July 14, 2016

Law School hosts 20th annual Summer Law Camp

The Summer Law Camp is a collaboration between the Academic Enhancement Program at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Classroom Law Project.

The Summer Law Camp, a collaboration between the Academic Enhancement Program at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Classroom Law Project, was held at the Law School June 13-17 for the 20th consecutive year.

King School in NE Portland sent 16 of its talented 6th, 7th and 8th graders to this intensive one-week program. In just five short days these students, with the help of five law school students, learned the intricacies of a criminal mock-trial case involving an intense high school basketball rivalry which led to a star player getting drugged and drawn upon.  The students memorized their roles as witnesses and attorneys and staged a full trial before the Honorable Judge Keith Meisenheimer at the Multnomah County Courthouse. The King School students were bright, spirited, and full of surprises!

This annual camp is a valuable point of contact between the law school and the Portland community. Most importantly, each year the Summer Law Camp encourages a group of inner-city youth to see themselves, and their speaking and writing skills in a new and exciting light.

Marilyn Cover, executive director of the Classroom Law Project and adjunct law professor at Lewis & Clark, summed it up nicely, “Picture struggling middle school students attending the law school for a week preparing for a mock trial before a real judge at the courthouse on Friday. This is Law Camp. The 20 students come in not able to sit still for more than 5 minutes and leave poised and professional in conducting the trial as attorneys and witnesses. For 18 years the law school has partnered with Classroom Law Project to put on this law camp with the sole goal to help young teens envision themselves in college.”

Do you want to learn more or get involved with next year’s Summer Law Camp? Contact Assistant Dean J.B. Kim at jbkim@lclark.edu.

A special thanks to Bon Appetit for their generous co-sponsorship of this event.