-by Darren Schenck
Two years ago, Ian Maher ’11 was teaching biology at a high school in the USC neighborhood. Today, as president of Street Law, he visits high school classrooms with fellow law students to teach young people about the law—and soon he’ll be joined by attorneys from Sheppard Mullin.
Street Law, the venerable youth-oriented law education program, has announced a partnership with Sheppard Mullin to create opportunities for attorney involvement in the USC community. As part of the arrangement, Sheppard Mullin has contributed $2,000 to Street Law.
Leading Sheppard Mullin’s participation in USC’s Street Law is associate Olivier Theard ’01, a founding member of his firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Attorney Network. The network aims to match attorneys with existing community and education programs in Los Angeles and in other cities where the firm has offices.
“A lot of firms give money to programs, but we’re targeting those that get us into the classroom and inspire students,” Theard says. “We’re tapping into the volunteer spirit at our firm."
Maher welcomes the participation of established attorneys and says he expects local students to be receptive.
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| Ian Maher '11 |
“Many students in the neighborhood don’t typically get to interact with university students or with lawyers,” he says. “From my experience teaching in the neighborhood, I know that the kids love having USC students come into the classroom.”
This semester, some 40 USC Law students are presenting lessons in four different classrooms. In addition to encouraging high school students to consider college and even law school, the law students educate young people about facets of the law that can affect them every day.
“We talk about legal issues and situations they can relate to, whether it’s an exercise in mock contract negotiations where kids are representing professional athletes, or legal issues that directly affect minors, such as their rights in school,” says Maher.
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| Olivier Theard '01 |
Funding from Sheppard Mullin may be used to support a field trip to a court house, Mentor Day, or other activities in which attorneys will participate.
“As attorneys, we often get so keyed in on what we need to do to get ourselves to a certain level, that we make the excuse that we don’t have time,” says Theard. “We’ve made the time commitment fairly minimal, and when attorneys participate, they feel they’ve really contributed something.”
Theard says students are a “rapt audience” when you bring enthusiasm to your subject.
“They also ask good, basic questions, such as, ‘Why did you want to become an attorney?’” he says. “By revisiting questions you haven’t asked yourself in a long time, you also end up learning about yourself.”
By encouraging more of his peers to participate in Street Law, Maher is hoping to encourage just the kind of commitment to public service exemplified by the attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
“If law students can see what more of Los Angeles is like, in as many communities as possible, they’ll remember that as they go on in their careers,” says Maher. “They’ll know they can make a difference in people’s lives.”
Theard says he hopes the firm will expand such partnerships to other geographical areas.
“This is starting with our flagship office here in L.A., but we want to make it part of the lifeblood of the firm.”
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