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Contact:
Andrew Rush
Director, Media Services & Public
Affairs
arush@nysba.org
518-487-5530
February 15, 2008
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION WINS NATIONAL LAW DAY
AWARD
The
Association’s New Youth Service Advocate Program Honored
The New York State Bar
Association’s “Youth Empowering Youth,” program was
honored by the American Bar Association at its mid- year meeting this
week in Los
Angeles as one of the winners of
the ABA’s
2007 Outstanding Law Day Activity Award. New
York’s winning
program identifies young role models and highlights their contributions
to their communities. It was modeled
after the Association’s successful Empire State Counsel
program.
“I am so pleased that we were
able to create a youth-oriented program that not only introduces our
young people to the justice system but also provides them with
opportunities to participate in service projects and encourages their
peers to take part,” New York State Bar Association President
Kathryn Grant Madigan (Levene Gouldin & Thompson LLP) said.
“Our winning program is reflective of the Association’s long
tradition of quality and innovation and we are delighted to be honored
by the ABA,” Madigan added. “The award is especially
meaningful for our Association because Court of Appeals Chief Judge
Judith S. Kaye served as the ABA’s
2007 Law Day National Chair.”
The winning organizations were honored
for creatively reaching out to schools and the community, and forging
strong partnerships with other groups to promote the benefits of the
rule of law.
NYSBA’s entry combined its Youth
Service Advocate Program and a “Mock Trial 101” training
video. Through the advocate program, the Association confers honorary
designations on young people who certify that they have provided an
age-determined quantity of hours of law-related volunteer service in a
given year. Participants must identify a need within the court system or
other law-related government agencies, develop a project to fulfill that
need and write an essay about their experience. The advocate program was
initiated on Law Day 2007. Applications are due on March 14, 2008. Plans
are to make it an annual program.
The video showcases
outstanding New Yorkhigh school students as they prepared for and competed in a
statewide mock trial tournament during the weeks preceding Law Day 2007.
The Hon. Victoria A. Graffeo, Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals
narrated the video, which will be distributed to
500 New Yorkhigh
schools to inspire students to join mock trial teams.
William Allen, the ABA 2008 Law Day chair
and Award Committee member said, “Not only did the New York State
Bar effectively highlight the 2007 Law Day theme, but they did so in a
way that will have lasting and long-term effects. By providing youth
with the knowledge and skills to educate their peers about the justice
system, these students will have a better understanding about how our
legal system functions and feel empowered to participate as citizens in
our society. The American Bar Association applauds the New York State
Bar for such a successful program.”
For information about the Youth Service
Advocate Program, call 518/486-1748 or email lyc@nysba.org.
Accepting the award from H. William
Allen, ABA’s National Law Day Chair, right, are
(L-R)
Sebrina Barrett, senior director for Public
Affairs and Administrative Services; Immediate Past
President Mark Alcott; Executive
Director Patricia K. Bucklin;
President-elect Bernice K. Leber;
and President Kathryn Grant Madigan.
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