SLS 183ES-19 ORIGINAL
2018 Third Extraordinary Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 5
BY SENATOR BISHOP
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Dillard University and its Pre-law Program on being
awarded the 2018 ABA Section on Litigation's Diversity Leadership Award.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Dillard University and its Pre-law Program on being awarded the 2018 ABA
3 Section on Litigation's Diversity Leadership Award.
4 WHEREAS, competing against law schools, firms, and organizations across the
5 country, the Dillard University Pre-law Program received the prestigious 2018 Diversity
6 Leadership Award from the American Bar Association (ABA) Section on Litigation; and
7 WHEREAS, the Section on Litigation created this honor to recognize those who have
8 made outstanding commitments to promoting full and equal participation in the legal
9 profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, people of color, persons
10 with disabilities, and persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities; and
11 WHEREAS, the Diversity Leadership Award was presented to Attorney Adria
12 Kimbrough, Dillard's Pre-law Program advisor, during the Annual Conference Luncheon on
13 Thursday, May 3, 2018, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California; and
14 WHEREAS, the award is evidence that the Dillard Pre-law Program is competitive,
15 cutting edge, and committed to ensuring that its students are prepared and to increasing
16 diversity in the legal profession; and
17 WHEREAS, Dillard's Center for Law and Public Interest Pre-law Program is
18 designed to prepare students interested in a career in law and consists of a mock trial team,
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SLS 183ES-19 ORIGINAL
1 an LSAT boot camp, and field opportunities including workshops with attorneys and judges;
2 and
3 WHEREAS, barely in its third year, the Dillard Pre-law Program has captured the
4 national spotlight as the University's Mock Trial team has quickly become a formidable
5 opponent, finishing its 2017-2018 competition season ranked in the top thirty percent of
6 college mock trial teams nationwide; and
7 WHEREAS, in February, the team made history with its first-ever qualification to
8 the Opening Round Championship held March 23-25 at the D'Army Bailey Courthouse in
9 Memphis, Tennessee; and
10 WHEREAS, notably, the Dillard University Pre-law Program received $180,000 in
11 grant funding to increase diversity in law schools and the legal profession; and
12 WHEREAS, last year, Dillard University was awarded the AccessLex Institute Legal
13 Education Diversity Pipeline Grant, which funds programs that provide students from
14 historically underrepresented groups with resources to aid them in successful matriculation
15 into law school and the legal profession, which is significant in that Dillard University is the
16 only undergraduate institution and the only Historically Black College and University
17 (HBCU) in the nation to be awarded a grant through this program; and
18 WHEREAS, Dillard University received $125,000 in funds to launch a brand new
19 program called LEAD (Legal Education Advancing Diversity) that provides students and
20 graduates from the three HBCUs in New Orleans with a comprehensive year-long program
21 that includes intensive preparation for the LSAT, law school admissions support, and a
22 mentor in the legal profession; and
23 WHEREAS, the University also received an additional $55,000 to launch a second
24 program called "Foundation to LEAD" that will provide rising college juniors from Dillard,
25 SUNO, and Xavier with exposure to analytical and logical reasoning skills, and participants
26 will gain hands-on experience with a local public interest law organization and gain
27 exposure to the legal profession through guest lectures by prominent members of the New
28 Orleans legal community; and
29 WHEREAS, Loyola University College of Law and Tulane University College of
30 Law will collaborate with the LEAD program to assist with law school admission workshops
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SLS 183ES-19 ORIGINAL
1 and other opportunities to expose the scholars to law school as the program plans to accept
2 twenty new HBCU scholars each year, with a total of forty LEAD scholars over the course
3 of two years; and
4 WHEREAS, only in its third year, the Pre-law Program continues to grow and excel.
5 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana that
6 Dillard University and its Pre-law Program are hereby commended on being awarded the
7 2018 ABA Section on Litigation's Diversity Leadership Award.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
9 Adria Kimbrough, Dillard University Pre-law Program advisor.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SR 5 Original 2018 Third Extraordinary Session Bishop
Commends Dillard University and its Pre-law Program on being awarded the 2018 ABA
Section on Litigation's Diversity Leadership Award.
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