The Seton Hall Law School Diversity Council and NJ LEEP Present:

Diversity in the Legal Profession,
Diversity in Leadership III 

Honoring:
The Honorable Joseph Greenaway
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for
Stellar Public Leadership in the Promotion of Diversity

 And Presenting Special Honors to
Russell Deyo, General Counsel, Johnson & Johnson
And the Johnson & Johnson Law Department for
Stellar Corporate Leadership in the Promotion of Diversity

NJ LEEP, Inc. (The New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project) was founded in 2006 in partnership with Seton Hall Law School in Newark, New Jersey.  Executive Director and Founder, Craig Livermore, a graduate of Columbia Law School, developed the project after working for Legal Outreach, Inc. in New York City.  The NJ LEEP and Legal Outreach model seeks to empower low-income minority youth to perform at high academic levels and obtain admission to four year colleges and universities.  The model’s philosophy focuses on building skills through law-related and other educational programs, developing the habits necessary for lasting success and community leadership, and offering exposure to role models who have achieved academic and professional success.  NJ LEEP is part of the pipeline diversity project, which is devoted to preparing urban minority youth for potential legal careers by providing support and exposure at a young age.

In its 25 years of serving low-income minority youth in New York, NJ LEEP’s parent organization Legal Outreach has achieved great success.  99.6% of Legal Outreach graduates have attended college, 36% have attended graduate school, and 15% have attended law school.  Since beginning programming in 2007, NJ LEEP has also had a significant impact on program participants.  In 2009-10, NJ LEEP has served 584 youth in grades 7-12 in Newark, East Orange, Irvington, Orange, Jersey City, Trenton and Camden.  360 of these students have been served in NJ LEEP’s street law mentoring program, in which law students are trained to teach constitutional law and trial practice in urban schools.  NJ LEEP has worked with 13 urban high school and elementary schools in this program; 90 of these youth have been served by STRONG, NJ LEEP’s in-school positive male development mentoring program; 38 of those served have been in new law-related programming NJ LEEP has begun with Trenton Central High School West, and Rutgers Law School at Camden; and 96 of these students have been served in NJ LEEP’s intensive four year out of school time College Bound Program for low-income minority youth in grades 9-12.

Youth participants in NJ LEEP’s four year out of school time College Bound Program participate in a Summer Law Institute, a mock trial competition, receive after-school tutoring help, participate in Saturday grammar and writing skill classes, receive paid summer legal internships, receive an attorney mentor, participate in a summer SAT preparation course, compete in a constitutional law debate program, receive support and assistance in applying to college and in applying for scholarships and financial aid, and receive support from an on-site social worker.  In 2009-10, 16 law firms, law schools, and corporate law firms provided direct experience to NJ LEEP students, and over 20 foundations, law firms, and corporations provided financial support to NJ LEEP’s mission.

For more information call 973-242-0951 or email info@njleep.org