In 2014, with the help of attorney Marcelo Quinones, the Justice & Diversity Center’s (JDC) Lawyers in Schools (LIS) program recruited 50 volunteers to go into 25 classrooms throughout San Francisco in an effort to expose diverse middle and high school students to attorneys and the law.

JDC Diversity Pipeline Program Director Jareem Gunter is seeking to reach even more students in 2015 and recently met with Charles Houston Bar Association’s (CHBA) President Cometria Cooper about getting involved and expanding the program’s work. Through this new partnership, Cooper will enlist attorney volunteers from CHBA to expand the program into 30 classrooms.

LIS was designed to expose students to the law, to its practitioners, and to understanding important historical moments through the lens of the law. Students are taught about how the law intersects with their own lives.

Complementing teachers’ existing instruction, LIS enlists volunteer attorneys to lift lesson plans off the paper with engaging law-themed projects. The program’s goal is also to inspire students to pursue a legal career, thus widening the diversity pipeline to the legal profession.

For more information about Lawyers in Schools and to get involved, please contact Jareem Gunter at jgunter@sfbar.org.