The undergraduate law program is holding a Lunch and Learn session co-presented by the First Generation Professionals Legal Society club at noon on April 17 in the Shepard Broad College of Law Faculty Terrace.
The ULAW Lunch and Learn is coordinated by Jessica Garcia-Brown, associate professor of law at the Shepard Broad College of Law and director of the Undergraduate Law Programs. Garcia-Brown said the goal of the monthly Lunch and Learn is to engage with students.
“The Lunch and Learn ensures students learn different facets of legal interest outside the classroom,” Garcia-Brown said.
The session is co-presented by the First Generation Professionals Legal Society, an organization that supports first generation law students. The club’s primary goal is to advise, mentor and guide new law students in their first year of law school.
The ULAW Lunch and Learns give students opportunities to build community in a non-academic setting. The casual learning environment is a platform for undergraduate law and pre-law students to interact with College of Law faculty and students, other guest speakers and each other. The Lunch and Learns are led by guest speakers who are experts in various legal fields, promote social interaction and collaborate with student organizations in the Shepard Broad College of Law.
“These Lunch and Learns are causal gatherings where we can meet and learn, what concerns do students have that we can help them with?” Garcia-Brown said.
The process in selecting topics for each month involves student interest and what skills the undergraduates need to develop further.
“At the beginning of the academic year, we notice students would really benefit from this,” Garcia-Brown said. “The whole purpose was to see what students might need to enhance their academic experience and provide additional support to help them professionally.”
For example, Ari Allon, sophomore ULAW major, interacted with Megan Chaney, professor in the College of Law, who has an expertise in criminal practice at the surveillance technology and the Fourth Amendment Lunch and Learn.
“At the event I learned more about the Privacy Act and got a chance to meet with Professor Chaney,” Allon said. “She talked about her law school criminal law classes; and I attended with Professor Consalo, we talked about sitting-in at her class.”
Garcia-Brown said the theme for every Lunch and Learn is unique.
“The Lunch and Learn varies depending on the topic and depending on the purpose for that month, as well as what might be a timely topic,” Garcia-Brown said.
During the 2023 to 2024 academic year, guest speakers and topics included tips on law school admissions with Assistant Dean of Admissions Yvonne Cherena-Pacheco, surveillance technology and the Fourth Amendment with Professors Megan Chaney, Marc Consalo and Jon Garon, and an improv session.
The improv session was hosted in February to ease the stress of incoming exams and prepare students for the next term.
“The ULAW Lunch and Learns complement education in a fun way,” Garcia-Brown said.
The ULAW Lunch and Learn for the First Generation Professionals Legal Society is hosted at the end of this academic year because the presentation will alert undergraduate students to the resources the Shepherd College of Law school offers.
“This will help students who are advancing in their academic studies, providing them with the peer support and resources that will prepare them as they progress in their undergraduate studies and as they enter law school,” Garcia-Brown said.
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