Baton Rouge Bar Foundation honored with 2012 ABA Partnership Award for its youth education programs

The ABA Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services honored the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation with the 2012 ABA Partnership Award for its substantial and innovative efforts to advance diversity in its organization and surrounding legal community.

BRBA Executive Director Ann K. Gregorie, BRBA President Gail S. Stephenson and Preston J. Castille Jr., past president of the BRBA, received the award at the Annual Meeting joint luncheon of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations Friday, Aug. 3, in the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Established as an organization dedicated to public service and pro bono assistance, the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation has developed several initiatives that focus on legal education for youth and young adults. Its Youth Education Initiative programs include Lawyer in the Classroom, Junior Partners Academy, Teen Court of Great Baton Rouge, Law Day and Mock Trial.

Targeting Baton Rouge’s most impoverished and poorest performing districts, activities within the programs consist of law-related presentations, individuals acting as court volunteers to their peers, sponsored field trips to bar luncheons, high school team competitions and leadership building exercises. Through these experiences, students gain repeated exposure to a diverse group of positive role models and are given the knowledge and tools to assume civic responsibility.

The ABA awards program was co-sponsored by the National Native American Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association and the National Bar Association, and is implemented by the ABA Division for Bar Services.