The Philadelphia Bar Association will celebrate Law Week 2023 from Monday, May 1 to Friday, May 12 with a number of community service events coordinated by the Association’s Young Lawyers Division and presented by volunteer attorneys. Programs include an in-person Legal Advice Live program being held Wednesday, May 3 at the Parkway Central Library and school- based programming to introduce students to legal careers.
The theme for this year’s Law Week, as identified by the American Bar Association, is “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility, and Collaboration.” The theme will include topics such as rebuilding trust in our institutions, respect for one another, and our willingness to collaborate to address the challenges that face our nation.
Legal Advice Live will be held from 12-2 p.m. May 3 in the Heim Center (which is named for former Bar Association Chancellor Robert C. Heim) on the first floor of the Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St.
“Law Week allows members of the Young Lawyers Division to present themselves as trusted resources and mentors to the Philadelphia community,” said Melissa Ruth, chair of the Young Lawyers Division. “This event allows our attorneys to engage with the young minds and educate them about the practice of law with a program like Lawyer in the Classroom. Residents of Philadelphia and surrounding counties have also significantly benefitted from our Legal Advice Live service because they have the opportunity to speak with our expert attorneys in person to obtain free legal advice that they might not have had the chance to obtain otherwise.”
Law Week will also include the Lawyer in the Classroom program, where volunteer attorneys will visit Philadelphia schools to talk and answer questions from students about different careers in law, and the Goldilocks Trial held at City Hall, where volunteer judges and attorneys dress up in costume to present mock trials based on the well-known fairy tales “Goldilocks” and “The Three Little Pigs” to Philadelphia students.
Program open to the public:
May 3: Legal Advice Live (In-Person 12 - 2 p.m.)
- Residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties can receive free legal assistance on specific subject matter areas including family law, housing and homeownership, employment and business counseling, and wills and estate. Area residents can have their legal questions answered confidentially and for free when they visit the Heim Center on the first floor of the Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St., in person from 12-2 p.m.
Program scheduled for second grade students:
May 9: Goldilocks Trial, Courtroom TBA in City Hall (10:30 a.m.)
- Volunteer judges and attorneys on behalf of the Philadelphia Bar Association will dress up in costume to present mock trials based on the well-known fairy tales “Goldilocks” and “The Three Little Pigs” to Philadelphia students. The volunteer judges and attorneys will act as prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses in the “criminal trials” of the fairy tale characters to educate students about the legal process. Students act as the jury and determine whether the characters are “guilty.”
