Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Sponsors Program to Empower Latino Youth
Feb 26, 2009
LOS ANGELES (February 26, 2009) - Students from Garfield High School in East Los Angeles recently participated in the Latino Leaders in the Legal Profession luncheon and panel discussion, which was coordinated and sponsored by Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. and held at Loyola Law School. The program strived to empower and inspire Latino youth, while encouraging them to consider higher education and a law career.
Garfield High School was featured in the 1988 movie, "Stand and Deliver," which told the true-life story of Jaime Escalante, an AP calculus teacher who comes to teach in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in East Los Angeles. Escalante is convinced that his students have potential, regardless of the economic and social barriers they face. He adopts unconventional teaching methods and succeeds at turning his students into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students. Like the teacher in the film, the Latino Leaders in the Legal Profession program sought to light a fire in each of these young people and show them that they each have something to offer and aim for in their life, and to live up to their potential.
Throughout the afternoon, students received valuable advice and wisdom as a distinguished panel of judges and lawyers from the Latino legal community shared personal experiences and stories of overcoming challenges and their journey to success in the legal profession. Panel members included: The Honorable Carlos R. Moreno, California Supreme Court Justice; The Honorable Fernando M. Olguin, U.S. District Court Judge; Dean Victoria Ortiz, Dean of Admissions at the UC Irvine School of Law; Sandra C. Munoz, Esc., Garfield High School Class of '87; and Andres Garcia, Esq., California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. Students also conversed one on one with the lawyers and judges over lunch, giving them the chance to obtain answers to questions like: "How much money does a lawyer make?" and "What do I need to do to become a lawyer?"
The program provided students with role models in the legal community and powerful examples of what they can achieve with hard work, determination, and belief in themselves.
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