Law School Students to Instruct Teens

Starting next year, students at Monroe High School’s law and government magnet will learn about the legal system not from textbooks or videos, but from aspiring lawyers--themselves students.

Law school students from throughout Los Angeles will instruct high school students on legal rights and lawyers’ responsibilities as part of a special program established by the international law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.

The LeBoeuf Scholars Program for Law and Public Service is designed to expose law students to teaching and introduce high school students to facets of the legal system they may not normally learn in their classrooms.

The law firm, whose main office is in New York, created the program to coincide with the 10th anniversary of its Los Angeles office.

“We wanted to find a meaningful way to give back to the community,” said Dean Hansell, a partner with the firm and the person who conceived the program. “Our goal is not only to educate Los Angeles teens about our legal system, but also to foster the spirit of public service among the next generation of lawyers.”

Ten law students from Loyola, UCLA, USC, Pepperdine and Southwest law schools will work about two days at public high schools in L.A., including Monroe, Wilson, Dorsey, Manual Arts and Venice high schools. The new instructors will get a stipend from the law firm.

“I think this will be very beneficial for the kids because it’s an opportunity to have up-to-date information,” said Mark Elinson, who teaches law and social studies at Monroe’s magnet.

This will not be the first time law students have visited Monroe.

For the past five years, UCLA students have taught classes at Monroe in a program called “Street Law.” The LeBoeuf Scholars’ law students will add an extra touch, Elinson said.

Before heading to the schools the law students will go through an intensive training program headed by the L.A.-based Constitutional Rights Foundation and the Los Angeles Unified School District.