Newark, NJ -- NJ LEEP (Law and Education Empowerment Project), Seton Hall Law School, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation will offer a “Community Law Day” for 150 middle and high school students from Newark and East Orange. The event will take place on April 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at Seton Hall Law School in Newark.

The Community Law Day is the 2007-08 culminating event of NJ LEEP’s Community Law and Education Project. As part of the project, 20 Seton Hall Law Students were trained to visit community schools in Newark and East Orange and teach 14 law-related lessons on the constitutional rights of the accused, and the criminal trial process.

The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey will provide five judges to speak with community students and work with them on a mock trial exercise. The event will begin with a general assembly in which outstanding student participants of the Community Law and Education Project will receive awards and trophies. Milagros Camacho, the President of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and Kathleen Boozang, the Associate Dean for Academic Advancement at Seton Hall Law School, will address the students. Hon. Esther Salas, Federal Magistrate for the District of New Jersey will serve as keynote speaker.

The Community Law and Education Project is one of several academic enrichment programs facilitated by NJ LEEP at Seton Hall Law School for youth in Newark and surrounding urban areas. Other NJ LEEP programs include a five week Summer Law Institute for ninth grade students, an academic skills enrichment after-school program, and a summer legal internship program. NJ LEEP works with many partners in the legal and educational arenas to provide empowering educational experiences for urban youth. The Community Law and Education Project is co-sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation with funding from the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey. For more information on the NJ LEEP Program, please visit http://www.njleep.org.  For more information on Seton Hall Law visit law.shu.edu. 

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