Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
A Virginia State Bar program dedicated to introducing young minorities to the legal profession has received a national award for its work.
The Oliver Hill/Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute won first place in the 2019 Embracing Diversity Challenge hosted by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. The
institute is a collaboration of the VSB’s Young Lawyers Conference and its Diversity Conference.
The institute bested a number of other programs which were developed by other young lawyer groups from across the country. All were showcased at the 2019 ABA YLD Spring Conference in Washington, DC.
The institute is held annually and gives minority high-school students a chance to participate in mock classes and seminars on career opportunities in the law, test-taking strategies and the college admissions process. It also gives students the opportunity to network with lawyers and judges and to participate in a mock trial.
This year’s award is the first time that the Virginia bar group has placed first overall in the competition. In 2016, the VSB won third place for the Logsdon Mentorship Network.
“We are thrilled to learn of this honor,” said Courtney Frazier, co-chair of the Hill/Tucker Institute. “This award enables the institute to scale its footprint, reach and ultimately serve a
broader constituent base, and further bolster the diversity in the pipeline to the legal profession.”
This year’s institute will take place July 7-12 at the University of Richmond.
