The BRBF Summer Youth Legal Institute is in session! June 22-26, 2015

The Baton Rouge Bar Foundation will hold a Summer Youth Legal Institute for 23 Gardere area teens June 22-26, 2015. This is the second year that the program has been offered. Nineteen adolescents participated last year. The program is funded by the South Burbank Crime Prevention and Development District.

The week-long event to be held at the LSU Innovation Park Business & Technology Center, 8000 Innovation Park Dr., Building 3100, began Monday, June 22, at 8:30 a.m. and concludes Friday, June 26, at 2 p.m. with a tour of the 19^th Judicial District Court and an awards ceremony. The program will involve an interactive mock trial. Participants receive breakfast and lunch each day. Many of the participating youths are a part of the Legal Eagles Law Club, which is a program of the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation.

During the first three days of the Institute, teens will learn about the legal process, financial literacy, juvenile and constitutional rights, and other topics that pertain to the fictional court case they are reviewing. Lawyers and law students will be volunteering their time all week to work with the Summer Youth Legal Institute participants, who were divided into several teams of lawyers (prosecution and defense) and witnesses. By Thursday, the teens will be ready to stage a mock trial, which will be judged by real Baton Rouge lawyers and judges. After completion of the trial, the students are scheduled to tour the LBTC Business Incubator.

The mission of the program is to encourage and promote leadership and to instill being productive, committed, dedicated, and hard working members of society. Numerous attorneys and law students will volunteer to assist with the program and will serve as role models.

Ann K. Gregorie is the Executive Director of the BRBF, and Lynn Haynes is the administrator of the Summer Youth Legal Institute. Both are instrumental in bringing this free law-related education program for middle and high school students to the Gardere community. For more information about the legal institute or the law club, please contact Lynn Haynes at 225-214-5564 or lynn@brba.org.