Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law was honored on April 4 for its partnership with Legal Aid Society of Orange County’s (LASOC) Lawyers Entrepreneur Assistance Program (LEAP) at a launch party and ribbon cutting ceremony for the program’s new office building.

Fowler School of Law Assistant Dean of Career Services Melissa Berry accepted the American Bar Association’s 2016 Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access for the law school’s partnership with LEAP since 2013.

“We’re proud to be partners with LASOC in this innovative program,” Dean Berry said. “Through LEAP, our alumni gain valuable experience and connections in the legal community while helping to address the access to justice gap in the local community.”

Justice William W. Bedsworth, Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, 4th District, and Orange County Bar Association President Todd Friedland, served as guest speakers in welcoming the incoming 2016 LEAP class to the program and their new office space.

LEAP serves as an incubator for new attorneys seeking to pursue solo practice. Through the yearlong program, attorneys are given access to discounted office space, hands-on training and mentorship as well as the LASOC’s client base in order to gain practical experience and income while starting up. In exchange, participants are expected to provide 300 hours of pro bono hours over the course of their year enrolled in LEAP to benefit modest-mean individuals who do not qualify for free legal services but cannot afford average legal fees. Run by volunteers and partially funded by grants from the Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund, American Bar Association Legal Access Job Corps Catalyst Grant, the State Bar of California Modest Means/Incubator Project, and the J.B. and Emily Van Nuys Charities, LEAP law school partners include Fowler School of Law, Whittier Law School, Western State College of Law and the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

Learn more about LEAP.

Above: Orange County Bar Association President Todd Friedland (left), co-director of LEAP William Tanner, LASOC Executive Director Robert Cohen, Fowler School of Law Assistant Dean of Career Services Melissa Berry, and co-director of LEAP Scott Barnes

Photo courtesy of Legal Aid Society of Orange County