Street Law International Education
"Street Law" is an established course at many U.S. law schools in which law students first learn about substantive areas of law and then deepen that understanding by teaching those areas of law to non-lawyers (usually to high school students). The twin pedagogical goals of the course are to strengthen the law students' substantive legal understanding of various legal subjects and to hone their practical lawyering and leadership skills in a realistic and professional setting. There is also the community service goal of improving local community understanding of basic legal principles and the commitment to the rule of law. After law students learn the substantive legal material and the practical legal skills involved doing traditional coursework, they teach high school students through both classroom instruction and interactive teaching strategies such as simulations, role-playing, group projects and mock trials/moot court.
Law students learn various substantive aspects of U.S. and international law at a sufficiently sophisticated level so as to lead classroom discussion, write and grade exams, instruct students, and coach students in their mock trial, negotiations and other lawyer skills simulations, as well as coordinate and manage teaching partnerships with local judges and attorneys and high school personnel. By having the responsibility to teach these legal subjects to non-lawyers, law students come to deeply understand and even begin to master those legal subjects. As a result of substantive law study, repeated preparation, actual teaching, and the handling of their high school students' questions, law students increase their substantive legal knowledge and lawyering skills, strengthen their analytical abilities, develop new intellectual perspectives, serve as important mentors and role models, and enrich the depth of their law school experience.
Street Law International At Pacific McGeorge
Seminar classes focus on substantive law and professional lawyering skills taught and are administered by Professor Fred Galves. The professor meets with law students in a Pacific McGeorge classroom and conducts rigorous classes to make sure the law students have a thorough and complete understanding of the substantive legal material they will be teaching to their high school students at Sacramento High School. This high school teaching fieldwork includes partnering with local judges and attorneys and a Sacramento High School teacher. The high school classes are limited to 20-25 students per class as small classes allow for more individualized attention.
The course steps beyond the traditional "Street Law" courses at other law schools -- Street Law is taught at 80 other law schools across the country, and at ten of the top twenty law schools -- by adding international subjects and comparisons. The idea is to introduce high school students to international, as well as domestic, legal issues that affect their lives. Consistent with this goal, the publishers of the Street Law casebook are currently adding an international chapter to the next edition to their casebook. The international components to the course material makes the Pacific McGeorge Street Law International course more substantively rich than existing Street Law courses at other law schools, reflecting the commitment at Pacific McGeorge to globalizing the curriculum and preparing students to practice law in a 21st Century international context.
The course also teaches legal technology skills to the students for use during their mock trials that will take place at the end of the semester. During the moot court/mock trial phase of the course, the students use some computer technology in their trials. Thus, law students will be learning about and teaching substantive litigation technology skills in the context of coaching their high school students in mock trials.
The Street Law International course has critical aspects of globalization, diversity and technology. Pacific McGeorge students have a unique opportunity to become better prepared lawyers with real world experience in law school, as well as leaders in the Sacramento community. Law students receive invaluable opportunities to learn the law, prepare for a legal career in a global economy and technological context, and discover what it means to serve others in a unique professional and meaningful way.
A critical component of the course is that local judges and attorneys both attend class sessions whenever possible and help the law students teach mock trial skills to the high school students. Most importantly, local judges and attorneys can also serve as mentors and role models to both the law students and high school students.
Street Law International Course Description
Law students teach various legal subjects and practical legal skills to local high school students, and provide mentoring and role modeling for those students. Legal subjects include Constitutional Law, Civil Rights Law, Criminal Law, Torts, Contracts, and various other legal subjects, as well as the International Law counterparts in each of those subject areas. Law students teach two weekly sessions at a high school, are responsible for drafting and grading exams, and coach high school students in mock trials at the end of the semester. In addition, law students take a 1-hour weekly seminar at the law school and keep a journal. The seminar provides law students with instruction on substantive legal issues, and serves as a forum for sharing general impressions and ideas concerning successful teaching techniques and class administration. P/F, three (3) units. Limited enrollment.
