As noted in perhaps the most iconic law movie of all time, “Legally Blonde,” "I don't need backups. I'm going to Harvard."
Although, if one was not as set on a specific law school as Elle Woods was to Harvard, Ohio University’s Law Fair was the place to be. On Thursday, Oct. 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Baker Ballroom, students swarmed to talk to their potential future law schools.
The annual event is hosted by The Center for Law, Justice and Culture at OU. From Albany Law School to The West Virginia University College of Law, there were 50 tables of law school’s hoping to be an OU student’s next step.
“We're just really excited to be able to host the Law Fair, you know, we weren't able to host it in 2020, and 2021 we hosted a pared down version,” said Larry Hayman, director of legal engagement and pre-law program at The Center for Law, Justice and Culture and the Center for Advising, Career and Experiential Learning. “We're just excited to be able to host it again this year.”
Hayman said although the event was aimed at students, anyone from the Athens area was able to attend. The Law Fair was set up like any other college fair, this one just happened to be for the more lawyerly type.
“The Law Fair is an opportunity for students to engage with representatives from law schools from across the country,” said Hayman.
An opportunity offered by the school to bring in all kinds of law schools from all kinds of places, such as The Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. NSU was able to reach the soon-to-be freezing OU students and persuade them with the idea of a few years near the Florida coast. Many charismatic representatives from all over the nation were just excited to talk about their schools.
“I've loved students who asked me about our different clinics and experiential learning opportunities,” Talia Kowalski, a current law student at Penn State Dickinson law, said. “I've loved students who asked me about our different clinics and experiential learning opportunities.”
Kowalski was one of the many representatives to talk to. The fair offered pamphlets detailing many questions students might want to know the answer to, like financial commitments they might have to make or what the acceptance rate is.
“There's a lot of different avenues for law school,” Kowalski said. “I think it's applicable to everybody in some way. So I hope students consider it.”
Students from all types of majors came to see if this might be the right choice for them.
“I'm trying to decide if I want to go to law school in the future,” said Nikki Wood, a sophomore studying philosophy, but looking into pre-law. “When you look up (applying for law school) on things like Google and stuff it just does not help, so this is very helpful to me.”
Although the event was just one day, the Law Fair will affect many students’ futures. Simply giving students exposure may unveil someone's path in life.
“I think the school should keep doing this because it's really helpful for students,” said Wood.
