Prelaw students from diverse or nontraditional backgrounds, including first-generation and low-income college students, will have a new support program this summer to help them prepare successful law school applications and succeed once they are admitted.

The free, two-week program is part of Suffolk Law’s effort to grow the diversity of students admitted to law school and entering the legal profession. Data shows that only a small percentage of new junior positions at Boston-area law firms are filled by Black and Hispanic attorneys.

Students in Suffolk’s Summer Prelaw Pipeline Program will take legal classes on topics like criminal law and torts, for example, to get a feel for the first-year law school experience. They will also receive one-on-one application assistance from experienced admission officers, and mentoring from legal leaders—judges, sports attorneys, prosecutors, and real estate developers, among others.

“If you don’t have any role models who are lawyers, if you don’t have a family friend who went to law school, then how can you learn what law school is? Who can you ask? How can we expect students to prepare a successful law school application if they don’t know anyone in real life who has had that experience?” said Assistant Dean of Admission Jennifer Bonniwell.

The June 6-17 program offers students approximately 30 hours of academic classes with law professors and alumni on campus, as well as an introduction to the law school experience, advice on creating and improving their resumes and law school application materials, and insights into the application and testing timeline. Applications are due March 1.

Looking beyond the LSAT to increase equity in the legal field

The summer program is just one element of Suffolk’s ongoing efforts to eliminate bias and enhance diversity in the legal profession. Suffolk Law also launched:

• A full-tuition scholarship program for those admitted from dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• A $20,000 scholarship for first-generation college students from 29 New England-area schools
• An innovative alternative admissions program

The Legal Education Alternative Admissions Program (LEAAP) provides a path to law school for people whose applications are strong except for their standardized test scores. The program combines on-campus preparation and testing over several days to assess applicants’ ability to succeed in law school. If they do well on Suffolk’s own test they are admitted.

Students are selected for LEAAP based on their academic records, professional experiences, letters of recommendation, reasons for going to law school, and evidence of overcoming obstacles.

“If we want to improve the systems that make Black and brown people a rarity at the levers of power, law school is a great place to start,” says Suffolk’s Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cherina Wright.

“We know that some students with low scores—particularly those from groups that are historically underrepresented in law school—defy the odds,” she says. “Our goal is to offer historically underrepresented students an equal opportunity to reach high-impact legal positions. These programs help open the door,” Wright says.