy that was a sweetheart, his name was Ned Arnold and he actually ended up helping me get my deal later. He pulled me to the side and said, “Look man, I’m not supposed to tell you any of this stuff, but basically this label paid for co-op space to get your records off the shelves and you’re consigning the records and can’t really compete with them unless you’re going to give up all of the profit.” This old guy was heartbroken that he basically had to tell me to cut my losses. So I went back to hustling the records on the street [laughs] in the short term and then I started to deal with Concord Records.

“...the vast majority of people that you’re going to deal with in the business environment are about the bottom line. And that has absolutely nothing to do with the creative process.”

CS: It went incredibly well for us that summer. I mean we even struck a deal with the college [Berklee] to be able to sell the stuff in front of the school. If we had issues we were around teachers who could impart wisdom to us. But I ended up having all types of situations happen once I started to enter into more traditional channels of trying to sell music. I was negotiating a new deal with a major label, actually their jazz label doesn’t exist anymore, and I had spoken to the A&R Department about what I wanted the title of my record to be, what I wanted it to look like, sound like, all these things. There was a person that played my instrument that was dropped from another label and I got a call back from the A&R person saying that they were going to pursue doing the contract with him as opposed to doing it with me. At the time I was still a Berklee student and there was a lot I was concentrating on so that didn’t bother me much. But I will never forget going into the record store, 6-9 months later and seeing my record title and my record concept sitting on a shelf. I called 46

the A&R person and I was like, “Hey, you know this is my idea, my concept...” It was everything that I’d wanted to do, stuff that I had thought about for 6 years, and the A&R guy told me, “Welcome to the Music Business.”

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MS: That is so much to handle, especially that young. What was motivating you to not give up? Was it the music? CS: To be honest with you it wasn’t the music. When I was growing up, when I was really a small guy, my mother had cancer. She worked multiple jobs. Even when I was in college she was working all hours of the night just to make sure that my twin brother Kiel and I had enough money to eat. So the only reason in my mind’s eye that I went to Berklee was my Mom. I had already been on the road for 4 or 5 years and had made a name for myself. It really came from watching my mother’s resilience;

feature

“...music serves as a means of being able to relate to other people — and that is incredibly important to me.”

that affects you when you’re a little kid and you see that. No matter how sick someone is they still get up and they sacrifice their energy and their time just to make sure you’re okay, you know? If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from my family it’s that, in a lot of ways, life is like a fight. Most people’s mindset about fighting is that it’s the guy that can hit the hardest [that will win], but my life experiences have shown me that it’s actually the guy that can take being hit incredibly hard and get up again that usually perseveres. So, you know, the situations with the record label…I was healthy, I was young, I was still in school, I was surrounded by a great support system in terms of my family and really great friends...guys like the Curtis Brothers (Luques & Zaccai Curtis) are probably the main guys. We went through a lot together. As a black male growing up in New Orleans, living in Boston at the time, it wasn’t the first time that I had dealt with certain systemic things that basically put up walls. I’ve gotten really good at climbing over fences, I guess is a good way to put it. MS: ...I found it fascinating that Film Scoring was one of your majors at Berklee could you talk about your interest in film scoring and what your favorite film score is? CS: Oh, okay. Wow... It was really important to me at the time to figure out the best way to be able to pull

emotions from the listener. And to do it in a way where the emotion is very visceral and doesn’t create ambiguity in terms of what it is that I am trying to say as a performer or as a composer. MS: So was some of that of particular interest because you weren’t going to be using lyrics? CS: Actually, you know, I never really thought about that but I’m sure that has something to do with it. I think more than that though, I wanted to be able to make sure that whatever I was playing or I was writing came off. And a lot of times with jazz or with a lot of Western Classical music, R&B music, etc...we concentrate so hard on the things that are culturally indicative of these musical forms that we miss the fact that the music serves as a means of being able to relate to other people. And that is incredibly important to me. One of my favorite film composers is John Williams just in terms of the kinds of devices that he creates in his scores. They pull the listener in and also the themes that he creates in terms of character development. It also became about learning how these musical devices tap into the collective memory of listeners. Jazz in the last 25 years has turned into this incredibly harmonic music form, where the vast majority of the things that we do--even though I refer to my music as stretch music and that’s a whole other thing…but jazz is WINTER/SPRING 2015

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“...with the guys in my band, we vehemently disagree with each other daily, and that’s what makes the music sound the way it sounds. I’ve also always been a fan of music that sounded like struggle because that’s what I’ve known in my life and still know. “ predominantly a harmonic music now. Which means a lot of times, people don’t concentrate on melody and it’s hard to get people to hold onto something if there’s no melody. So for a lot of my music, in terms of guitar lines or piano motifs and things, there’s little different motifs I put in the music that someone can hold onto in addition to the melodies that keep them grounded in the composition so I don’t lose them, you know? But all in all, my favorite film score, I’d have to say is A Streetcar Named Desire by Alex North. MS: Oh, wow! Oh yeah, that’s a good one. CS: I think a lot of people would be shocked by that, but you know, when I was small, I watched that movie with my grandfather [laughs], and immediately fell in love with what was going on. MS: So, the mission of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) is to encourage diversity in the legal field. And so, in a general sense, how is diversity significant to you?

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MS: I picked that up when I saw you at Bohemian Caverns, I was on the first row, and when you came out, the energy, was almost--it wasn’t pleasant--it was sort of ferocious and palpable and some of that, I think, is because there is such a diversity of opinions and approaches to music on the stage. CS: Yeah! In some ways, we’re fighting each other… MS: …What legal education and counsel has been of benefit to you? CS: ...I didn’t start off with good legal counsel. I was really lucky that my mother has been so diligent in researching things. I know a lot of artists that have made mistakes legally and end up bowing out because they feel like one mistake defines their career and that’s there’s nothing that they can do to fix it. So having good legal counsel is a very important thing. If I had to share one piece of advice that has helped the most, I would say, be aware of what’s trending and what has happened historically in whatever context that you’re walking into. You’re going to make mistakes, and that’s okay. The one constant is that the environment will change. MS: Great. Well thank you so much. This was a fantastic conversation. CS: The pleasure is mine, Mai.

CS: Well, I think that what I create musically is about a reevaluation of how we communicate. Culturally we’re taught communication styles and we never go about the business of reevaluating whether or not they’re useful. When I think about my music, I like to think about it [like this]: you have 6 or 7 different people from different cultural, linguistic and musical backgrounds, trapped in a room and given a problem that none of them individually are prepared to tackle. In order to be able to tackle it, they’re going to have to reevaluate the way that they communicate. You know, I’m an identical twin. My brother Kiel is an incredible filmmaker, and he’s working on a short right now...He’s an incredible critical thinker. We come from exactly the same background, we’re literally an egg that’s split, but you would be shocked by how different our perspectives are. It is incredibly important to have multiple perspectives on things. Like, in my band, historically there have been like

4 or 5 black guys and one white guy. Matt Stevens was in the band for so long, and a lot of times he was the lone white guy. People would be looking at us [the band] and they’d say “Well, there’s probably five perspectives and then one perspective.” But the funny thing is, with the guys in my band, we vehemently disagree with each other daily, and that’s what makes the music sound the way it sounds. I’ve also always been a fan of music that sounded like struggle because that’s what I’ve known in my life and still know. To me it’s more attractive to have those types of disagreements musically where you have to reevaluate the way that you communicate.

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Words of Wisdom Rawpixel

Recently, the CLEO Edge Magazine reached out to our Fellows, Associates, and Affiliates for their words of wisdom to prospective law students. Here is what a few of them have to say to youâ&#x20AC;¦ 50

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feature Take heed and do not be distracted by other students’ efforts. Measure your own understanding and comprehension by standards set for yourself. To finish the race is to win the race. All will be well eventually. — Chigozie S., CLEO Fellow

1. YOU CAN DO THIS! Keep your head down and plow through. Law school will be over before you know it.

Your classmates will be your study partners for three years, your colleagues for 30 years, and your friends for life. Take the time during your first year (1L) to develop strong bonds, and you’ll have a more enjoyable law school experience.- Pierre C., CLEO Affiliate, CLEO Associate

Now more than ever take time to enjoy the little things and make sure to take it one day at a time. - Charles F., CLEO Associate

When it comes to legal writing; start early and edit often. - Alfonso L., CLEO Associate

2. Work hard and study smart! 3. Keep your end game in mind and do not allow yourself to be distracted by the progress or success of others. 4. Whenever you are in doubt, remember all of the people that have come before you and made it - YOU WILL TOO! 5. Never EVER be afraid to ask for help! - Anonymous

A month before finals…DO NOT FREAK OUT! But if you happen to do so, stop and think of how much you have already accomplished! 1. You finished high school! 2. You finished college, most likely, if not at the top, very close to the top of your class! 3. You made it through the LSAT! 4. You made it into law school! Now when you think of all that you have accomplished thus far, finals season will not seem that bad. Do not dwell on how far you have to go, only dwell on how far you have come. Just remember, the time you would spend worrying about what you have not done, and what you could have done, you could be doing what you still CAN do! Take on your fears, challenges, and obstacles head on! Be well rested, breathe, pray/ meditate, whatever it is that you do to relax, and apply yourself ! Lastly, never “fight the hypo!” You have got this! Good luck, I know you will do astonishingly well! — Brittany B., CLEO Associate

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The best way to perform well on law school exams is to practice writing as many essays as you can for the particular subject. Professors test the same things over and over for any given subject. - Anonymous

To keep the faith and stand by your principles. - Cyromia L.

CLEO was definitely a great experience! It built a strong foundation for me as I entered law school, and I gained some life-long friendships. The greatest advice I received was to find out what works for you. Words of wisdom: Law school is not a race, but a marathon. Stay in your own lane, stay at your own pace, and look forward to the journey. -Chigozie. E., CLEO Fellow

What’s your end-game? Why did you choose to attend law school? The answer to

those two questions will determine your actions over the next three years. By now you have successfully endured at least 16 years of schooling and you are familiar with your learning style and applicable study techniques. Now, you have to apply that to your end-game. Despite all the horror stories you may have heard about law school, it really is just like any other graduate program—there is a set curriculum with assignments and exams to test knowledge. The social environment is completely within your control and so is the ultimate experience you will have in law school. Yes, it will seem like the reading assignments never end. Yes, the Socratic method will have you trembling in your boots. Yes, the job market is fickle and you have little control over the hiring process. And the list goes on and on. But, despite all this, you chose to begin this journey. Now, it’s up to you to have a plan to tackle these roadblocks. So, what’s my advice? Answer the two questions that I posed to you at the beginning of this paragraph and then ensure that all your decisions and actions will get you closer to accomplishing those goals. Buckle down your first year and set a study schedule that comports with your learning style. Separate yourself from classmates who tend to have a “the world is ending” attitude or who constantly complain… it’s contagious and eventually you’ll adopt that negative attitude as well. Ask for help if you need it and don’t feel ashamed. Law school is unlike any other educational experience and having a mentor or trusted advisor that has shared your experience will help you along the way. Save the partying and exploring your new surroundings until your second or third year of law school when you actually have the time and energy to do so. Above all else, remind yourself that you have what it takes. You’ve made it this far and with each class, with each reading assignment you complete, each cold-call you survive, you’ll be that much closer to earning your law degree. Go all in during the next three years…you get out what you put in so put in your all. Good luck to all of you! - Collette B., CLEO Associate

One of the best things you can do as a law student is foster professional relationships with your professors. More than likely, these professors are distinguished individuals in the legal field who can help expand your professional network, increase your career opportunities, and enhance your professional reputation. - Ericka A., CLEO Fellow

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CLEO “Words of Wisdom,” cont. 1. Try to keep style in mind when legal writing. 2. Don’t look at others to gauge your progress. You know what it takes for you to do your best. We all learn differently and at a different pace. It’s a marathon not a sprint. 3. If you want it go get it. The worst they can say is “No.” 4. You can get a paid summer job after your first year. 5. Outline early so at the end of the semester you can take more practice tests. 6. It will be difficult and frustrating at times, but if they did not think you could do it they would not have invited you to play. 7. Find a hobby to offset the frustrating times. 8. Apply for everything early. Plan accordingly, the early bird gets the worm. - Darnell C.

Many people often think the key to success in law school is based on how smart you are. While your natural abilities may play a role in your success, it is definitely not the key factor. The key to succeeding in law school is preparation, preparation, preparation!!! I can’t say it enough PREPARATION! Preparation includes reading and briefing all assigned cases, along with practice questions and essays. Law school is a marathon, NOT a race! And ‘cramming’ will NOT allow you to be successful. - Kristen T., CLEO Associate ’12

After five years in the job market, I asked a variety of law students and legal professionals the same question: should I spend time in the months before law school previewing legal topics to help prepare for the first year? The response was unanimous – “No, definitely not!” To my surprise I was urged to enjoy my summer since it may be the last time I could do so over the next three years. I was also reassured that most 1Ls are coming to the classroom with limited to no experience with the law. What I wish someone would have told me was the truth. Law school is hard enough without having to learn the ABC's of the law and legal system. It can be a foreign language for some students. As a rising 3L (third year), I urge you to prepare, prepare, prepare. Take advantage of the prelaw programs that CLEO offers. I believe it is never too early to familiarize yourself with topics you are expected to master during your studies. You should all begin law school prepared to perform at your very best.

shows the professors that you are concerned that you are not clear on every point of the law. This will reap you benefits and often times, this will help build a good relationship with your professor, one that will extend beyond the classroom. When it comes time to look for someone to write you a letter of recommendation, these professors will be more than willing because they’ve gotten to know you better, they appreciate your work ethic, and have witnessed your dedication to succeed. 3. Sit in the front of the class. This makes it less intimidating to ask questions because you don’t see a large group of students in front of you.

4. Recognize how small the legal community is. When you meet a fellow classmate, a professor, or a legal professional, know that they could be connected to someone who is extremely influential, and you may not realize this until after you’ve made a bad impression, in which case it will be too late. Know that your classmates in a few years will be lawyers too, and any bad reputation that you created for yourself in law school will follow you once you graduate. So, treat everyone with kindness and be respectful and courteous of yourself and others.

5. Keep in touch with your CLEO community. - Stacia H., CLEO Associate These people have been on the ride with you, and will become lifelong family. They have likely had to face similar hurdles as you by being one of the first lawyers in their family or being one of the only diverse Approach law school with a disciplined students at their school. Take advantage mindset to learning by making a study of the skills that CLEO has taught you schedule and diligently sticking to it! and remember the drive that took you -- Gone are the days of last-minute exam to law school. Never lose sight of your studying and all-nighters. The most wanted success and motivation. Sit in your successful law students are those who review class material on a day-to-day basis. chair until you can’t sit anymore! All the studying will be worth it when you graduate - Kori C., CLEO Associate knowing you’ve given it your all. 6. If CLEO still provides the Expert Learning for Law Students book, READ IT!!! It has so many good tips and helped me a lot. Even 1. Know that if anyone else can do it, so can the assigned 15 pages a day was worth you. Just because you may not have lawyers it and the tips I learned from that book in your immediate family doesn’t mean you carried me through law school. can’t succeed. Lean on your professors and - Maryann Z., CLEO Fellow mentors for help. 2. Make a list of questions whenever you are confused. Go to your professor’s office hours with a list of your questions. Never think a question is stupid; if anything it

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I came to law school a few months after graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree. I had a vision of what I wanted to accomplish in my education and broadly speaking in my life. That vision was tested in law school, not so much because of the often stressful academic environment, but because of family problems and death. My mom, the one person that had encouraged me most to not wait to go to law school after undergraduate, passed away. The spring semester of my first year was the toughest four months of my life. But what kept me going was what I want to give everyone reading as advice and encouragement; you have an immense opportunity to help others and create hope in the lives of others and you should use it. That simple realization, a realization of what my mother wanted me to do in life, gave me the strength to continue. And that realization of fulfilled purpose continues to give me strength. Always remember how blessed you are and your duty to help others, for unto whom much is given much is required. - Ryan K., CLEO Affiliate

Do not fear asking a question. I was surprised by how open my professors are to answering questions outside of class. They are also there to provide career related advice as well. - Kayla P. 54

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Find a professor that will serve as a mentor, counselor, and motivator. Surround yourself with positive people that will help build you up. 1. You have a purpose and are meant to be in law school so do not let temporary circumstances deter you from accomplishing your goals. Your passion is what will carry you through the difficult moments. 2. Actively read and brief all of your cases. You may have to read the case two or three times to understand the concept but that is normal. 3. Do not share and discuss your grades with classmates. 4. The law school experience will be the time that you will grow the most spiritually, professionally, mentally, and physically. 5. Faith Sees the Invincible, Believes the Incredible, and Receives the Impossible. - Hermise P., CLEO Associate

Go with what you know. Stay true to your morals and beliefs, and stay connected to the family and friends that provide you with the most encouragement. They might not understand the intensity of the work you’re experiencing, but it’s important to have a foundation to stand on while in law school. Believe in yourself. There are so many different aspects of law school that will have you questioning your intelligence, your strength, your capabilities, but just know that just as qualified as you were to get in, you are also as qualified to finish. Connect & reach out!!! Don’t just go to class, study, go home, and repeat. While it’s important to keep your studies at the top of your priority list, it is just as important to have other things to balance out your life. Join groups, either at your school and

elsewhere that caters to your interests. Not only does this provide a chance for you to engage in things that interest you, but it also gives you a platform for some social interaction. Keep an agenda and commit to it. If you allot yourself a 15 minute study break, don’t cheat yourself by letting it get to be a 30 minute study break. You run your schedule, don’t let it run you. - Courtnie G., CLEO Fellow

Prioritize your health and well-being. Law school will demand the maximum of your physical, emotional and intellectual energy. Exercise, eat healthy, foster beneficial relationships, and find an activity that will help center and clear your mind in the middle of it all. - Yasmean T., CLEO Associate

Going into law school, I knew I would be facing a stressful challenge. I wish I knew just how taxing it would be physically, mentally, and emotionally. The way I maintained my stamina was to exercise. Yes, I would lose an hour or two a day, but it was well worth it. Gaining hours by skimping on sleep, food, water, and exercise hurt my productivity; and it took weeks to recover that productivity. To maintain your physical, mental, and emotional stamina make sure you are consuming nutritious food regularly, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly. Start these habits before law school starts, then it will be effortless to continue these routines throughout the semester. Once I figured this out, law school became the most enjoyable challenge of my life. - Ashley S., CLEO Fellow

“I

chose the University of Mississippi School of Law because

I believe in myself and I believe in Mississippi.

As a law student, I work on real cases that help real people. My work changes lives—including my own. Inside and outside the classroom, I’ve done a lot as a student, and the best is yet to come. In Mississippi, we build the future.

”

- Erica Rollins, law student

THE UNIVERSITY OF

Build the future

MISSISSIPPI School of Law

University of Mississippi School of Law

Post Office Box 1848

University, MS 38677-1848

(662) 915-6901

www.law.olemiss.edu

e are located in Oxford, Mississippi, a vibrant small town in the state with the largest population, by percentage, of African Americans.

Our present is marked by progress—for instance, we boast the greatest number of elected African American officals in the U.S. We’re doing great things; join us in making a difference. We build the lawyers. You build the future.

college scholars

Tracy L. Simmons, J.D.

Assistant Dean for Admissions, Diversity Initiatives and Financial Aid University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Michael J. States, J.D.

Assistant Dean for Admissions University of North Carolina School of Law

Since Fall 2010, LSAT takers, applications to law schools, and matriculants to law schools have declined every year from the prior year. This has begged a couple of questions: 1) is it easier to get into law school these days since applications are down? 2) Can I go to law school for free or minimal cost since there are fewer applications and schools seem to have increased their scholarship budgets? These are both complex questions with multifaceted answers. We will attempt to provide general advice on how you can handle both the application and scholarship process to law school and discuss some other issues that are related to the decline in applications to law school. 56

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Law Schools Admissions: To Apply or Not to Apply â&#x20AC;Ś

college scholars Applying to Law School

You may have noticed that acceptance rates have risen at some law schools. Despite this, the basic rules of the application process have not changed. And yet, there are those who believe that because law schools are accepting more of their applicants, the rules no longer apply. That is absolutely not true. Not following the instructions, deadlines, and other rules that law schools have, is a huge red flag on your law school application. You can send a message to an admission committee that you are the kind of student they would like to have, just by following their rules and instructions. Remember, as law school applications are declining, schools are reducing the size of their incoming classes at the same time. Not only is this reduction due to the decrease in applications, it also due to a reduction in the number of lawyers who are being hired by large law firms and other legal employers. Large law firms employ such a large number of law school graduates that when they reduced the number of new law graduates they were hiring, it negatively impacted the percentage of lawyers employed at graduation and nine months after graduation the two times that the employment rate is measured. This is all to say, the law school admission process is still quite competitive and no school is going to take someone who they believe is unprofessional in their behavior and presentation.

The American Bar Association, through ABA Standard 509, now requires law schools to publish information on their websites that provide you the opportunity to get more detailed information on: the number of applications a law school received; the number of students admitted; and the number who matriculated. We would suggest you view this information for every school you are applying to and get a sense of how competitive the application process is at those law schools.

Scholarships

There has certainly been an increase in the amount of scholarship funds offered by law schools during the last four years. Law schools are also offering scholarships to a wider range of admitted students. This means that students who weren’t eligible for merit based awards in the past might be eligible for them now. Institutions might also have identified funds beyond merit scholarships for admitted students. These could include need based aid and grants or scholarships tied to public interest/public service. While the chances for admitted students to receive scholarships have increased, if you receive a scholarship offer, ask the following. What are the terms for renewing the scholarship? The terms are generally in the scholarship offer, but if not, you should not accept any scholarship without knowing what the renewal terms

are. What percentage of the class was awarded a scholarship? The answer to this question is particularly helpful if you are required to maintain a particular ranking in the class to renew the scholarship. For example, if 90% of the class is awarded a scholarship, and one has to remain in the top third of the class to retain a scholarship, most of those awarded a scholarship are going to lose it. Along the same line, ask: How many people lost their scholarship? Again, this question will give you a sense of how likely it is that you retain your scholarship. Another emerging issue in the area of scholarships is the ability to negotiate scholarship offers with different law schools. If the law school is not clear that they don’t negotiate scholarships, you can certainly ask them if they are willing to increase the award they have given you. If you are going to do this, first of all you should respectfully ask if the school is willing to increase the award. You also should be willing to share the scholarship offer letters from the other schools you have scholarship offers from. If the school is willing to negotiate scholarship offers, you are more likely to be successful in your negotiations if you behave in a professional manner during the negotiation process. You also should only negotiate an increased scholarship offer with a school if it is where you would truly like to ultimately attend.

Summary

The bottom line is that if you are thinking about going to law school, you should engage in quite a bit of investigation into the legal profession and know for certain why you want to pursue a legal education. This includes researching the job market more closely by looking at websites for the American Bar Association (ABA), the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), the U.S. Bureau and Labor Statistics, as well as others. Job placement after law school, while on the uptick, has not returned to pre-2010 levels. If you decide that a legal education is something you’re going to pursue, even in the face of a smaller number of applications and jobs, behaving with honesty and professionalism is more likely to lead to success in the admissions and scholarship processes. Remember that for the majority of schools, the admissions and scholarship processes are still quite competitive. Thus, applying in a timely manner, following the application instructions, answering all applicable questions on the application - including all of the supplemental information asked for- meeting all applicable deadlines, and presenting yourself as a professional at all times, makes it more likely that you will find the success that you are looking for in the admission and scholarship process. Or at least improve your chance of success. WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

LSAT LSAT preparation

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Logical Reasoning

Directions: The questions in this section are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to chose the best answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question. You should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage. After you have chosen the best answer, blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

Question 1 Raisins are made by drying grapes in the sun. Although some of the sugar in the grapes is caramelized in the process, nothing is added. Moreover, the only thing removed from the grapes is the water that evaporates during the drying, and water contains no calories or nutrients. The fact that raisins contain more iron per calorie than grapes do is thus puzzling. Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain why raisins contain more iron per calorie than do grapes?

(D) Raisins, but not grapes, are available yearround, so many people get a greater share of their yearly iron intake from raisins than from grapes. (E) Raisins are often eaten in combination with other iron-containing foods, while grapes are usually eaten by themselves. Question 2 Cotrell is, at best, able to write magazine articles of average quality. The most compelling pieces of evidence for this are those few of the numerous articles submitted by Cotrell that are superior, since Cotrell, who is incapable of writing an article that is better than average, must obviously have plagiarized superior ones. The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on which one of the following grounds? (A) It simply ignores the existence of potential counterevidence.

(A) Since grapes are bigger than raisins, it takes several bunches of grapes to provide the same amount of iron as a handful of raisin does.

(B) It generalizes from atypical occurrences.

(B) Caramelized sugar cannot be digested, so its calories do not count toward the calorie content of raisins.

(D) It relies on the judgment of experts in a matter to which their expertise is irrelevant. It infers limits on ability from a few isolated lapses in performance.

(C) The body can absorb iron and other nutrients more quickly from grapes than from raisins because of the relatively high water content of 58

grapes.

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LSAT preparation Question 3 Herpetologist: Some psychologists attribute complex reasoning to reptiles, claiming that simple stimulusresponse explanations of some reptiles’ behaviors, such as food gathering, cannot account for the complexity of such behavior. But since experiments show that reptiles are incapable of making major alterations in their behavior, for example, when faced with significant changes in their environment, these animals must be incapable of complex reasoning. Which one of the following is an assumption required by the herpetologist’s argument? (A) Animals could make major changes in their behavior only if they were capable of complex reasoning. (B) Simple stimulus-response explanations can in principle account for all reptile behaviors. (C) Reptile behavior appears more complex in the field than laboratory experiments reveal it to be. (D) If reptiles were capable of complex reasoning, they would sometimes be able to make major changes in their behavior. (E) Complex reasoning and responses to stimuli cannot both contribute to the same behavior. Question 4 The purpose of a general theory of art is to explain every aesthetic feature that is found in any of the arts. Premodern general theories of art, however, focused primarily on painting and sculpture. Every premodern general theory of art, even those that succeed as theories of painting and sculpture, fails to explain some aesthetic feature of music. (A) Any general theory of art that explains the aesthetic features of painting also explains those of sculpture.

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(B) A general theory of art that explains every aesthetic feature of music will achieve its purpose. (C) Any theory of art that focuses primarily on sculpture and painting cannot explain every aesthetic feature of music. (D) No premodern general theory of art achieves its purpose unless music is not art. (E) No premodern general theory of art explains any aesthetic features of music that are not shared with painting and sculpture.

Reading Comprehension Directions: The passage in this section is followed by a group of questions to be answered on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For some of the questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answers the question, and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

In Intellectual Culture in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, J. W. Binns asserts that the drama of Shakespeare, the verse of Marlowe, and the prose of Sidney—all of whom wrote in English—do not alone represent the high culture of Renaissance (roughly sixteenth- and seventeenth-century) England. Latin, the language of ancient Rome, continued during this period to be the dominant form of expression for English intellectuals, and works of law, theology, and science written in Latin were, according to Binns, among the highest achievements of the Renaissance. However, because many academic specializations do not overlap, many texts central to an interpretation of early modern English culture have gone unexamined. Even the most learned students of Renaissance Latin generally confine themselves to humanistic and literary writings in Latin. According to Binns, these languages specialists edit and analyze poems and orations, but leave works of theology and science, law and medicine—the very works that revolutionized Western thought—to “specialists” in those fields, historians of science, for example, who lack philological training. The intellectual historian can find ample guidance when reading the Latin poetry of Milton, but little or none when confronting the more alien and difficult terminology, syntax, and content of the scientist Newton. Intellectual historians of Renaissance England, by contrast with Latin language specialists, have surveyed in great detail the historical, cosmological, and theological battles of the day, but too often they have done so on the basis of texts written in or translated into English. Binns argues that these scholars treat the English-language writings of Renaissance England as WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

LSAT preparation an autonomous and coherent whole, underestimating the influence of English writers of their counterparts on the European Continent. In so doing they ignore the fact that English intellectuals were educated in schools and universities where they spoke and wrote Latin, and inhabited as adults an intellectual world in which what happened abroad and was recorded in Latin was of great importance. Writers traditionally considered characteristically English and modern were steeped in Latin literature and in the esoteric concerns of late Renaissance humanism (the rediscovery and study of ancient Latin and Greek texts), and many Latin works by Continental humanists that were not translated at the time into any modern language became the bases of classic English works of literature and scholarship. These limitations are understandable. No modern classicist is trained to deal with the range of problems posed by a difficult piece of late Renaissance science; few students of English intellectual history are trained to read the sort of Latin in which such works were written. Yet the result of each sideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inability to cross boundaries has been that each presents a distorted reading of the intellectual culture of Renaissance England. Question 5 Which one of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

(B) The English works of such Renaissance writers as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Sidney have been overemphasized at the expense of these writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; more intellectually challenging Latin works. (C) Though traditionally recognized as the language of the educated classes of the Renaissance, Latin has until recently been studied primarily in connection with ancient Roman texts. (D) Many Latin texts by English Renaissance writers, though analyzed in depth by literary critics and philologists, have been all but ignored by historians of science and theology. (E) Many Latin texts by English Renaissance writers, though important to an analysis of the period, have been insufficiently understood for reasons related to academic specialization.

The passage contains support for which one of the following statements concerning those scholars who analyze works written in Latin during the Renaissance? (A) These scholars tend to lack training both in language and in intellectual history, and thus base their interpretation of Renaissance culture on works translated into English. (B) These scholars tend to lack the combination of training in both language and intellectual history that is necessary for a proper study of important and neglected Latin texts. (C) Specialists in such literary forms as poems and orations too frequently lack training in the Latin language that was written and studied during the Renaissance. (D) Language specialists have surveyed in too great detail important works of law and medicine, and thus have not provided a coherent interpretation of early modern English culture. (E) Scholars who analyze important Latin works by such writers as Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Sidney too often lack the historical knowledge of Latin necessary for a proper interpretation of early modern English culture.

Analytical Reasoning Directions: Each group of questions in this section is based on a set of conditions. In answering some of the questions, it may be useful to draw a rough diagram. Choose the response that most accurately and completely answers each question and blacken the corresponding space on your answer sheet.

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Hero Images Inc. / Alamy

(A) Analyses of the scientific, theological, and legal writings of the Renaissance have proved to be more important to an understanding of the period then have studies of humanistic and literary works.

Question 6

LSAT preparation

(A) Fazio and Reich (B) Fazio and Umlas

•

OJO Images Ltd / Alamy

If Reich’s flight is later than Umlas’, which one of the following statements cannot be true? (A) Fazio’s flight is earlier than Simon’s. (B) Kyle’s flight is earlier than Reich’s. (C) Kyle’s flight is earlier than Taylor’s. (D) Simon’s flight is earlier than Reich’s. (E) Taylor’s flight is earlier than Kyle’s.

•

The Cuthbert Foundation wants to reward programs that visibly improve the physical infrastructure of communities.

Through partnerships with local public schools, Acting for Hope will offer drama classes and after-school acting workshops led by volunteer working actors. Free public performances are planned. To ensure adequate staffing for these events, parents of participating students will be asked to donate their own time and recruit additional volunteers in exchange for their children’s involvement with the program. The program’s director plans to renovate an abandoned downtown movie theater to serve as a performance venue, but even if he wins the Cuthbert Award he will be able to renovate only the interior of the building; he will require additional funding to refurbish the exterior. Philmont’s popular mural-arts program was founded by a local artist to improve the quality of life for inner-city residents by involving urban youth and their families in the process of community revitalization. The design and execution and each mural is supervised by a volunteer artist from the community, who works with a team of local teenagers from start to finish. Murals painted by program participants now adorn a handful of abandoned buildings throughout the city, and residents living near the beautified buildings consider the murals an asset to their neighborhoods. They report that there has been noticeably less litter and graffiti on their blocks since the murals were painted. Copied with the permission of Law School Admission Council, Inc., the copyright holder.

Flip the page for answers to these sample LSAT questions:

8. C

(D) Germond and Umlas

The Cuthbert Foundation wants to support youth-centered programs that increased adult volunteerism within communities.

7. A

Which one of the following pilot and co-pilot teams could be assigned to flight 1?

6. B

Question 7

5. E

Lopez is assigned to the same flight as Umlas.

4. D

Kyle is assigned to flight 2.

The Cuthbert Foundation, a philanthropic organization promoting community renewal and redevelopment, is conducting its annual grant competition. Two finalists are competing for the award. Acting for Hope, a nonprofit organization founded by a local theater director, is seeking funding for a municipally approved school-based community theater program for urban children. The other finalist, the city of Philmont, is seeking funding to continue its municipal muralarts program. Write an essay in which you argue for one program over the other based on the following considerations:

WINTER/SPRING 2015

3. D

Fazio’s flight takes off before Germond’s, and at least one other flight takes off between their flights.

Directions: The scenario presented below describes two choices, either one of which can be supported on the basis of the information given. Your essay should consider both choices and argue for one and against the other, based on the two specified criteria and the facts provided. There is no “right” or “wrong” choice: a reasonable argument can be made for either.

2. C

The flights take off in numerical order.

WRITING SAMPLE

CLEO EDGE

1. B

An airline has four flights from New York to Sarasota— flights 1, 2, 3, and 4. On each flight there is exactly one pilot and exactly one co-pilot. The pilots are Fazio, Germond, Kyle, and Lopez; the co-pilots are Reich, Simon, Taylor, and Umlas. Each pilot and co-pilot is assigned to exactly one flight.

college scholars

Making Your Personal Statement

Personal by Michael States

The first thing you should do when writing your personal statement is to read the directions and questions given on the law school’s application. You would be surprised how many applicants do not read the directions and questions. If you write a personal statement without reading the directions or questions, you are taking a chance that your statement will be at the least non-persuasive and, at most, a complete failure as a personal statement. It is important to follow directions on page limitations, spacing, font size, and any other guidelines that you are given for your personal statement. In addition, you cannot begin writing the personal statement before you see the law school’s application. 62

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

Once you decide what you are going to write about or how you are going to answer the questions asked of you, you should write them “in your own voice.” This means that the person(s) reading the statement should get the sense that they are speaking to you or get some sense of who you are as an applicant. It should reflect the “person” that is applying and allow the committee to see beyond the numbers and the résumé. Oftentimes, when someone else tells you what to write about or what you should not write about, there is a real danger that the reader will not understand who you are as an applicant after reading your personal statement. In addition to answering the questions asked of you within the law school application, the personal statement also serves as an interview. You want to make sure that your personal statement leaves an impression of who you are on the reader. In addition, you want to make sure that the impression is a positive impression. Quite often, in an attempt to give an idea of who one is or what one has overcome, applicants will write about a death or illness that has occurred in their family. I am not suggesting that you always avoid writing about these topics; I am suggesting that if you have some other way of communicating what you have overcome or what has shaped you besides writing about death or illness, you should consider writing about another topic. You do not want a personal statement involving death or illness to distract the reader from other information in your application that speaks positively about you or gives insight into

Mart of Images / Alamy

he typical book or article that you read about personal statements usually advises you about the topic on which you should write. In this article, I attempt to give you some additional, and in most cases, more important information you should think about when writing personal statements that law schools require you to submit with your application. If you have not already, I suggest that you invest in a good style guide or manual. Having a clear understanding of language usage, grammar, punctuation, and spelling is critically important in writing an effective personal statement. Some examples of good style manuals are The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, the Chicago Manual of Style, or Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph Williams.

college scholars your skills and abilities that will enable you to be a success in law school. You also should avoid certain traps of writing personal statements. One trap is using clichés in your writing, such as “I’ve wanted to be a lawyer all my life”, or “people have always told me I should be a lawyer when I grow up.” Using clichés can make your personal statement seem less personal or send the signal that you are writing something you were told to write in a personal statement guide. Another trap is including quotations from authors or famous people in personal statements. In most cases, the quotation does not add to the personal statement; give any additional insight into why the applicant will be a good fit for the law school, why they are prepared for the legal profession, or provide the information the law school is attempting to glean from the personal statement. Another trap is making gross generalizations in personal statements. For example, making a statement such as, “I want to be a lawyer who represents the poor because the justice system is always unfair to them,” is unpersuasive and broad. Generalized statements may be untrue and run the risk of offending a member of the admissions committee. If you want to write about why you want to be a lawyer, you do not have to make a statement that

holds you up to be someone who is going to save the world. The final trap is that applicants spend much of the personal statement writing about the law school, its alumni, or its programs instead of themselves. The purpose of asking for a personal statement is for law schools to get information about you and not about the law school. You should use this opportunity to talk about what you think you have to offer a law school and not for you to regurgitate what you have read on the law school’s website or in the law school’s marketing materials. The personal statement is YOUR chance to enhance your application to law school. A personal statement is YOUR opportunity to show a law school that you are capable of following directions and that you have substance beyond your numbers. It is also a way to paint a picture of you for the law school. The personal statement should give a sense of your writing ability, beliefs, opinions, perspectives, and other aspects of you that will influence the classroom and educational environment of the law school. The personal statement should not be taken lightly and several drafts of it should be written before submitting the final version to the law school. While you might not be admitted because you have written a great personal statement, it is likely you will be denied because you have written a poor personal statement.

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feature

I mmigration :

The Reality of

by Mai Sennaar

DreamERS

What It All Means

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

Passing the Dream Act

With no less than fifteen states enacting their own versions of the Dream Act, the consistent factor remains: the provision of affordable higher education for DREAMers. Each state has had a unique path for its passing the Dream Act. In Texas, the first state to pass the Act, the process was unusually swift. The Bill, drafted and signed by Governor Rick Perry received a nearly unanimous consensus. The Bill implicated the provision of instate tuition, and unlike the national Dream Act, it could not alter the “illegal” status of its beneficiaries. The passing of the California Dream Act proved to be more complicated. Authored and endorsed by California State Senator Gil Cedillo, the Bill had been written and proposed twice, but was consecutively vetoed in 2006 and 2007 by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. After being divided into two separate parts, the Bill was finally signed into

google images

First introduced by the U.S. Senate in August of 2001, The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, better known as the DREAM Act (Dream Act) was developed to provide some benefits of U.S. citizenship to millions of young undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. The bill promises “conditional permanent residency” to those who arrived to the U.S. as minors, have lived in the U.S. for at least five consecutive years, are graduates of a U.S. high school and are of “good moral character.” The five consecutive years of residence in the U.S. are clearly restricted to the five years prior to 2001 when the Bill was first enacted. Through the Bill, DREAMers receive practical economic and educational benefits typically exclusive to U.S. citizens such as in-state college tuition, and in some states, access to scholarships and loans with the exclusion of the Pell Grant.

feature legislation in 2011 by California State Governor Jerry Brown. Similarly, the New Jersey Dream Act began on shaky ground. Following accusations of inconsistency and insincerity after expressing his concerns about the New Jersey Dream Act he’d heavily endorsed, Governor Chris Christie surprised many of his constituents when he spearheaded and signed the Bill in 2013 before his reelection.

Challenges & Opposition

With several more states considering a “Dream Act” of their own, a resurgence of opposition has called for a clear distinction to be upheld between the provision of some civil benefits (like instate tuition) and a path to permanent citizenship. Those who oppose the Dream Act suggest that its provision of educational and economic benefits encourages illegal immigration to the U.S. and that it undermines the efforts of anti-terrorism legislation, referencing the “excess of 300” false identities assumed by suspected “9/11 attackers”. More importantly, opposition to the Dream Act has also been legislated. In 2006, Arizona issued Proposition 300, a law that bans undocumented residents from receiving in-state tuition. The states of Georgia and Indiana have also enacted Proposition 300. South Carolina’s law to oppose the tenets of the Dream Act, the Illegal Immigration Reform Act was signed into law by Governor Nikki Haley.

The most severe example of anti-immigrant legislation in recent history is perhaps the BeasonHammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act (HB56) of Alabama. The HB56 was issued in 2011 in response to a sizeable migration of undocumented immigrants to the town of Albertville. Immigrants were arriving on the promise for employment in the booming chicken farming industry. HB56 was designed to “attack every facet of an alien’s life”. Under the tenets of HB56, landlords of undocumented tenants were required to expel them from their residences and report them, at the risk of being subjected to criminal charges themselves. Schools were required to expel undocumented students. Gas, electricity and water were cut off from homes of the undocumented, and employers were forced to terminate the contracts of their undocumented employees. These new laws and their implications caused the majority of the illegal populous to flee from Alabama; some going

to neighboring states and the majority returning to their home countries. A year after the events surrounding the enactment of HB56, an excess of controversy led to the unraveling of the law and its policies. Many of the undocumented residents of Albertville returned and resumed their lives. Proponents of HB56, argued that the law was implemented to address what the federal government was neglecting; still, some laws pertaining to illegal immigration at the federal level have achieved some modicum of bipartisan support. Related legislation like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA) has received more bipartisan approval because it does not provide a path to citizenship or citizen-like benefits but defers the deportation of undocumented young people and allows for the obtainment of work permits, increasing opportunities for “social incorporation.” Some advocates for immigration reform even fear that the legislation surrounding the Dream Act allows for the development of policies that may ultimately be detrimental to the undocumented population. An example of one of these potentially exploitative policies has been California’s Dream Loan Program which enables DREAMers to receive a student loan at a 2% higher interest rate than documented American students. With a lack of proper work permits upon graduation and with a sizable percentage of the illegal immigrant population living below the poverty line, detractors fear that such a program may do DREAMers more harm than good.

The Broken Path to Citizenship

With these recent developments in legislation pertaining to illegal immigration, public opinion WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

feature in many instances - has turned to the responsibility of illegal immigrants in obtaining citizenship. Why don’t illegal immigrants simply go through the proper channels to obtain citizenship? Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas addresses this question in the new documentary Undocumented (2014). In the autobiographical film, Vargas reveals the details of his own emigration from the Philippines as a child, and in the process, exposes the surprising reality that there is no formal process or program in existence to guarantee the obtainment of U.S. citizenship. Antiterrorism policies have made it increasingly difficult to obtain citizenship, prolonging the process for several months and sometimes years, keeping families divided across borders.

To learn more about the Dream Act, visit the Dream Act Information Portal http://dreamact.info/. Get updates on the Dream Act directly from the White House website at www.whitehouse.gov. Keep an eye on leading news media such as CNN, NBC and National Public Radio for state-by-state updates on legislation. Your voice matters. Share your thoughts on the Dream Act on CLEO’s Facebook page today. www.facebook.com/cleo.scholars

Educating the world’s lawyers for 130 years in a diverse community and a dynamic city

Over 100 course offerings, 15 clinic programs, 11 student journals and 50 student organizations A network that includes 850 African American and 2,100 Hispanic alumni Competitive tuition rates translate to an affordable education from a premier law school

“The University of Texas is the best place in the country to be a law student. The academic program is top of the line, there are unbeatable chances for clinical learning and internships, and it all happens in Austin, one of the fastest-growing and most interesting cities in America.” — dean ward farnsworth

www.utexas.edu/law | 512-232-1200 | admissions@law.utexas.edu |

To add insult to injury, many immigrants attempting to obtain citizenship encounter a surprising amount of fraud, when they attempt to expedite the process. “Border Corruption” has been a fraud tactic where some Homeland Security Officials have been indicted with taking bribes to allow drugs and people across the borders illegally. The reality is that the vast amount of immigrants who are desirous of citizenship will have a difficult time obtaining it in what is becoming an increasingly competitive and “broken” process.

The good news for proponents is that, in spite of contestation, The Dream Act continues to expand across the country by state. Other states to pass the Dream Act include Illinois, Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, and Oregon. Washington State is the most recent state to enact a Dream Act.

“Penn Law students are multidimensional, diverse in our experiences and interests. Our genuine desire to learn and grow from one another makes Penn Law distinct from all other law schools.”

Preeti Krishnan, L’15

3501 Sansom Street | Philadelphia, PA 19104 www.law.upenn.edu | contactadmissions@law.upenn.edu | 215.898.7400

DISTINGUISH YOURSELF AND YOUR CAREER. At Quinnipiac University School of Law, we believe diversity creates a dynamic learning environment and enhances everyone’s ability to succeed. You’ll be immersed in a challenging yet supportive academic environment, where faculty members become your intellectual colleagues. And our clinics and externships will provide you with invaluable experience working with real clients in real legal settings. We offer merit scholarships from $10,000 to full tuition. For more information, visit law.quinnipiac.edu or call 1-800-462-1944. • Outstanding faculty • Student-faculty ratio 12:1 • Day One Mentoring Program

• 300+ externship opportunities and six clinics • Six concentrations • New state-of-the-art Law Center

North Haven, Connecticut

feature

The Polarizing Drug:

Marijuana

by Mai Sennaar

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

Despite its stigma as a federally restricted substance, marijuana has shown promise as a treatment for patients suffering from a myriad of health concerns such as Crohn’s disease, glaucoma and seizures. It has been legalized exclusively for medicinal use in 22 states and the nation’s capital. Beyond its medicinal qualities, it may also be unusually lucrative as a recreational item with the state of Colorado seeing over $3 billion in annual tax revenue from legalizing the drug in 2013. However for other states, the legalization of marijuana has not been so easily embraced. Marijuana legalization has been a subject of heated debate and as some states finally move to legalize the drug for mass consumption, it continues to inspire some of the most polarized perspectives in our nation’s history.

feature Angry Neighbors The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) expressed bipartisan apprehension over the legalization of Marijuana in Colorado and Washington State, the only two states in the nation to have legalized the drug for recreational purposes so far. In some states, local authorities have agreed that the presence of marijuana encourages and stimulates crime. States neighboring Colorado including Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma have all reported an increase in drug-related criminal activity since Colorado has legalized the drug. Reports also indicate that significant amounts of the drug have been shipped out from Colorado on the black market to states across the nation including Illinois, New York and Florida. Every state’s individual decision to legalize also impacts its neighbors, most of whom are likely experience more of the detriments than the benefits.

Legalization as a Solution to Crime Chicago has implemented a ticketing system, which reduces the charges against small offenders in possession of 50 grams or less of the substance. By distributing tickets, similar to those issued for traffic violations, instead of arresting small offenders, Chicago has reduced the expenses and law enforcement efforts dedicated to marijuana regulation. Though the ticketing system has not legalized marijuana, it significantly lessens the criminal charges against small offenders. Proponents of marijuana legalization argue that Chicago’s ticketing system is a step towards legalization and that it exemplifies that legalization of the drug is the best solution to reduce drug-related crime. Other states are slowly implementing laws similar to Chicago’s ticketing system to reduce the amount of strain that Cannabis regulation puts on law enforcement. In New York City, possession of marijuana is now a “violation” rather than a misdemeanor and is punishable by ticket and not arrest. California has also enacted a ticketing system for small offenders.

STATE MEDICAL & RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA LAWS

States where marijuana legalized for medical/recreational use States where medical marijuana is legal States that have medical marijuana legislation or ballot mesaure pending as of September 2014

Source: ProCon.org + Governing.com

an increase in use among young adults and longterm health problems. In spite of the controversy, many states are moving forward with their plans to legalize the drug. Below is a list of the next states we expect to legalize recreational cannabis. Arizona

Oregon

Hawaii

California

Delaware

Nevada

New York

Montana

Vermont

Maryland

Rhode Island

Alaska

Massachusetts

District of Columbia

Maine

Will your state be next?

The Future Opponents of marijuana maintain that its classification as a Schedule I Drug and its federal restriction under the Controlled Substances Act are more than enough to confirm its dangers to the human body. Further, there remains concern that an increase in access to marijuana will lead to

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

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MAX

Action speaks louder. Congratulations to Suffolk Law’s faculty of color and the whole law school community for putting thoughts into action; the programs they’ve built support diversity in concrete ways that change lives. —Camille A. Nelson Dean and Professor of Law

Diversity pipeline: SU Discoverlaw.org PLUS Program. Through an LSAC grant, we offer twenty fully funded spots to freshman/sophomore college students of diverse backgrounds; they live in University dorms and take classes at the Law School.

Housing Discrimination Clinic. We’ve teamed up with HUD and the City of Boston to run a housing discrimination testing program.

The Marshall Brennan Program. Our students teach Constitutional Law classes to teens in the Boston and Cambridge Public Schools. The program culminates with local and national moot court competitions.

Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic. Ours is the only such clinic on the East Coast. Students worked with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Judiciary to write their new Rules of Civil Procedure.

feature

CLEO EDGE Talks with

Ron Simons-

Three-Time Tony Award-winning Film Producer on

Why Law & Diversity Matter

in the Film Industry

by Mai Sennaar

The new film 25 to LIFE by Mike Brown, produced by Ron Simons premiered at the American Black Film Festival in New York City on Sunday, June 22, 2014. Mai Sennaar (MS): First, I wanted to explore the role of the producer. It’s sort of a mystery for a lot of artists and people who are art enthusiasts. They don’t really know what a producer does, especially a successful one. Could you demystify that process for our readers? Ron Simons (RS): Sure, now there are different types of producers both within film and then also the stage. I presume you are interested in film producers, correct? MS: Yes, and a general sense of what they do. RS: Ok. In general a producer’s responsibilities begin with the inception of the project. We typically collaborate with the artist, and that might be the screenwriter, in the medium of film. We collaborate with them to essentially get the film made. That means everything from finding the money to shoot the film, to helping with casting or making offers through our personal networks. We will do contracts and negotiations for the crew that will be working on the film. We will hire the cast members, so we will do the agreements of those individuals as well.

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

MS: So, you do it all?

RS: Yeah. So think of the producer as the COO [Chief Operating Officer] of a corporation. So when things hit the fan, we are the people that have to resolve the conflict and make sure that the project stays on track and focused towards completion. It’s our responsibility to deliver the film [under] budget and on time. MS: You had a very strong business background at some major companies before you became a producer for film. How has that influenced your interactions with attorneys? RS: We work very, very closely with our attorneys. It’s very important for a producer to have a really strong relationship with really smart, well-versed lawyers to help with our, many, many contracts because there are dozens and dozens of contracts that we have to execute. Everything: cast and crew… But when we get to the distribution phase, it’s the lawyer’s responsibility to make sure that the distribution agreements both domestic and international reflect the best interest of the film and the filmmaker. That’s our goal. So I put a good amount effort into making sure that I find and work with a strong legal team. Because if they are not doing their job, then what suffers, at the end of the day, is the film. It means that we will be liable for things that we did not expect to be. And this is really, really important for young producers who don’t have as much experience: you really want to make sure that you work with a legal team that has done a number of agreements and contracts because the agreements become more and more complicated the further out the life of the film. So for example, an agreement with a locations manager can be fairly simplistic, but as you get closer to distribution, the distribution agreement can be incredibly complex in terms of what deliverables the production must sign up for, whether it’s a 35mm print, you know, the varying formats that the film must be delivered in and the many, many technical requirements for

feature

Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie, Night Catches Us (2010)

delivery. Sometimes major distributors have a 15 page list of deliverables that they will ask of you. Many of which they don’t really need… many of which you do not have the money to provide. So you have to know what the technical questions and terms are. Working with your line producer (another type of producer in the film world) who might say “they really don’t need that, so we’re going to do this instead” or “we’re going to take out this entire paragraph because it is not applicable to our film.” Each item that they request means more work, more time, and more money for the production. And, of course, by the time we get to distribution, we have run through pretty much all of the money that we had for getting the film made. By the time you get to that side of the business, there are very few resources that are available so you need a really small team.

“...my challenge

is to always find the one that balances the commercial viability with the artistic integrity...

MS: So a lot of collaboration, between attorneys and producers. This is very insightful. I want to talk a little bit about Night Catches Us which was your first film with SimonSays [Mr. Simons’ film and theatre production company]. That film went to Sundance [Film Festival], so SimonSays was very successful right out the gate. I understand that the film [Night Catches Us] took a long time to be made. Tanya Hamilton [screenwriter, director] went through a lot to get that film made and distributed. Could you talk about your involvement with the film and how it eventually got distributed through Magnolia Pictures? RS: Sure. Well, I came very late in the game in the life cycle of Night Catches Us. To your point, Tanya had gone through the Sundance Screenwriters Lab 11 years prior to my coming on board. She’d done the heavy lifting for that film for more than a

decade. When I came aboard, my role was to bring the money to the table to make the film and then get it distributed. MS: So when you came on board the film was still at the stage of a screenplay?

RS: When I came aboard it was in the screenplay phase. There were attachments to the film in terms of talent. The Roots had been really interested in the film at that time, and eventually did indeed do the score. But the financing structure had come and gone a couple of times. It had gone through three or four producers prior to me that weren’t able to bring the film to fruition. So when I came on board, I was going to be an associate producer because there were other individuals involved who were bringing in around a $5 million budget to make the film, but that [eventually] fell through as well. So it came to me, at the end of the day, to be both the executive producer and the producer and then we finally got the film made together. But to your point of distribution with Magnolia, that film went through a very standard process for Sundance films, which is to say you premiere the film at Sundance… It was one of the Grand Jury nominees. There are about 16 every year. And all the distributors and all the buyers come there to see which films might be of interest to purchase. So we screened the film there and we talked to some of the distributors. After many conversations....we had a sales rep, and the sales rep was very helpful in negotiating the agreement. We finally decided to go with Magnolia who distributed the film and did a theatrical release as well as facilitating the DVD and the ancillary rights for digital. It was eventually on Netflix, you know, On Demand, etc.... William Brawner in Mike Brown’s 25 to Life produced by Ron

”

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

feature

William Brawner in Mike Brown’s 25 to Life produced by Ron Simons.

Simons. The film opened Sunday, June 22nd at the American Black Film Festival in New York City. MS: Your publicist was kind enough to share your new film, 25 to Life with me. It’s a beautiful, fantastic film. Could you speak a little bit about what attracted you to the project and what you hope audiences will gain from seeing it?

“

...there is power inherent in the simple matter of diversifying.

RS: Well, 25 to Life to me is an important project. I think it has, as always, an interesting story that unfolds for the viewer. But more importantly, I think it’s a lesson that can be, I hope, learned by anyone who watches the film, especially young people. And because the film deals with a young man of African descent, I’m hoping it will resonate with young people of color. We’re in an age where HIV/AIDS is no longer seen, particularly by young people, as a death sentence, as it had been say a dozen years ago or twenty years ago. It still is a life threatening disease and I think people perceive it as a manageable disease that isn’t particularly problematic. With the current regiment of drugs, it certainly can be managed well, but it is certainly no walk in the park. This film, and the reason why I came on this film, is not only because of the good storytelling, but it really resonated with me because I’ve had family and friends, who’ve dealt with HIV personally, or with someone very close to them. Now, I’m not going to give too much away about the story [of 25 to Life], but how the subject of our documentary got the disease was absolutely through no fault of his own. However, his actions after his diagnosis were entirely his own. So, what I hope is that young people will see this film and take a moment when a decision lies before them. That they will see this man’s journey and perhaps ask the questions that they might not have otherwise asked; make a decision to pause or make a different decision that they might not have otherwise made, had they not seen this film. And that might affect their personal health and that of those around them and most important to them. I think that now more than ever is an important time in communities of color where we need to stay focused on what decisions we make. 76

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

”

It’s an important film at the end of the day-that also happens to be good storytelling. MS: Our mission at the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) is to encourage diversity in the legal field and some of the work that you are doing and the stories that you are telling certainly encourage diversity in the entertainment industry. Film is also a pretty universal medium for all people. My question to you is, from your perspective, what is the importance of diversity?

RS: Well, diversity is very important. Having come from a corporate background, I was a huge proponent of diversity in corporate America. Diverse voices help problem solving because through diversity comes different life experiences, different expectations about life, different ideals and goals and that is valuable in everything from how you market a product to what kind of products you develop to how you advertise products. That was true of my work at Microsoft and that’s true of my work at SimonSays. I think that people of color, people who have different sexual orientations, different genders…there is power inherent in the simple matter of diversifying. We all bring something unique to the table that we would not have otherwise had by being homogenous in nature. It makes a product stronger, a service stronger, a company stronger… It makes any endeavor stronger if you can have diverse voices to represent how a product is created, marketed, advertised and brought to market. MS: Thank you so, so much for joining me for this interview. RS: You are very welcome, I hope that the people can come out and see the film, support it and hopefully use it and recommend it to others as a way to navigate this particular part of the world in these times. To read this entire interview, check out the CLEO Edge blog at

http://cleoedgeartists.weebly.com/features

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feature

Unraveling DOMA to Tie the Knot: Decoding the Defense of Marriage Act by Mai Sennaar

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

Defining DOMA The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was signed into federal law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. The verbiage of DOMA defines marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband wife” and further states that a same-sex marriage honored in one state must not be entitled to recognition in another state. Section 3 of DOMA also excludes same-sex couples from federal benefits such as Social Security, veterans’ benefits, etc... In 2011, the Obama administration ruled that Section 3 of DOMA was unconstitutional and in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned DOMA on the basis of it being unconstitutional. Today, in 2014, with the definition of marriage still left up to the state, the arguments of the proponents and opponents of DOMA are largely shaped by the state’s right to define marriage. These arguments have guided much of the dialogue surrounding same-sex marriage and are likely to be the basis of the most significant legislation in the future. Here’s what they have to say: ➡

It may be surprising to discover that the United States Constitution does not define marriage. For over 200 years of our nation’s history, defining marriage has always been left within the jurisdiction of each state. Consequently, many states remain divided on the legalization of same-sex marriage. With a total of 17 states independently legalizing samesex marriage, and several more en route, defining marriage by state may appear to be a benefit for proponents. But those in opposition have argued the law of another perspective. To understand the future of same-sex marriage in the United States, let’s explore the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the only federal law in U.S. history to regulate the terms and conditions of marriage on the basis of gender.

feature

Decoding DOMA

PROPONENTS of DOMA SAY: •

Since the state defines marriage….

•

No state should have to recognize a marriage just because it is recognized in another state

Since the state defines marriage… No federal law should restrict marriage

•

A state can define a marriage as a man and woman and this should be the definition

Since the Constitution does not define marriage it cannot be defined as “man and woman”

•

Denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates laws that are constitutional such as “Equal Protection” and “Due Process”. (Emanating from the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments implemented during U.S. Reconstruction).

• •

OPPONENTS of DOMA SAY:

Federal benefits should be reserved for traditional couples

It is important to note that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn DOMA does not answer the question as to whether or not same-sex marriage is constitutional nor does it address state-based laws across the country that impede same-sex marriage such as Proposition 8 in California attempts to.

Where do you stand on DOMA?

Voice your opinion on the CLEO Facebook page. To learn more about the next states expected to legalize samesex marriage, keep an eye on the nation’s leading news media including the New York Times, the Huffington Post and CNN.

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

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spotlight

C LE O FE L LOW SPOTLIGHT

Cesar Palma Q How did you find out about CLEO? A While at my school, the University of Texas Pan-

American, I saw a flyer that CLEO was doing a Pre-Law meeting. I attended the meeting where I met Ms. Cevallos and it turned out to be very helpful. I was a sophomore in college at the time. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, but I really didn’t know how. At the time, I didn’t know what I needed to do to apply to law school, when to apply, and what exams if any I needed to take. CLEO explained everything to me and gave me guidance on what I needed to do and when. Then Ms. Cevallos accepted me into the Pre-Law program, Sophomore Summer Institute (SSI)*.

Q What was your course of study in college at

the University of Texas Pan-American?

A I studied Criminal Justice and I minored in English. Q How did you become interested in pursuing law? saw that there was a need for representation in the area. As a child, I have had a desire to help people in need. I want to be an advocate for those people. So, I knew as a lawyer, I could help people in so many ways.

Q What benefits did you receive by

participating in CLEO’s Sophomore Summer Institute (SSI)?

A The SSI was very helpful. We had classes that introduced University of Texas Pan-American

us to the foundational courses you take in law school your first year. As well as prepared for the Law School Admissions Test. It was very demanding, but it gave me an idea of what law school was like. It gave me confidence that I had what it took to be a law student; I could excel as a law student with the tools given to me at CLEO and the skills, like critical thinking, that I learned to sharpen with the program. Also, at the end of the SSI, I realized I had grown as a person.

Q What other steps did you take to prepare

for law school?

A It really started during my undergraduate work. I started focusing on my grades and choosing classes I felt would help

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

COURTESY OF SUBJECT

A I live in South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley area. I

spotlight me in the future as a lawyer. For example, I took English classes in persuasive writing and communication. Those skills I developed as an undergraduate helped me hone them when I took legal writing courses in law school.

Q What helped you cope with the stress of

law school?

A I always had a full nights rest. Law school is a marathon

and not a race. In order to function at high level, I knew I needed my rest and good sleep. I always made sure I slept. Also, I changed my diet. I replaced coffee with fruits. Fruits gave me sustaining energy through the day. I also exercised at least twice a week.

Q After law school, what are your legal career

plans?

A I plan on starting my own law practice The Palma Law Firm in Pharr, Texas.

Q What are you doing presently? A I just graduated in May; I am studying for the Texas Bar Examination.

Q Do you have any advice for future lawyers?

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A Set goals and once you reach them, continue to set new goals.

Q What is your favorite motivational quote? A Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world. -1 John 4:4

Q What extracurricular activities did you do in law school? A I had the opportunity to be a part of the Thurgood

Marshall School of law Mock-Trial team. We worked hours every afternoon on trial skills. This was very time consuming, but one of the best decisions I made in law school. It allowed me to work with some of the best trial attorneys in Texas and learn from them. I was also selected to represent Thurgood Marshall School of law in national mock-trail competition.

Q What accomplishments did you have in law

school?

A I won national writing awards in Appellate Litigation and the CALI, Excellence for the Future Award.

* - As of the printing of this issue of the CLEO Edge Magazine, CLEO is not currently hosting the Sophomore Summer Institute.

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spotlight

C LE O College Scholar

Seerat Sandhu Q How did you find out about The Council on

Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO)?

programs/events?

A I found about CLEO through the career services at my

A Yes, I do plan to attend some of the programs in New

community college Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).

Q When did you realize you wanted to attend law school? A Ever since, I was little I knew I wanted to be in the

COURTESY OF SUBJECT

Q Do you plan to attend any future CLEO York. As I am current student at George Mason, I am aware of the opportunities in Washington, D.C. But also would like to explore the opportunities in New York.

Q Do you have any advice for other aspiring lawyers? A Aspiring lawyers need to be aware of the opportunities

legal field, hence deciding the path to law school seemed like an obvious choice. Especially since my father had been an attorney in India which exposed me to the law at an early stage of my life. So to better prepare myself as a college student I volunteered for the Fairfax County Courthouse.

about CLEO?

Q What did you learn during the various

A I would just like to say thank you for making the path

CLEO programs?

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tips of how to apply to law school, how the current students survive law school and exposed me to the professionals working in various legal fields, I may wish to be part of one day.

provided by CLEO and be part of a great program.

Q Do you have any additional comments of law school a little clearer and helping me make the commitment to law school. So thank you for being a wonderful resource – a one-stop shop for all my pre law questions.

Q How has the CLEO programs influenced your preparation for law school? A The CLEO program helped to get a realistic picture of law

school: starting from the LSAT to the scholarship opportunities available in law school.

Q Select one of the CLEO programs you

attended. What portion of that program was most beneficial to you and why?

A All the programs, like the Sophomore Super Saturdays,

that I attended were beneficial. However, if I have to select one, it is CLEO Connection where we the participants were able to meet current law students and ask them about their “road to law school” as well as their experience in law school. I knew factors like the LSAT was important, but being at CLEO Connection made me realize how important it also was to get the law students’ perspective, and listen and learn from their experiences.

WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

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feature

2014 Tribe ca Film Festival Offic ial Selec tio n

Food Justice:

Produced by Eva Longoria, the new documentary food chains exposes the exploitative conditions for the farm workers who sustain america’s food industry. Filmmaker, Sanjay Rawal enlightens and empowers us with his cinematic call for change.

By Mai Sennaar

MS (Mai Sennaar): Summaries of your new film Food

Chains liken the experiences of many farm workers in America to a kind of modern day slavery—could you elaborate on this perspective?

SR (Sanjay Rawal): First of all Mai thank you very

much for your interest, I think this is a great series that you guys are doing with the magazine. “Slavery” is a very loaded word; I want to differentiate between chattel slavery and the term ‘modern day slavery’. Modern day slavery describes debt bondage, situations where employers threaten employees 88

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

with physical abuse or violence or death...a situation where a worker has so much fear that he or she does not speak out to authority. If in fact, they know how to get to authorities. Sometimes the bondage is not just psychological it’s actually physical. In one case that we explore in the film, a labor contractor held a number of men in the back of a U-HAUL truck, some of them chained to poles at night. Driven in fields during the day. And so, yes, there are conditions that seem metaphorically close to slavery. But there’s a line beyond which that exploitation kind of, you know, just nefariously earns the moniker of modern day slavery.

Food Chains opens nationwide November 21st, in cities all across the United States.

feature MS: Could you talk a little bit about how

your background in agricultural genetics influenced your attraction to this project, and how you became involved with Food Chains?

SR: My dad is a pretty well-known toma-

to breeder in California. I spent summers on farms in the central valley with him. I got my degree in Molecular Biology with an emphasis on genetics. My Dad and I started our own little tomato genetics company together. At the same time I was doing a lot of human rights work Producer, Eva Longoria Filmmaker, Sanjay Rawal overseas on a number of topics from eduprofessionally for 15 years, I had never realized that cation to healthcare, to the rights of small at the base of the supply chain, this type of exploitafarmers, mainly in Africa. That said, I was always petion existed. I figured that if I didn’t know about ripherally involved in the tomato industry. A couple this, probably a lot of my friends didn’t and that thus of years back, I was at a tomato conference in Florida began production on Food Chains. of all places and got a first-hand introduction into

COURTESY OF food chains

how horrific life was for tomato pickers there. You know, in California things are very bad, but Florida is its own den of abuse. In the early-mid 2000s, a number of slavery cases were discovered and in the late 2000s they were actually prosecuted. Probably [affecting] more than 1,200 people in Central and Southern Florida alone from debt bondage. And a number of those modern day slaves were U.S. citizens, born and raised in the U.S. Some of them were veterans from the first Iraq war. I began to see that the idea of exploitation being tied to immigration was not entirely accurate.

MS: Doesn’t the legal status of farm workers contribute

to their vulnerability in these cases?

RS: Yes, it is definitely something that keeps them

from complaining to authorities about exploitation or abuse, but we saw that the worse cases of exploitation didn’t discriminate based on legal status. I began doing more research. I was disheartened, because despite being associated with the agricultural industry

MS: Coming from a legal perspective, what kind of

legislation exists to protect these people? Especially those who are citizens and why is it not being enforced?

RS: Farm workers from 1938 onward were exclud-

ed from the National Labor Standards Act which afforded every single worker in the U.S. the right to overtime pay and the right to other work place protection. Farm workers as well as domestic workers were excluded in order to secure the support of the Southern Democrats who were afraid that they would lose control over their African-American workforce. That Act has been updated on a federal level, every 15 or 20 years, but farm workers in the U.S. still don’t have rights to overtime pay. There obviously is legislation that prohibits slavery in the U.S., you know, the 13th Amendment. There are other things that ascribe serious civil or criminal penalties to rape or sexual harassment, but the problem for farm workers lies in the lack of enforcement. Farm workers don’t work in an enclosed environment like WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

feature

an office building. The majority of farm workers move geographically from harvest region to harvest region, depending on the time or year and the crop. And states like Florida only have 14 labor inspectors to police over 40,000 farms. So the idea of these laws doesn’t serve as a practical deterrent to people who run farms. If you’re never gonna get caught--never gonna get caught, the incentive to follow the law gradually erodes. tionships between farmers, labor contractors and farm workers create the environment for exploitation? And solutions the film explores. RS: There are farms that are very well wrought. And

a number of good people in the farming industry. But we found in the states that had the least legal enforcement, the worst eggs so to speak--the most kind of salacious characters are allowed to manage their workforces with impunity. In many states labor contractors serve as middlemen between farms and 90

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

If the farmer is required to go to a labor contractor because they can’t afford the human resources staff to actually legally recruit workers themselves, that’s a supply chain issue. There’s nothing in U.S. law that requires a buyer of agricultural goods to pay a certain premium to allow the labor at the bottom to be sustainable and well paid--well paid meaning more than minimum wage. The economic pressure on farmers is so horrendous that there’s very little they can actually do, so the CIW found that by going to the top of the supply chain and creating binding

MS: Could you talk a little more about how the rela-

working crews and there’s a practical reason for that: farmers don’t want to go and recruit temporary employees for a 2-3 week long harvest period when they [can] rely on a labor contractor. That said, labor contractors that are found to have violated the law have very little to lose. They have little property on their own. Farmers have a lot more to lose. Like if a farmer had an agricultural employee, let’s say a secretary or a manager who reported a violation, the farm itself could be sued. In this case, when the people being abused and doing work aren’t your employees, they can’t sue up the supply chain, which is why [in Food Chains] we focused on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). They figured out that existing U.S. law and the way it’s been applied by the court system has, for the most part, never resulted in any punishment for the people up the supply chain who in a sense create the economic conditions for abuse at the base.

feature

contracts with these buyers, requiring them to make sure that human rights conditions and wage benefits were enforced throughout the supply chain… The CIW’s insistence on that has been very important for farm workers worldwide. Farm workers at least in Florida in the tomato industry, are now being paid close to a living wage and the area of the U.S. once known as the ground zero for modern day slavery has now reported zero cases of slavery since the CIW’s program has been in effect. They’ve moved the argument from a federal or state level simply to contract law. MS: Could you talk a little bit about the Fair Food

Program?

SR: The Fair Food Program was set up by the CIW as

a way to enforce human rights and wages in the tomato supply chain in Florida. It really has two parts. First, there’s a code of conduct that big buyers of tomatoes sign onto that requires them to have no human rights violations in the supply chain. More importantly, the Fair Food Program established an independent third party called the Fair Food Standards Council (FFSC) which is run by Judge Laura Safer Espinoza, a former New York State Supreme Court Judge who, according the agreement in the code of conduct, has the authority to investigate worker complaints. Now, the FFSC is not biased toward the worker. I believe they find that only about half the complaints are actual violations of the code, but the code gives them the ability to investigate these complaints.

Secondly, the code of conduct provides a market incentive for farmers and buyers to adhere to it. If farmers or farms are found to be in violation of the code they are not allowed to sell to the buyers to who’ve signed onto the code. Meaning that farmer can no longer sell to 12 of the largest buyers of tomatoes in the world from Wal-Mart to Compass Group to McDonald’s or Burger King. So there is now an incentive for farmers to make sure that workers’ rights are upheld…Farm worker wages have remained stagnant for almost 30 years. Farm workers are still paid by the piece which is kind of a legacy of slavery. They’re paid by the pound which is supposed to correlate to a minimum wage, but every time minimum wage is increased, the amount that farm workers have to pick is effectively increased if they want to meet that minimum wage. In Florida, tomato workers are paid a little more than 1 cent for every pound of tomatoes that they pick. That means they got to pick almost 2 tons a day over 8 hours in order to meet the equivalent of minimum wage. So WINTER/SPRING 2015

CLEO EDGE

feature the CIW asks these big buyers to pay just a penny more per pound of tomatoes which results in a doubling of farm worker wages from $7 and change per hour, to something closer to a living wage like $12-14 per hour. MS: What does that mean for the individual consumer? SR: When you go to a store and look at the tomatoes

MS: Since the work of Cesar Chavez, as well as abolition-

ists earlier on in our history, what do you think the medium of film brings to the activism against the exploitation of people and what do you feel is Food Chain’s significance in this historic conversation?

SR: That’s a great question. You know, I think that

almost every issue that we’re trying to tackle in this country from racism to economic justice can be found in an analysis of our food system. Everything from food deserts in predominantly African-American inner cities to the treatment of Latino workers on 92

CLEO EDGE

WINTER/SPRING 2015

MS: With regards to the mission of CLEO, I always like

to ask our participants: why do you feel that diversity is important? SR: In the work that we’re trying to do with Food

Chains, diversity is of critical importance. The CIW recognizes that everyone involved in a system is a stakeholder. They didn’t try to impose a set of rules on the farming system or the grocery buyers that weren’t practical or didn’t have the input of those other stakeholders. At the same time, the code of conduct that they put together was driven by the experiences of workers. Every system that works in the US involves people with multiple view points, and the only way that we can get those systems to function properly, ethically and morally is to give value to every single [diverse] stakeholder….

Want more? Read the full interview

online and share your thoughts at CLEO’s new Artist Spotlight Blog: Exploring the Convergence of Law & the Arts www.cleoedgeartists.weebly.com facebook.com/FoodChainsFilm FoodChainsFilm.com

produced from Florida, they can range anywhere from 79 cents to $1.99 per pound and people are buying whole tomatoes, nobody’s buying exactly a pound of tomatoes. An extra penny or a fraction of a penny per pound is something that we’ve seen more consumers would be willing to pay to know that their tomatoes weren’t picked by slaves. And in many cases, we’ve found that the supermarket has enough of a margin that they can absorb the one penny themselves.

farms kind of represents the challenges that we face as a nation. This movie touches on all those points….I think more importantly, we shine a light on some of the most gigantic corporations in this country in a way that perhaps hasn’t been the focus of other movies that have looked at food.

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YOUR

OUR

Some schools search for students. At the University of La Verne College of Law, we search for potential. You bring the determination, drive and tenacity. We bring the know-how and the tools to succeed, and turn you into a confident, test-ready, experienced lawyer version of you. The La Verne Law Model of Legal Education has five core principles – Grounding students in the Basic Skills for Success Preparing students for success on the bar exam Equipping students with Ready to Practice Curriculum Serving as a beacon of hope and an inspiration Addressing affordability & accessibility with a flat, no-discount True Tuition Model 320 East D Street, Ontario, CA 91764 (877) 858-4529 lawadm@laverne.edu law.laverne.edu

FORGING POTENTIAL INTO PRACTICE

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What Is Your Social Media Brand?

10 Steps

to Ensure Your Entry into College By Bernetta J. Hayes You Tube. Twitter. Facebook. Text messages. Instagram. Smartphones. High School students are bedazzled by a countless array of internet-based tools and platforms that increase and enhance the sharing of information. This new form of media—social media— makes the transfer of text, photos, audio, video, and information in general increasingly fluid among internet users. Yet teenagers often engage in indiscreet behavior, bullying or posting disparaging remarks online. And increasingly colleges are keeping track of high school students’ social media mentions. In fact, new research from Kaplan Test Prep suggests that online scrutiny of college hopefuls is growing.

What can you do to make sure your “brand,” your digital identity is appealing to colleges and universities? Excerpted from The Education Portal, following are 10 things you should NOT post on Facebook to help you avoid self sabotage so you can present the most appealing version of yourself. 94

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“Students’ social media and digital footprint can sometimes play a role in the admissions process,” says Christine Brown, the executive director of K-12 and college prep programs at Kaplan Test Prep. “It’s something that is becoming more ubiquitous and less looked down upon.”

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1. Over-the-Top Party Pictures You may be proud of what you see as your wild ways now, but you probably won’t be in a few years. It’s one thing to post pictures of you and your friends having fun, but posting pictures of any age-inappropriate activities is just going to look immature. Post this kind of content at your own risk.

2. Stupidly Insensitive Jokes You might think that a certain racially charged joke is just hilarious, but not everyone is amused. The point of Facebook is to make social connections, not to alienate people. If you think there’s any chance that someone might be hurt or feel targeted by a Facebook post, you should consider just not posting it.

3. R-Rated Memes No one with any common sense is going to suggest that high schoolers only access age-appropriate, squeaky-clean content online. But that doesn’t mean you should force everyone else to see the gross and weird stuff you see online by posting it in your Facebook feed. This is especially true if you have younger siblings or friends who might be upset or disturbed by what you posted.

4. Relationship Drama Ah, young love. Nothing seems as urgent or important. And nothing makes adults feel more snidely smug. Even if you are “it’s complicated” with the object of your affection, keeping the sordid details to yourself can help protect you and your social circle from unnecessary and potentially incriminating drama.

5. Insults About Teachers

It’s not unheard of for students to get in trouble for stuff they’ve posted online. You might feel the need to vent about a teacher, but it’s best to do that in a way that can’t be recorded and used as evidence in punishment.

6. Bullying Classmates It can be easy to gang up on people online, since it is indisputably easier to insult someone when you don’t have to look them in the eye. But again, you can get in trouble for the things you say on Facebook. Plus, you’ll just come off looking like a jerk if you bully a classmate on a social network. Why would you want to show that side of yourself in such a permanent way?

7. Anything You Wouldn’t Want Your Parents to See This is a pretty good general rule of thumb - you might think your posts are completely protected, but most parents have Facebook these days, and your parents are probably way more Internet-savvy than you’d like to think. If you post about stuff you know you’ll get in trouble for, you’ll only have yourself to blame when you actually do get caught because of something you stupidly decided to share with the public.

8. Anything You Wouldn’t Want a College Admissions Board to See Again, you might think your Facebook is totally safe from prying eyes, but it’s always possible that you forgot to finalize a certain privacy setting. Why put stuff out there in public that’s going to make you look like an idiot? Facebook searches are a pretty standard part of the job application process at this point. Everyone expects it. You should probably make the same assumption about college admissions boards. Don’t share any information you wouldn’t want to be judged by.

9. Links to Questionable Web Content You might think that “NSFW” (Not suitable/safe for work) link is hilarious, but your older sister - who happened to click that link while at work - might not share your opinion.

10. Gossip Like bullying, gossip is particularly easy to spread online. But there’s no way to backpedal when everyone saw you post something with your name and picture right next to it. Save yourself the social trouble and just steer clear of gossip on Facebook.

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“Albany Law School is committed to promoting an educational environment that values, respects and reflects a local and global view of diversity.” Penelope (Penny) Andrews, President & Dean

The only law school in the powerful capital of New York Focused on the study of law, business and governance Diverse, accessible faculty Offering more than 150 internship opportunities More than 9,500 alumni practicing in most states in the country, and several continents

albanylaw.edu

JURIS DOCTOR (J.D.) PROGRAMS 2.5 Year Full-Time Day Accelerated January Start 3 Year Full-Time Day 3 Year Full-Time Day Criminal Justice Honors 4 Year Part-Time Day 4 Year Part-Time Evening WWW.JOHNMARSHALL.EDU

JUNE LSAT SCORES ACCEPTED FOR FALL

NO APPLICATION FEE

WHAT’S EXCEPTIONAL ABOUT WESTERN STATE COLLEGE OF LAW? JUST ASK OUR STUDENTS.

faculty is outstanding . . . impressive credentials “andstudentsTheexperience . . . really accessible and available to help succeed. ” The Career Services office is awesome . . . we get “helpcoachingbuildingfor career our resumes, daily job alerts, and personal planning, interviews. ” Students get really good placement opportunities. “find alumni Our network is really strong and helps students and land judicial clerkships, impressive internships, and good legal jobs. ” Learn more about our strong bar pass rates, and specialty programs at www.wsulaw.edu. Contact us at adm@wsulaw.edu or 714-459-1101.

1111 North State College Boulevard | Fullerton, CA 92831 Orange County, Southern California since 1966 Western State College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610, 312-988-5000). Argosy University is accredited by the Senior College and University Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (985 Atlantic Ave., Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501, wascsenior.org). See wsuprograms.info for program duration, tuition, fees, and other costs, median debt, federal salary data, alumni success, and other important info. ©2014 Western State College of Law WSCL-14006

CLEO_hp_r2_Layout 1 5/22/14 1:23 PM Page 1 WSCL-14010 NAPLA Conference Ad.indd 1

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MORE MORE individualized support, mentorship, and career guidance. Learn MORE at www.CaliforniaWestern.edu

than a number

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The Importance of Legal Research by Shawn G. Nevers

As I listened to Lincoln explain his reasoning, I couldn’t help but think about legal research. Lincoln had found, understood, and applied the law. This process allowed him to correctly assess the legal weaknesses of the Emancipation Proclamation. It also helped him realize that a constitutional amendment was the best solution available. In that way, legal research played a critical role in Lincoln’s decision to pursue the 13th Amendment despite heavy opposition. While Lincoln’s legal research didn’t include Westlaw or Lexis, its underlying principles of finding, understanding, and applying the law remain the same today. Today’s lawyers continue to use legal research on a daily basis to prepare them to advise clients, negotiate with opposing counsel, or persuade a judge or jury.

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You’ll experience the importance of legal research when a client seeks your help to modify a child custody order, to sue for misappropriation of trade secrets, or to defend them in an insider trading case. Legal research will help you find, understand, and apply the law. Performing

The sooner you gain an appreciation for the importance of legal research the better. good legal research in this way will provide you with the foundation you need

to proceed confidently and achieve the best result for your client. Despite the importance of legal research in legal practice, I’m often surprised at how many first-year law students (and sometimes others) seem disinterested in the topic. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised—legal research doesn’t hold the appeal of some topics, like constitutional or criminal law. Legal research also requires more hands-on work, which rarely evokes endearment from law students. Many students even have the mistaken notion that legal research is easy. But, whatever the reason for the initial lack of interest in legal research, something changes when law students head out to legal jobs during the summer. That’s because they’re asked to research— again and again and again. In fact, the majority of law students I talk to spend the majority of their summer researching. So, while law students may or may not grow to love legal research, they do come to understand that it’s a critical skill they must acquire. In fact, upon returning from the summer, many of my former students remark that our legal research and writing class was by far the most helpful of their first year. I always wish they would have realized this earlier—and they do too—

Lincoln, on the other hand, supports the amendment. He feels strongly that slavery must be abolished, but, he worries that the Emancipation Proclamation is vulnerable. The Proclamation was a war measure, he explains, but, without a war, questions about the legality of the Proclamation and its effects will no doubt be raised. A constitutional amendment is the legal cure needed to settle the uncertainty and end slavery for good.

feature but better late than never. The sooner you gain an appreciation for the importance of legal research the better. Here are a few tips that might help:

Purestock / Alamy

Take a broader view of research. Some students and even attorneys have a narrow view of research. To them, research is Lexis or Westlaw. Good legal research, however, is much more than a research system; it’s a process. Good legal research is intertwined with analysis, understanding, and application. While finding the law is important, “one has not truly found the law until he understands it,” as one prominent law librarian has noted. A research system can’t do that for you. A lawyer’s understanding and analysis of a case often begins in the research stage when she identifies the relevant facts and determines the legal issues that must be researched. This analysis continues and is refined as she decides where, how, and what to search. As she finds seemingly relevant legal materials, she must understand them and how they apply to the facts of her case. This research provides a crucial analytical foundation that will inform her decisions for the remainder of the case. When viewed in this light, research can be seen not merely as a fleeting Westlaw search, but as a critical, enduring component of representing a client.

all, but go as often as you can. Westlaw, Lexis, and others also provide training, as well as a number of online tutorials that can be helpful. Your law library, as promoter of all things legal research, also likely has a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page or [enter new tool here] that keeps students up to date on new databases or legal research tips. Keep track of these sources, or some from another library, and you’ll be surprised how much additional legal research knowledge you gain that will help you in school or at work. Take advanced legal research. Most law schools offer some sort of advanced or specialized legal research course as an elective. Take it! Take it even if you don’t love legal research. Especially take it if you’re not good at legal research. You will soon be doing research on someone else’s dime. Why not get ready for it? Most, if not all, advanced legal research classes are taught by law librarians. They are expert researchers who know about

the latest legal resources and can teach you a lot about the legal research process. You’ll also get the chance to do a lot of research, which is critical to becoming a good researcher. If you don’t practice researching now, you’ll be doing it at your job, which is where you’d be better off impressing than learning. Abraham Lincoln’s quip about a book he read could easily be applied to legal research—“People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” The truth is, however, that whether you like it or not, legal research is a critical part of lawyering. Don’t underestimate its importance. “The Importance of Legal Research,” by Shawn G. Nevers, originally appeared in Student Lawyer. Copyright 2013© by the American Bar Association. Reprinted with permission. This information or any or portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

Take research seriously. If you’re serious about getting yourself ready to practice competently, you need to be committed to developing your research skills. The first step is easy—don’t blow off your research classes. The more you put into these classes, the more you’ll get out of them. Taking research seriously also means working on your research skills and knowledge outside a structured class. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. The truth is that there’s never enough time in a legal research class to cover everything—the intricacies of specialized areas, the latest databases, etc. It’s likely that your law library provides optional training sessions to help you learn these things. You won’t be able to attend them WINTER/SPRING 2015

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      

Full-time Day, Part-Time Day and Evening Options Nine Clinics Separate Skills Curriculum for practical experience Six Certificate Programs Joint degree programs (JD/MBA, JD/MPA, JD/MURP) Study abroad opportunities Application fee waived

Median LSAT/GPA: 151/3.15 Student to Faculty ratio: 15:1 Percentage of Diversity Students: 26%

COLLEGE OF LAW GRADUATE PROFILE Private Practice: 54.4% Business: 13% Government:: 15.5% Judicial Clerkships: 14% Public Interest: 2.1% Academic: 1%

Office of Law Admissions 7214 St. Charles Ave, Box 904 New Orleans, LA 70118 (504) 861-5575 ladmit@loyno.edu http://law.loyno.edu

Loyola University New Orleans recently completed the celebration of its 100th anniversary as a university. Now, the College of Law prepares to celebrate its own centennial in 2014 by admitting its 100th entering class this fall.

Our Centennial celebration includes special guest speakers, alumni receptions, a donor challenge, signature and academic events, and a Founder’s Day celebration.

college scholars

Building an Application Strategy Ikon Images / Alamy

A plan & resources for finding the right law schools for you

by Dom De Leo There are around 200 ABA accredited law schools in the United States. Choosing where to apply and determining how to form the most effective application can be daunting. Here are the fundamental concepts and key elements to consider. The goal for both the law school and the applicant is to find a match between performance and potential - where you can do well and where you can achieve your career goals.

The process starts with you. WINTER/SPRING 2015

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hy do you want to study law and what do you want from law school? While there are some excellent books and web sites to help answer these questions, talking with a pre-law advisor is a good first step. The answers can be general; you do not need to know if you want to work in a specific area of law. Consider the possibilities you want to pursue and where you would like to study and work. What are the programs and clinics you would like to find? What is the size and demographics of the student body? What additional points are important to you?

While your GPA and LSAT will be important, law schools will look beyond the numbers.

In the ABA/LSAC guide to approved law schools, each school has a chart showing the number of applications and admits for combinations of GPAs and LSAT scores. For a given range there might be 300 applicants and 100 admitted. Here are the key elements that distinguish the successful candidates from the other applicants with the same “numbers”: Recommendations - written by academics who can describe your abilities to do research, to write, to present and to persuade, and by supervisors who can describe the quality of your work and your skills. Your Résumé - describing leadership, initiative and positive results. Work experience that reflects the number of hours you work while a student and information about your responsibilities beyond school and work can be presented here. Personal Essays and Addenda - that effectively communicate who you are, your goals, the reasons you chose a specific school and the contribution you can bring as a student there.

Give the law school reasons to say yes.

For each application, especially if you question your chances because your grades or scores are below the mid - range of your top choices, be sure to give the school every reason to say yes. Make your case. Use addenda to explain any mitigating circumstances including family situations that had an impact on your performance. Present any point of advocacy in your background or experience that would strengthen your candidacy. The most important elements of your application are the perspective, maturity, and judgment you 102

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can offer now. Describe changes that show growth and development. Demonstrate that you take responsibility for past actions, learn from your experience, and act with resolve. Review your choices, essays, and addenda with your pre-law advisor and recommenders then contact the admissions committees directly to review your options and possibilities.

Ways to Strengthen your Applications:

Apply after you graduate. This would give you time during your senior year to improve your grades, take an additional course with a recommender, participate in activities or take leadership initiatives. Gain additional work or volunteer experience. The work does not have to be law related. A position that expands your perspective, builds your skills and demonstrates your abilities will enhance your possibilities for a successful application. Consider retaking the LSAT. If you feel that you can improve your score by four or more points, taking the test again could significantly improve your chances.

Resources for beginning your search: Boston College’s On-line Law School Locator ff The Locator is a guide to start your search. ff It can help you identify schools where your

scores and grades are most competitive for admission and help you gauge your chance of admission at a particular school based on the numbers alone.

ff It can identify all the law schools in a given

state, including their range of scores. There is also a Locator for part-time programs on the Boston College Career Center web site.

ff The Locator lists the 25th to 75th percentile

LSAT scores and GPA ranges of the applicants admitted to accredited law schools. This means that half scored in the range indicated. The law schools are placed in cells on the chart according to their 25th percentile scores.

ff All schools accept applicants with marks

above and below these scores. While the chart is useful in evaluating law school choices it cannot determine where you should or should not apply.

college scholars

The Boston College Online Law School Locator 25th to 75th Percentile Scores

The rows on the table indicate the 25th percentile GPA / The columns on the table indicate the 25th percentile LSAT

C F

> 3.60 3.40-3.60

3.20-3.39 G P A

3.00-3.19

2.80-2.99

2.60-2.79

<2.60

<145

145-149

150-154

155-159

160-165

>165

LSAT Score View online: http://bit.ly/bclawlocator When you visit the site, simply click any letter cell which will direct you to a list of law schools with the selected admission criteria (GPA and LSAT score). For example, clicking on cell “A” will give you the following results:

GPA: > 3.60 LSAT: > 165

Schools are listed by their 25th percentile scores. Each listing includes the 25th to 75th percentile range for the GPA and LSAT. Yale Law School

3.83 - 3.96

170 - 177

Harvard Law School

3.78 - 3.97

171 - 176

Stanford University Law School

3.72 - 3.93

167 - 172

The University of Chicago Law School

3.71 – 3.94

167 - 173

Duke University School of Law

3.62 - 3.84

167 – 171

Columbia University School of Law

3.60 - 3.82

170 - 175

(as of August 29, 2013)

Reprinted with permission from Dom De Leo, Associate Director, of the Boston College Career Center. For additional pre-law resources, visit the Boston College Career Center website at http://bit.ly/bclawprocess. There is a special section on applying to law school this year. Applying to Law School • Thinking about Law School • Prepare to Apply • Research Law Schools • Application Process

• • • •

The LSAT Additional Resources Acceptance Rates Acceptance by Program

Additional Information About the American Bar Association Website The ABA website (www.americanbar.org) is filled with information for lawyers, law students and pre-law students. The ABA website will help you match your personal as well as your academic goals with a law school. While the Boston College On-line Law School Locator focuses on GPA and LSAT scores, the ABA website contains pertinent information addressing your personal requirements as well as academic compatibility for more than 190 ABA-approved law schools.

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In selecting schools, choose some “safe” schools, and consider “long-shot” schools in addition to those where your numbers make you competitive. Competitive Schools: Find the cells where your scores are in the top half of the range. These cells define your “competitive” area. Your statistical chance of admission at schools in this area is roughly estimated at fifty-fifty. Your personal statement, letters of reference, and other qualitative credentials become most important in determining admission to these schools. Long Shots: The cells above and to the right of this competitive area represent “reach” schools for you. Apply to some “reach” schools if there are one or two

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that you truly want to attend for very specific reasons. Provide a clear reason for them to accept you. Explain the special programs that interest you, unusual experience you have, or other personal characteristics that make you an attractive candidate for each school. Safety Schools: In the cells below and to the left of your competitive area you will find schools that you might consider “safe” on the basis of your numbers alone. Even the highest scores do not guarantee admission. Pay close attention to presentation and qualitative aspects of your application even at schools you consider “safe.” Discuss your choices with your pre-law advisor and, if possible, visit law school campuses and attend a Law School Forum to talk with admission officers. Apply early to all the schools you choose.

Fanatic Studio / Alamy

The Application Strategy

college scholars

the boston college flowchart for applying to law school LSAT

Transcripts

Rec. Letter

YOU

Create a CAS account and pay CAS fees

YOU

Request Student Services to send transcripts to CAS

YOU

Each Law School requests information from LSAC

STUDENT SERVICES

Sign form. Make appointment to discuss the LOR with the Professor and deliver the form.

Transcripts sent to CAS

LS AC LSAC forwards LSAT score, Transcript, LSAC Score Report & specified recommendations to each Law School

Professor writes, signs & mails to LSAC

Retrieve recommendation letter & evaluation forms

LAW SCHOOL

(CAS )

Professor

LSAC (CAS) Résumé Essay

YOU

Upload to the electronic application

Addenda

Common Information F orm

Dean’s Letter

YOU

Forward the form for the Dean’s letter to Student Services

LS AC (CAS )

LS AC

Pay application fees according to your personal school list on LSAC

App Fee

Upload to LS AC

(CAS )

LAW SCHOOL

STUDENT SERVICES

Retrieve Dean’s Letter form from the law school’s web site

LAW SCHOOL

The BC Career Center’s “Applying to Law School”website:

http://bit.ly/bclawprocess

Boston College pre-law on line resources provided by Dom De Leo, Associate Director for Graduate Studies, Boston College Career Center.

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He chose BYU Law School for its reputation and value. His experience there offered him so much more.

BRI GH AM Y OUN G UN IVE R SI T Y L AW S C H O O L Preparing students to balance legal expertise with a moral perspective that motivates them to become a force for good in the world.

LAW in the LIGHT

Find out more at law.byu.edu

Connect with CLEO www.cleoscholars.org

/cleo.scholars

/in/cleo1968

/cleoscholars

/cleoalumni

www.cleodivercitynetwork.org

McGuireWoods Promotes Diversity

From top, left to right: Alan C. Cason, Public Finance Department Chair; James Gelman, Hispanic/Latino Affinity Group Chair; Melissa Glassman, Deputy Managing Partner, Business Development; Michael W. Graff Jr., LGBT Affinity Group Chair; Naho Kobayashi, National Recruiting Committee Co-chair; Ava E. Lias-Booker, Baltimore Office Managing Partner; George Keith Martin, Richmond Office Managing Partner; Jacquelyn E. Stone, Diversity and Inclusion Chair.

McGuireWoods LLP is dedicated to the value of diversity – a commitment proven by the number of our partners in leadership roles who are of color, women or LGBT. With leaders like these, our diverse and women lawyers have promising futures. We proudly support the CLEO organization.

Jacquelyn E. Stone, Diversity & Inclusion Chair 804.775.1046 | jstone@mcguirewoods.com One James Center | 901 East Cary Street | Richmond, VA 23219-4030

college scholars The road to law school is paved with hard work and mapped by dreams. How many times have you heard, “I’ve dreamed of being a lawyer since I was…”? How many college seniors can’t wait to receive that acceptance letter from their dream law school? The journey from your dreams to your first day of class at law school demands a commitment to turning your dream into reality, and the reality is achievable through effective planning, early preparation, and a high level of discipline.

Planning for law school is much like planning for a road trip; if you know the facts about your destination and follow a careful course of action, the process of preparing for law school can be uncomplicated and free of major obstacles. Treat the law school admissions process like a road trip; map your journey from dream to reality by planning your route with ultimate precision.

Mopic / Alamy

Live Your

DETERMINATION

RESEARCH

EDUCATION

Aside from your GPA, your inner determination to succeed will carry you far on the road to law school admission. Sharpen your determination to do well on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)—your diligence in preparing for the exam may be the most significant way to strengthen your admission profile. The way you perform on this test may be the deciding factor in your acceptance or rejection to law school. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can wing it and skip the necessary steps of preparation. Your performance on the LSAT carries great weight because most admissions committees use a combined GPA/ LSAT to make an initial decision about which applications to consider.

There are more than 190 ABA-approved law schools in the United States. You will have to become an expert researcher to find the programs that match your personal and academic needs. Do you want to practice intellectual property or public service? Are you interested in a day or evening program? Do you want to go to a law school in your current state or go to another state? Learn about the various LSAT test prep courses, materials, websites, financial aid, pre-law program, and advisors that are out there.

Admissions committees will consider your course selections, grade point average, and the reputation of your undergraduate institution when considering your application for admission. Familiarize yourself with prelaw skills and master the habit of rigorous study early to show admissions officers that you can handle law school. Keep in mind that extracurricular activities and volunteering are a nice supplement in your application, but grades matter most. Your GPA is one of the two most important factors used to determine whether or not the rest of your application will even be considered by an admissions committee.

APPLICATION Make a great first impression! Complete your law school applications in a way that shows that you possess the dedication and discipline that the grueling work of law school demands.

MAKE IT HAPPEN! While gearing up for your dream-to-reality journey to law school, it will be important for you to take advantage of every chance to meet with pre-law advisors and law school representatives. And it’s not too early to start preparing for the admission process or for legal study. The best way to ensure your success in law school is to make it happen today.

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W W W. T S U L AW . E D U

Ten Reasons Why Thurgood Marshall School of Law May Be The Law School For You 1. Our Vision

“I decided to come

to TMSL because, of the many schools I was accepted to, something about TMSL just felt right. In addition to its location in Texas, the affordable tuition was a major factor in my decision to attend TMSL. I did not intend to stay at TMSL beyond my first year, but because of the incredible professors, great intern/externship opportunities, and the historic significance of the founding of the school, I made the choice to stay. I am glad that I decided to attend TMSL.

”

— Gaven Norris, ‘14

Texas souThern universiTy

Thurgood Marshall school of law 3100 Cleburne Street • Houston, TX 77004 Ph: 713-313-4455 • Fax: 713-313-1049

We are committed to Thurgood Marshall’s legacy of excellence and equality for our diverse students.

2. Our Mission Our Mission is to prepare our students for leadership roles in the legal profession, business, and government.

3. Our Values Our values are cooperation, excellence, fairness, integrity, and learning.

4. Our Incentives Tuition– Thurgood’s tuition is relatively modest. (Annual tuition is less than $20,000 in-state students and less than $25,000 for nonresident students.) Scholarships– We award scholarships annually up to 1 Million Dollars. We provide a full scholarship for each 2L student in the top 10%. Career Services– Full interactive career services support.

5. Our Diversity During the last decade, Thurgood has been recognized as the nation’s most diverse law school, or in the top 5 of most diverse law schools. We look like and act on values that reflect the best of 2014 America.

6. Our Academics We have an integrated Academic Support Program that begins prior to pre-enrollment, continues at every stage of a student’s matriculation, and culminates with significant post-graduation support in aid of passing a bar exam. We focus on measurable enhancement of student knowledge, skills, and problem prevention and solving abilities. Applicants with LSAT scores in the range of 147-150 have a real opportunity to excel. Applicants with LSAT scores of 150 or less are provided systematic Bar Exam training to increase their likelihood of passing Texas and other state Bar Exams. TMSL provides a highly competitive opportunity for YOU to pass a Bar Exam the first

time when you have a 146-150 LSAT and a 2.8-3.2 undergraduate grade point average. We proudly state that our graduates’ most recent performance on Bar Exams is our best performance ever on Bar Exams!

7. Our Alums We proudly include among our alums – Leading members of the U.S. House of Representatives and both the House and Senate of the Texas Legislature; Distinguished federal and state trial and appellate judges; Key partners in large, medium and small law firms; Executive and administrative government lawyers, both federal and state; Recognized sports and entertainment lawyers and agents; and Top attorneys in criminal and civil practice areas.

8. Our Faculty We have engaged faculty dedicated to meaningful research and scholarship. Our faculty delivers impactful knowledge, skills, and training to provide effective and ethical client services, including problem prevention and resolution.

9. Our Collaborations We collaborate with members of the legal profession and other professions to provide high quality training for our award-winning Mock Trial and Moot Court Inter-Law School competitive teams. We provide dual degree programs with the School of Business and the School of Public Affairs. We also provide opportunities for students to participate in—Institutes, such as The Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy, and Clinics, which provide opportunities for experiencing an array of legal practices and focus on developing skills; Externship Placements for Credit; and Certificates of Specialization in Immigration and International Law, Sports and Entertainment Law, and Government Law.

10. Our Credo Protect, improve, and pass on our legacy of changing the face of the legal profession in Texas and the nation. 2012-2014 have produced confirmation from outside evaluators that we are honoring this credo and our vision. For example, we recently were accepted as a member of The Association of American Law Schools.

in every issue

INTERNET RESOURCES Council on Legal Education Opportunity: www.cleoscholars.org and www.cleodivercitynetwork.org ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association (ABA): www.americanbar.org Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA): www.hnba.com Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA): www.mcca.com National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA): www.napaba.org National Bar Association (NBA): www.nationalbar.org

Â© arekmalang

National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA): www.nblsa.org National Native American Bar Association (NNABA): www.nativeamericanbar.org

BAR EXAM PREPARATION

SECONDARY SCHOOL RESOURCES

BARBRI: www.barbri.com

A2Z Colleges: www.a2zcolleges.com

Kaplan PMBR: www.kaptest.com/Bar-Exam

College Board: www.collegeboard.org

FINANCIAL WEB SITES

The College Digest: www.collegedigest.com

Access Group: www.accessgroup.org

College Goal Sunday: www.collegegoalsundayusa.org

FinAid!: www.finaid.org

Next Step U: www.nextstepu.com

United States Department of Education Federal Student Aid: studentaid.ed.gov

Quintessential Careers: www.quintcareers.com/teen_ college.html

LSAT TEST PREPARATION

Griffon Prep: www.griffonprep.com

Kaplan, Inc.: www.kaptest.com/LSAT Law School Admission Council: www.lsac.org The Princeton Review: www.princetonreview.com TestMasters: www.testmasters.net

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in every issue

WRITING RESOURCES As a secondary school student, college student, student returning to school for a second career or first-year associate, you should continually strive to improve your writing skills. Here are several resources to help you get your point across to your reader.

BOOKS 6 Keys to Writing Effectively by Robert Harris 250 Things You Should Know About Writing by Chuck Wendig The Art of Styling Sentences by K.D. Sullivan The Best Little Grammar Book Ever!: 101 Ways to Impress With Your Writing and Speaking by Arlene Miller The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus The Classic Guide to Better Writing: Step-by-Step Techniques and Exercises to Write Simply, Clearly and Correctly by Rudolf Franz Flesch Edit Yourself: A Manual for Everyone Who Works with Words by Bruce Clifford Ross-Larson The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.

Grammatically Correct by Anne Stilman Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them by Ben Yagoda How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin

The Little Red Writing Book by Brandon Royal Mastering the Craft of Writing: How to Write With Clarity, Emphasis, and Style by Stephen Wilbers On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need: A OneStop Sources for Every Writing Assignment by Susan Thurman and Larry Shea The Productive Writer: Tips & Tools to Help You Write More, Stress Less & Create Success by Sage Cohen Roget’s International Thesaurus by Barbara Ann Kipfer Sentences and Paragraphs: Mastering the Two Most Important Units of Writing (The Writing Code Series Book 8) by Charles Euchner Words to Write By: Putting Your Thoughts on Paper by Elaine L. Orr Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark Writing Your Way: Creating a Writing Process That Works for You by Don Fry

The Elephants of Style: A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English by Bill Walsh

Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing by Claire Kehrwald Cook

ONLINE RESOURCES The Chicago Manual of Style Online: www. chicagomanualofstyle.org Dictionary.com: www.dictionary.com Merriam Webster: www.merriam-webster.com

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secondary school

Summer Reading List for the Secondary School Student The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque College and Career Ready: Helping All Students Succeed Beyond High School by David T. Conley Countdown to College: 21 To Do Lists for High School: Step-By-Step Strategies for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Graders 2nd Edition by Valerie Pierce and Cheryl Rilly Emily Post’s Teen Etiquette by Elizabeth L. Post Essay Writing: Step-By-Step: A Newsweek Education Program Guide for Teens by Newsweek Education Program and Newsweek Financial Aid for…

African Americans, 2014-2016

Hispanic Americans, 2014-2016 Native Americans, 2014-2016

Asian Americans, 2014-2016

Painless Vocabulary by Michael Greenberg Reasoning Skills Success in 20 Minutes a Day by LearningExpress Editors Should You Really Be A Lawyer?: The Guide To Smart Career Choices Before, During & After Law School by Deborah Schneider and Gary Belsky Speak Out! Debate and Public Speaking in the Middle Grades by John Meany and Kate Shuster The Strategic Student: Successfully Transitioning from High School to College Academics by David Cass Teen Guide to Personal Financial Management by Marjolijn Bijlefeld and Sharon K. Zoumbaris Teen Manners: From Malls to Meals to Messaging and Beyond by Cindy Post Senning, Peggy Post, and Sharon Watts

by Gail Ann Schlachter and R. David Weber

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

Get to the Top of the Class: How to Succeed in High School: Your Personalized Guide to Academic Success by Grace M. Charles

Where’s My Stuff?: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide by Samantha Moss, Lesley Schwartz, and Michael Wertz

How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) by Cal Newport

Who Moved My Cheese? for Teens by Spencer Johnson

Keys to Success: Building Analytical, Creative, and Practical Skills by Carol Carter, Joyce Bishop, Sarah Lyman Kravits, and Judy Block

Words You Should Know In High School: 1000 Essential Words To Build Vocabulary, Improve Standardized Test Scores, And Write Successful Papers by Burton Jay Nadler, Jordan Nadler, and Justin Nadler

Law 101: Everything You Need to Know about the American Legal System by Jay M. Feinman

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary: Strategies for Preparing for College and Scholarships by Sharnnia Artis Ph.D. WINTER/SPRING 2015

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APPROACH THE BENCH

Making the decision to attend law school is huge. You can feel confident and comfortable with the right choice. At South Texas College of Law/Houston you will find: x x x

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an exceptional faculty an advocacy program rated No.1 in the nation by the Blakely Advocacy Institute affordable tuition rates, as evidenced by a “Best Value” private law school ranking in The National Jurist magazine the Randall O. Sorrells Legal Clinic, which houses more than 10 direct-service clinics, academic externships and a vibrant volunteer pro bono program an award-winning legal research and writing program a broad and flexible curriculum a helpful and knowledgeable staff more than 30 student organizations that provide a nurturing social environment and opportunities for community service a downtown location close to major law firms and corporations

Deadline for Spring 2015 admission is October 1, 2014 and deadline for Fall 2015 admission is February 15, 2015

South texaS College of law/houSton

Houston’s Oldest Law School • 1303 San Jacinto Street • Houston, Texas 77002-7006 713.646.1810 • www.stcl.edu

college scholars

Summer Reading List for the College Scholar/Pre-Law Student Acing Your First Year of Law School: The Ten Steps to Success You Won’t Learn in Class, 2nd Edition by Shana Connell Noyes and Henry S. Noyes

Legal Analysis: 100 Exercises for Mastery, Practice for Every Law Student by Cassandra L. Hill and Katherine T. Vukadin

Advocacy to Zealousness: Learning Lawyering Skills from Classic Films by Kelly Lynn Anders

The Legal Career Guide by Gary A. Munneke and Ellen Wayne

An Introduction to Legal Reasoning by Edward H. Levi

Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell

The Annotated LSAT by Robert Webking

Lives of Lawyers: Journeys in the Organizations of Practice (Law, Meaning, and Violence) by Michael J. Kelly

Basic Legal Research: Tools And Strategies by Amy E. Sloan The Basics of Legal Writing: Revised by Mary Barnard

Looking at Law School: A Student Guide from the Society of American Law Teachers by Stephen Gillers

Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies for Success by Ruta K. Stropus and Charlotte D. Taylor

Monday Morning Leadership: 8 Mentoring Sessions You Can’t Afford to Miss by David Cottrell, Alice Adams, and Juli Baldwin

The Complete Law School Companion: How to Excel at America’s Most Demanding PostGraduate Curriculum by Jeff Deaver

The Next IQ: The Next Level of Intelligence for 21st Century Leaders by Arin N. Reeves

Emily Post’s The Etiquette Advantage in Business: Personal Skills for Professional Success, Second Edition by Peggy Post and Peter Post Fifty Unique Legal Paths: How to Find the Right Job by Ursula Furi-Perry

How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Insider’s Guide To Your First Year Of Law School: A Student-to-Student Handbook from a Law School Survivor by Justin Spizman The Law Student’s Pocket Mentor: From Surviving to Thriving (Introduction to Law) by Ann L. Iijima

Public Speaking Handbook by Steven A. Beebe Strategies & Tactics for the First Year Law Student by Kimm Alyane Walton, J.D., and Lazar Emanuel, J.D. with contributions by Eric S. Lambert, J.D. Succeeding in Law School by Herbert N. Ramy Time Management In an Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard

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Jason

Jessica

Corey

MaKisha

Excellence All-Inclusive

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At Florida Coastal School of Law we are committed to promoting diversity in legal education and in the profession of law. We strive to empower students from all backgrounds by implementing programs designed to foster intercultural leadership and strengthen community development. We invite you to join us.

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www.fcsl.edu | admissions@fcsl.edu | (904) 680-7700 ABA Accredited | Jacksonville, FL

SUNY Buffalo Law School The State University of New York

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Offering you affordability, access and excellence

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For more information, contact Lillie Wiley-Upshaw, Vice Dean for Admissions (716) 645-2907 or lwiley@buffalo.edu or visit www.law.buffalo.edu

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OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS 100 LAW CENTER HOUSTON, TEXAS 77204-6060 713.743.2280 LAWADMISSIONS@UH.EDU LAW.UH.EDU

The University of Houston Law Center is the leading law school in the nation’s fourth-largest city. Excellence and value are the hallmarks of our law school. We encourage prospective students to investigate all of the advantages that make the Law Center what it is: an unparalleled value in legal education and a great place to launch a career in law. Consider this: • We are located in Houston, one of the nation’s top legal markets. Houston is also home to the world’s largest health care and medical complex and recognized as the energy capital of the world. • UH Intellectual Property Law and Health Law programs are consistently ranked in Top 10 nationally by U.S. News & World Report. • UH Law Center is ranked among the best value law schools in the country in terms of offering a high quality legal education.

• UH Law Center is ranked 30th by the National Law Journal among “Go to” law schools based on the percent of graduates hired by the top 250 law firms in U.S. • We maintain strong connections with international legal and education communities. • UH Law Center offers the International Energy Lawyers Program with the University of Calgary Faculty of Law which allows students to earn law degrees in two countries.

To find out more, visit law.uh.edu The University of Houston is an EEO/AA institution.

in every issue

CLEO CONTRIBUTORS CLEO gratefully acknowledges the precious gifts of financial and project support that make our programs possible and our events successful. Thank you! CLEO Summer Institute and Related Programs Funded by the 2015 Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education’s Partner, Sustaining and Supporting Institutions and the following donors:

Corporate/Organizational Supporters Underwriting Partner LSAC/DiscoverLaw.org, a CLEO Supporter since 1968 Wal-Mart

Diamond Supporters Microsoft Corporation Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice

Gold Supporters Andrews Kurth Kilpatrick Townsend McGuireWoods

National Bar Institute United Healthcare Services

Silver Supporters Exxon Mobil Corporation National Bar Association – Commercial Law Section

Bronze Supporters AT&T United Way Employee Giving Campaign

Bar Association of San Francisco Catholic University - Columbus School of Law Crowell Moring

Florida International University College of Law

Fordham University School of Law Hogan Lovells

The John Marshall Law School (Chicago)

The University of Mississippi School of Law Network 2000, Inc.

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New York Law School Proskauer

South Texas College of Law

Texas Wesleyan School of Law Whittier Law School

American Bar Association The Ahmanson Foundation

in every issue

Individual Contributors Individual Gold Contributors Angela Cox Julian Garza, Jr. Charles Holmes

Malcolm Morris Gloria Navarro Denise Owens Pamela Rothenberg

James Strazzella Cleophus Washington

Individual Silver Contributors Reuben F. Bradford Paulette Brown Widmon Butler

Wai Chi Ho Elaine Drummond Alphonso Eason

Beverly Perry Peter Shane Renard Shepard

Individual Bronze Contributors Peter Alexander Leigh Allen II Nanette Barragan Armando Bonilla Edward Collazo Lakisha Ann-Nicole Davis Dorothy Evensen Gary Hurst Bernetta Hayes Darrell Jackson Willie Jackson

Lorna John Wilma Lanier Renee Lias-Sigler Daniel Lindsey Julie Long Michael Martin Danielle Moore Cassandra Ogden Carver Randle Edward Reddick

Greely Richardson Veta T. Richardson Richard Roberts Cornelius B. Salmon Benjamin Saulter III Kathleen Smith LaVonne Thompson Amado Vargas Natalie Walker Olivia Williams Bertha Zuniga

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2014-2015 CLEO Consortium on Diversity in Legal Education PARTNER SCHOOLS

Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva University Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University Fordham University School of Law University of Houston Law Center Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Marquette University Law School The University of Mississippi School of Law University of Missouri School of Law (Columbia) The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law St. Mary’s University School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law Samford University, Cumberland School of Law South Texas College of Law Suffolk University Law School Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law Thomas Jefferson School of Law Vermont Law School University of Wisconsin Law School

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SUSTAINING INSTITUTIONS

American University Washington College of Law University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Baylor University School of Law Boston University School of Law University of California Davis School of Law (King Hall) University of California Hastings College of Law Charleston School of Law The University of Chicago Law School Creighton University School of Law University of Denver Sturm College of Law DePaul University College of Law University of Detroit Mercy School of Law University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Drake University Law School Duke University School of Law Duquesne University School of Law Emory University School of Law

Albany Law School of Union University Appalachian School of Law Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School Boston College Law School University at Buffalo Law School-SUNY California Western School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law Chapman University School of Law IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law Florida Coastal School of Law Indiana University Maurer School of Law University of La Verne College of Law Liberty University School of Law The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law The University of Michigan Law School New England Law | Boston

New York Law School University of North Carolina School of Law Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center Pace University School of Law University of Pennsylvania Law School Quinnipiac University School of Law St. Thomas University School of Law Savannah Law School Stetson University College of Law Syracuse University College of Law Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law University of Tennessee College of Law The University of Texas School of Law Touro College—Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center Valparaiso University Law School Washington and Lee University School of Law Western New England University School of Law Western State College of Law Whittier Law School

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University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law Florida International University College of Law George Mason University School of Law Georgia State University College of Law Hamline University School of Law Harvard Law School The University of Iowa College of Law The University of Kansas School of Law Lewis & Clark Law School Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Loyola University Chicago School of Law University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law University of Massachusetts School of Law - Dartmouth Mercer University - Walter F. George School of Law Michigan State University College of Law University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law University of New Hampshire School of Law New York University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Penn State The Dickinson School of Law

Pepperdine University School of Law Regent University School of Law Roger Williams University School of Law Rutgers University School of Law - Newark Saint Louis University School of Law University of St. Thomas School of Law—Minneapolis University of San Diego School of Law University of San Francisco School of Law Southern University Law Center Southwestern Law School Stanford University Texas Tech University School of Law The University of Tulsa College of Law University of Utah S. J. Quinney College of Law Vanderbilt University Law School University of Virginia School of Law Wake Forest University School of Law Washburn University School of Law University of Washington School of Law Washington University School of Law (St. Louis) West Virginia University College of Law Widener University School of Law Willamette University College of Law William Mitchell College of Law

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HALL OF FAME The Council on Legal Education Opportunity presents its virtual “Judges of CLEO” Hall of Fame recognizing the outstanding careers and accomplishments of select CLEO Alumni who have become some of the nation’s most distinguished current and former members of the judiciary!

www.cleoinc.org/jhof CLEO · 1101 Mercantile Lane, Ste. 294, Largo, MD 20774 · 240-582-8600 Cleoscholars.org · Cleodivercitynetwork.org

in every issue

Pre-Law Astrology ARIES “The Ram”

As the first sign of the zodiac, you strive to be in the lead of every task so now is the time to take the lead in planning your educational and professional future. Like a ram, you prefer to charge head-on into any task. However, you should plan the steps that will lead to law school and a legal career rather than moving first and thinking later. Put your highspirited nature in front of you as you maneuver the rugged terrain of the law school admission process. Since you may be argumentative by nature, you should join your school’s debate club since one day you may represent a client.

TAURUS “The Bull”

Once you make up your mind about a task no one who can change your mind. However, your bullheadedness and tenacity may cause you to stay with a project while other people have moved onto another project. People who trust you will also admire your loyalty. Your determination will encourage your classmates to follow you as you set out to achieve your goal of becoming a lawyer. Since you enjoy meeting people, you should take advantage of your personal social network for assistance with the law school admission process.

GEMINI “The Twins”

This zodiac sign is often associated with doublemindedness, however, Geminis are adapting to their environment. You prefer to adapt to your environment by adjusting moment by moment to any situation. One “side” of you analyzes a situation from an intellectual point of view; the other “side” of you analyzes a situation from an emotional point of view. Consequently, you may over analyze a situation, which can lead to quick judgments or emotional disassociation. Before you begin the law school application process, take a step back, analyze the situation from both sides, and develop a game plan. While preparing for law school you should consider taking classes that develop your analytical reasoning skills.

CANCER “The Crab”

Cancerians, like the crab, come in many shapes, sizes, and colors but have many similar characteristics such as a thick external skeleton and the ability to walk sideways. Like a crab, you have the backbone to complete the law school application process. In addition, you have the uncanny ability to sidestep any major obstacles. To manage your time for the unexpected events of life, you should brush up on your time management skills so you will not miss any critical steps in the law school admission process. 126

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LEO “The Lion”

As the lion is the king of the jungle, you like to be the king or center of any situation. Thus, your ego and obstinacy sometimes will not let you change your mind once you have made a decision. In addition, you may seek to take over other projects if you foresee that you will gain the “spotlight.” These traits are commendable assets since you see whatever projects you undertake to completion. Now is the time to make your acceptance into law school a major project.

VIRGO “The Virgin”

Often the symbol for this zodiac sign is a virgin holding a sheaf of wheat that represents wisdom. Although you may be shy by nature and prefer to work behind the scenes, your wisdom often exudes in your need to help others and to make things better. However, you look at the benefits of allocating your time, energy, emotional involvement, and talents before you will take any physical action. Classes and activities that sharpen your negotiating skills will be very important in your preparations for law school.

LIBRA “The Scales”

Scales often represent balance–between the individual and society; passion and intellect; and the physical and nonphysical worlds. You set out to achieve your goals in a variety of ways. First, you begin with charm, although you will not hesitate to use aggressive methods to reach your goal. Second, you will not hesitate to walk away if you do not achieve your goal. Since law school is your goal, begin by preparing a strategy that will allow for balance in your life – balance between your personal life and the process of applying to law school which includes completing the application, writing, rewriting, and rewriting your personal statement, and studying for the Law School Admission Test.

SCORPIO “The Scorpion”

Your FIRST reaction to any situation comes from your emotional side. After you have expressed your emotions, you access the situation from an intellectual point of view. You have a great ability to draw people in with your magnetism since you are primarily in touch with your emotional side. When your intellectual side takes over your strong will wants answers to every outstanding issue. This energy can lead you to become a “workaholic” so become a “workaholic” for your future in law school.

SAGITTARIUS “The Archer”

The mythical half-man and half-horse figure that represents this zodiac sign refers to the desire to learn and travel. You like accumulating information while experiencing new adventures. If you need to take a getaway from drafting your personal statement or studying for the LSAT, do it but get reinvigorated for the tasks set before you to reach your dream of a lifetime – becoming a lawyer.

CAPRICORN “The Goat”

The goat symbolizes your strength and agility to transverse rough mountains that you encounter in life. Although this personality trait may give you a great sense of pride don’t be afraid to ask for help with the law school application process. You prefer to assess a situation by how YOU can benefit from the outcome. Since you always want to be a winner, you have difficulty with losing any competition. To be a “winner” in the law school application process, develop a game plan and put it into action. You will receive a gold medal once you receive an acceptance letter for law school.

AQUARIUS “The Water Carrier”

The symbol of a man pouring water from a vessel represents your connection to humanity. As a result, you are more interested in acquiring friends and acquaintances, working in groups, and playing team sports than obtaining personal wealth and fame. Also, you prefer the past or the future rather than the present, thus you have style that is not the current trend. As you begin the law school application process and feel the need to have other people around you, don’t get lost in the crowd. Begin to stand apart from other people by taking a leadership role within your community or school. As you prepare for law school, do not overlook polishing your public speaking skills for the classroom and courtroom.

PISCES “The Fish”

As the final stage of man in the universe, Pisceans are generally a mosaic of the previous zodiac signs. You tend to develop the “positive” personality traits of the zodiac and thus you tend to look for perfection in people around you. This zodiac sign is two fish swimming in two directions. Do not get confused with the law school process by going in two directions while trying to determine your next step. Now is the time to develop the analytical skill of looking at both sides of an issue. This skill is essential in law school as well as in the legal environment.

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