Published: April 5, 2006

Today, in the Lindsley Memorial Courtroom, Colorado Law School held its first annual Student Volunteer Recognition Reception recognizing the efforts of 70 law student volunteers who have combined over the past year to account for over 2,500 hours of legal volunteer work in our greater community and the Lend-a-Law Student Program contributed over half those hours.The Lend-a-Law Student Program at Colorado Law School is a legal volunteer program which matches law students with pro bono volunteer opportunities in the Denver/Boulder communities.These law students have performed legal volunteer work, either through their placement by Lend-a-Law Student Program or by their own initiative in a myriad of ways:Acting as legal researchers; serving as trial assistants on pro bono cases; judging/coaching mock trial competitions in high schools; presenting seminars on legal matters concerning students; staffing citizenship drives; working as guardian ad litems; researching death penalty cases; performing legal work for government organizations including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and volunteering for local homeless and battered women's shelters in legal intake matters.  Some students traveled as far as Texas to provide free legal services during this past spring break.  Another large group of law student volunteers has served as mediators in the University of Colorado Restorative Justice Program for the past two semesters.  Others worked as interpreters to assist legal aid clinicians.Guest speakers included Justices Martinez and Hobbs from the Colorado Supreme Court, Judge Vogt from the Colorado Court of Appeals, and Constance Talmage of the Colorado Lawyers Committee, who all applauded the students for their commitments in volunteer work.Law students interested in doing legal volunteer work in the greater community this summer or for the 2006-07 academic year should please contact Mark Loy, Lend-a-Law Student Volunteer Coordinator at mark.loy@colorado.edu.