National Conference of Bar Foundations Annual MeetingJuly 31, 2015

Workshop 5A – Addressing Challenges of the Changing Legal Landscape: Pipeline, Debt Forgiveness and Lawyer Employment

Efforts

Louis Stokes Scholars

• A Diversity Pipeline Program for Cleveland-Native College Students Interested in Law

• Presenter:Anne Owings Ford, President Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association

Congressman Louis Stokes

2015 Louis Stokes Scholars Class

Sources: American Bar Association, U.S. Census data

• Of the 1,281,432 lawyers in the U.S.:• 88.1 % are White• 4.8% are Black/African-American• 3.7% are Hispanic/Latino• 3.4% are other ethnic/racial minorities.

• Distribution in the U.S. population:

• 62.6% White

• 13.2% Black/African American

• 17.1% Hispanic/Latino

• 7.1% other ethnic/racial minorities

CMBA Programs for Cleveland-Native Students

High School Programs:• 3Rs: Rights, Responsibilities and Realities;• 3Rs+;• Cleveland Mock Trial; and• Stephanie Tubbs Jones Summer Legal Academy.

Law School Programs:• Minority Clerkship Program; and • Free Law Student Membership in CMBA.

There’s a Hole in the

Pipeline: No CMBA

College Programs

Program Goals

• Plug gap in diversity and inclusion pipeline programs;

• Stretch participants’ imaginations;• Create and continue mentor relationships –

for a lifetime;• Bring talented Cleveland natives back to

Cleveland’s legal community; and• Change the world.

Program Parameters

• Applications disseminated at beginning of year• Spring application deadline; rigorous interview process• Group dynamics, funding and number of willing

employers drives class size; twenty or fewer Scholars is ideal

• Eight-week, twenty-hour a week paid summer internship, consisting of:• Working for legal employer; and• Seminars, workshops, meetings, mentoring social events,

city tours and field trips.

• Concluding luncheon and ceremony

Partners For Success

• Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation• College Now Greater Cleveland• Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education• Federal, state, county and municipal government offices and

judicial officers• Cleveland Law Library• Numerous law firms• Legal Aid Society of Cleveland• Cleveland Marshall Law School; Case Western Reserve

University Law School• Corporations, such as Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team• Volunteer mentors

Mentoring

• PHoTO

Stokes Scholars at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judges’ Conference Room

Stokes Scholars with Eighth District (Ohio) Court of Appeals Judges

Stokes Scholars with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor

•Just over half from a grant from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation;

•Almost 20% from grants from other sources, including the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Foundation and the Attorney Admission Fund of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio;

•A little less than 10% from donations specifically directed to the program; and

•Just over 20% from law firms, which includes salaries paid to Stokes Scholars hosted by Cleveland firms.

Stokes Scholars 2015-16 Program Budget: $40,000

• Forty-three Scholars have participated over the past four years:

• 2015: 17 Scholars, including 12 Alumni• 2014: 17 Scholars, including 7 Alumni• 2013: 16 Scholars, including 6 Alumni• 2012: 18 Scholars – Inaugural Class

• One Stokes Scholar Alumnus has just finished his first year in law school at Case Western Reserve University Law School.

• Two Stokes Scholars Alumni have been admitted to law school, to start in Fall 2015.

• At least five Stokes Scholars Alumni are preparing for and taking the LSAT, seeking admission to law school in Fall 2016.

Stokes Scholars Impact By the Numbers

Stokes Scholars Stats 2015

2015 Scholars attend the following colleges and universities:

• Morehouse College• Hawaii-Pacific University• Ohio University• Bowling Green State University• Baldwin-Wallace University • Cleveland State University• Denison University• Case Western Reserve University• Kent State University• The Ohio State University• Howard University • University of Toledo• Marietta College• Ursuline College

Stokes Scholars Stats 2015

2015 Stokes Scholars include:

• A winner of the Diversity Center Writing Competition $50,000 Scholarship (“Stop the Hate”)

• An NCAA Division I varsity fencer• Members of honors and social fraternities and sororities• A four-year NCAA Division III football player • A member of the Morehouse College Glee Club• A Jimmy Malone Scholarship winner• The founder of a college service club – AMEN (Alliance of

Males Enriching Neighborhoods)• A dual-major student, preparing to study in Spain for the

entire 2015-16 school year

“The best part of this internship was reaffirming my decision to become an attorney . . . because of this program and after meeting many wonderful people and listening to their stories and advice, I am confident that I am making the right career choice.” Jzinae Jackson, 2014 Stokes Scholar; 1L, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Changing lives, one student at a time.

Louis Stokes Scholars Program

Questions?Many thanks.