School of Law Logo6:12am 12/10/2024

Alabama Law Receives Grant to Help Increase Diversity in Legal Profession

The University of Alabama School of Law has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Law School Admission Council to create the Alabama Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars Program. The program is designed to help prepare students for the law school admission process, to promote success in law school, and to inform about careers in the legal profession.

The Alabama PLUS Program will invite about 30 undergraduate students to the Law School in the summers of 2018, 2019, and 2020 to expose them for four weeks to the joys and rigors of legal education. Participants will focus on becoming competitive law school applicants, professional development and exposure to different legal practice areas.

“I’m grateful to the Law School Admission Council for the opportunity to offer a Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars Program at Alabama Law,” said Dean Mark E. Brandon. “This is a chance for the Law School to contribute to the lives of aspiring law students and a way for those students to enrich the life of the Law School.”

The program will attract promising students from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession and from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as students facing other significant barriers to entering the legal profession. Preference will be given to students who have registered for DiscoverLaw.org, a LSAC campaign that encourages racially and ethnically diverse students to discover career opportunities in law.

“The Law School is excited about the receipt of the LSAC grant to further its diversity initiatives,” said Daiquiri J. Steele, Director of Diversity & Inclusion and Assistant Professor of Law in Residence. “The Law School’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion is committed to furthering diversity in the legal profession, and the Alabama PLUS program will allow us to expand our efforts in this area.”

The program is open to students who have completed their freshman or sophomore years at four-year colleges and universities, technical colleges, and community colleges. Eligible students must have completed between 24 and 60 credit hours by the start of the PLUS Program and have a minimum grade point average of 2.5.

For more information and to apply, visit www.law.ua.edu/PLUS.