What One Law Firm & One Lawyer Have Done for Our City's Youngsters
Law Notes, a publication of the Cleveland-Marshall Law Alumni Association, Spring 2009
Perhaps it is because he was a teacher in his first career. Or perhaps it is because in his second career as a lawyer he takes to heart the obligation of the legal profession to serve the community. Or maybe he's just a good citizen. Whatever the reason, Tucker Ellis & West environmental attorney Carter Strang '84 is doing his part to coax Cleveland high school students through the pipeline into the legal profession, and his firm is right there with him.
In the 2006-07 school year, Mr. Strang, along with two other TEW attorneys, was a volunteer in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's 3Rs Program. The goal of the program is to teach basic Constitutional Law to every 10th grader in the Cleveland Municipal School District in order to make sure they pass the Social Studies portion of the Ohio Graduation Test. He and his colleagues taught in the Early College program at Cleveland's John Hay High School. Everything and everyone involved in the 3Rs Program impressed him. The lawyer side of him and the teacher side were reunited, and he became an avid supporter. Last year and again this year, he chaired the CMBA's 3Rs Program, which won the 2008 Ohio State Bar Foundation's Outstanding Program Award.
In his classes, he had been particularly impressed by the John Hay Early College students—so impressed that he approached his colleagues at TEW and urged them to forge a more durable bond with the school and its students. As a result, last year, nine TEW lawyers volunteered in the program, and 18 TEW lawyers coached John Hay's first-ever Mock Trial team. In May 2008, the John Hay team competed against 39 teams from Cleveland and its suburbs to win first place in competition. This year, 31 of the firm's lawyers are 3Rs volunteers.
The firm's bond with the Cleveland city schools does not end with the summer break. For the past two years, the firm has sponsored John Hay students in summer internships in its Cleveland offices and plans to continue the internships in summer 2009.
In April 2008, Robert C. Tucker, one of the firm's founding partners, announced that he was stepping down as the firm's managing partner. The firm said "thank you" to Mr. Tucker by creating a $5000 annual scholarship at our law school for an undergraduate student aspiring to a career in law. The scholarship has one very specific stipulation: The Robert C. Tucker Scholarship will only be awarded to students who graduate from high schools in the Cleveland Municipal School District.
According to Cleveland-Marshall Assistant Dean and Cleveland Municipal School Board member, Louise P. Dempsey, "Tucker Ellis & West has set the gold standard for pipeline programs." You can see how well the TEW lawyers teaching and the students learning work together by the looks on their faces in the picture below.
News Flash: The John Hay Early College TEW-coached team has won the Mock Trial Championship for the second consecutive year.
For More Information, Contact:
Carter Strang
Partner
216-696-3956
carter.strang@tuckerellis.com
