Moot Court a Bonding Experience for Teens from Brooklyn and Maine
By Sarah Wolff
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN/MANHATTAN — Sixty high school students from Brooklyn and rural Searsport, Maine, participated in a special program designed to teach kids about breaking stereotypes, making friends and the United States Supreme Court.
For the past four days, freshman, sophomore and junior students at the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice (SLJ) in DUMBO have been hosting students from their sister school, Searsport District High School.
The two schools have been partnering for law study exchange programs since the School for Law and Justice opened three years ago, and some of the students involved were working with their exchange partners for the sixth time. Joe Pinto, the program director in Brooklyn, emphasized its role in building bonds between the students, who come from night-and-day-different backgrounds.
“The school partners unite and confront challenges together,” said Pinto. “It helps students be adaptive and shows them about walking in other people’s shoes.”
Gregg Palmer, principal of Searsport District High School, agrees that the teens benefit not only from intensive law study, but also from seeing how Brooklyn students live.
“Maine is the poorest state in New England, which is why we wanted to get them [the students] involved,” said Palmer. “A lot of the kids have never left the state.”
Searsport students arrived in Brooklyn last Thursday, some of them for the first time and some as expert city travelers.
Maine student Ethan Patterson has been to Brooklyn three times and hosted his partner from SLJ, Terell McCollum, three times as well. “Terell and I made a vow that we’d stick together,” said Patterson. “I love seeing things and living his life — it’s really different from what we do in Maine.”
Patterson, who doesn’t want to pursue a legal career himself, added that he thinks McCollum will make a great lawyer.
McCollum is hosting Patterson for the third time and said he loves the exchange experience. “Ethan likes Brooklyn,” said McCollum. “He’s like one of my relatives coming down to visit now.” McCollum, an articulate 16-year-old, wants to work in criminal law.
On Friday, the students participated in a mock trial at the Manhattan offices of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Associates from Cravath, which frequently sponsors programs for the School for Law and Justice, prepared packages for students to study.
This particular case focused on prayer in public school, and the students’ preparatory materials included actual legal precedents, case law they could cite during the proceedings.
Cravath associate Chris Belelieu, who prepared the packets, and four other attorneys acted as U.S. Supreme Court Justices. It was a hot bench: Belelieu and his colleagues Leigh McMullan, James Cadogan, Emily Samutimi and Lara Rios grilled the students on both sides with tough questions on the points of their case.
Searsport teacher Martha Stamp said the tough questions put students to the test. “These kids aren’t used to it, but it makes them think on their feet.”
Gary Bornstin and Jeff Smith, both partners in Cravath’s New York office, are the driving force behind the program.
The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice (SLJ) is a law-focused high school created with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Last November, when the SLJ students last went to Maine, the two schools held a mock trial with the help of Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon, one of the state’s largest law firms in Maine, which sponsors Searsport District High School. The exchange program will continue to run next term as well.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
All materials posted on brooklyneagle.com are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, posted on Gotham Gazette.com or any other blog without written permission, which can be sought by emailing arturc@att.net.
Main Office 718 422 7400
