“Last year was a resounding success,” said Claire Rush, a trustee of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association who helped to organize the event. “I thought that we made a real difference in a population that typically does not benefit from these types of initiatives. Usually you see this with private or Ivy League schools, but we really tried to reach out to public schools including CUNY.”

Sponsored by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association, the Defense Association of New York and the Brooklyn Bar Association, the program begins next month and it will draw speakers from each of these organizations and some law firms that it worked with last year.

“Students who attend all sessions will be offered an opportunity to obtain a summer internship,” Rush said. “Stipends may be available to defray certain transportation and ancillary costs associated with the internships.”

The initiative asks many of the members of its sponsoring bar associations, who are asked to volunteer to give lectures, and helps to cover the costs of the stipends the students receive. Bar association members are also asked to be mentors and to hire the students as interns.

The initiative will also draw from the Brooklyn Law School for help as they have asked the director of admissions to come speak to the students and are expecting to have a representative from its financial aid office to come speak to the students.

“The volunteers that we’ve had come speak from the local bar associations or law firms have been tremendous,” Rush said. “It’s not always easy to get people to buy into a program like this, but we’ve had some really talented people come and volunteer and it makes a difference.”

The program officially starts on Feb. 5, but there are still seats available. The first session will introduce the basic ideas: What is a lawyer and what do they do? It will also feature a panel discussion with many presidents and officers of local bar associations.

Over the next few months, students will attend five two-hour meetings at the Brooklyn Bar Association on everything that goes into applying to law school, including paying for it and test preparation, networking skills helpful for attorneys and mock interviews simulated to provide constructive feedback.

Admissions are open through Jan. 31 and they are available online at www.brooklynwomensbar.org and www.defenseassociationofnewyork.org.

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