Awarded Grants

Grant Title: JD-Next

JD-Next prepares a diverse body of students for law school by providing training in case briefing and legal analysis and then assessing their ability to succeed on a final exam, which has been determined to be a valid and reliable test comparable to legacy exams with no statistically significant racial disparities. The next step is to scale JD-Next so that it can be readily accessible and affordable for students across the country.

Grant Title: Northern Illinois University College of Law Diversity Scholars Program
 

The NIU College of Law Diversity Scholars Program is a pipeline initiative that seeks to increase the number of academically qualified diverse students enrolled in law schools by establishing a pipeline program though formal agreements with colleges and universities with large diverse student populations. NIU Law will partner with undergraduate institutions to prepare students to be successful in the admissions process – working with them early in their college career through graduation.

Grant Title: Michigan State University College of Law Pathway to the Legal Profession Program (MSUCOL PLPP)

The program will prepare participants to successfully apply for law school admission in Michigan. The program’s purpose is to redress the decrease in the enrollment of underrepresented students in law school exacerbated by Proposal 2 which forbade the consideration of race in admissions decisions. The program will support undergraduate Michigan residents attending Michigan public institutions who are underrepresented in law. Key partners will include local and national bench and bar leaders. 

Grant Title: Bar Exam Stipend and Training Program (“The BEST Program”)

Through a collaborative effort aimed at identifying the factors that place students at risk on the bar exam, the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law will launch the Bar Exam Stipend and Training Program (BEST). BEST, an intensive 10-week preparation program, will equip students with a customized study plan, an accountability coach, practice tests, wellness check-ins, and a weekly stipend leading up to the bar exam.

Grant Title: The Relationship Between Curriculum Selections and Bar Exam Sub-scores 

This project analyzes the impact of taking courses in bar-tested areas and performance in those areas on the bar exam, helping law schools to better understand factors contributing to bar success. Florida is an ideal state for this work as the Florida bar reports sub-scores in topics allowing us to compare taking specific courses (e.g., wills) and performance on that subset of bar questions (e.g., wills scores). Additional items will also be studied (GPA, LSAT, transfer status, etc.). 

Grant Title: Legal Education Advancing Diversity (L.E.A.D) 

The LEAD Program has one mission; to increase diversity in the legal profession by helping underrepresented students navigate one of the most difficult parts of the legal pipeline: gaining admission to law school. Through its comprehensive year-long program, LEAD provides: 1) high quality, rigorous LSAT preparation; 2) law school admissions workshops; 3) individual success coaching meetings and advising throughout the application process; and 4) an attorney mentor program.  

Grant Title: Assessing the Impact of Cohort Structure on First-Time Bar Pass Rates

This project hypothesizes that implementing a cohort structure for recent law school graduates who use Helix Bar Review while studying for state bar exams will result in improved bar passage rates for these first-time test takers. Project results will inform legal education literature as well as other ongoing studies and activities to improve passage rates and may, depending on cohort size, provide insight into the disparity currently seen in the passage rates of underrepresented populations.

Grant Title: The “Law as Influence, Law as Change" 

The “Law as Influence, Law as Change” program seeks to increase the participation of historically underrepresented and minoritized students in the Four Corners region attending Utah State University Blanding ("Blanding") in Blanding, Utah. The program would sponsor students for a four-week learning experience. In the first two weeks, they will receive instruction at the Blanding site. The final two weeks will take place on campus and in-residence at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. 

Grant title: Bar Exam Stipend and Training Program (“The BEST Program”) 

The Bar Exam Stipend and Training Program (BEST) is an intensive 10-week preparation program that will equip students with a customized study plan, an accountability coach, practice tests, wellness check-ins, and a weekly stipend leading up to the bar exam.