During the 2022-2023 academic year, the Stoll Program for Law & Society continued its push to have more student-led pre-law events. The Pre-Law Honors Society was officially recognized by Student Senate at the end of the fall semester and its four-person executive board began leading the creation of pre-law events during the spring semester. These student-led events included an LSAT info session and a conversation with a visiting alum about careers at law firms. The Pre-Law Honors Society also held its first official election at the end of the spring semester.

Outgoing President of the Pre-Law Honors Society, Luke Baldwin '24, shared the following words about the Executive Board’s vision for the Society:

"Cornell College’s new Pre-Law Honors Society is an exciting opportunity for pre-law students across all majors and academic backgrounds. The goal of the organization is to create a welcoming community for pre-law students to gather, share ideas, discuss their pre-law journeys, and to help each other on their pre-law paths.  In addition to mutual support among students, the Pre-Law Honors Society will also host guest speakers, mostly consisting of attorneys, judges, and other members of the legal profession, to come and discuss various career paths in the law with students. 

Along with the goal of creating an open community, students are also encouraged to participate in the honors aspect of the group. The group has devised a point system where students can gain points through different ways, such as maintaining a certain GPA, doing a legal internship, doing some sort of legal related community service, as well as many more opportunities. If a student chooses to participate in the honors aspect and they meet a certain point goal by the end of their senior year, they will receive honors from the organization upon graduation."

Next year, the following students will lead the Society’s Executive Board:

The Stoll Program for Law & Society also concluded its year-long LawReady Pilot with the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC). To mark the end of the pilot program, three LSAC representatives visited Cornell College on April 27, 2023. In addition to learning about the college’s history and landmarks, they also interviewed pilot participants and will share their conclusions with Cornell later in the summer. 

With an unusually early Regional tournament, Cornell’s mock trial team hit the ground running at the start of the spring semester. They had their last invitational tournament of the year the weekend of January 28 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At UNL, Cornell’s A-squad won fourth place, making this the third tournament in a row in which they took home hardware.

Drake University hosted Regionals the first weekend in February. Both Cornell’s A and B-squads competed at Regionals. Cornell’s A-squad went 7-1 over the course of the weekend against Loyola University, Grinnell College, the University of Iowa, and the University of Minnesota. This performance earned Cornells’ A-squad a bid to ORCS, which was hosted by Macalester College. Although Cornell did not advance from ORCs to Nationals, they left their final tournament of the year with a 2-4-2 record after some close rounds.

B squad at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

A squad at ORCs, held at Macalester.

Cornell mockers also used their spring semester to connect with the Cornell campus and with younger mockers in the area. On February 21, Cornell’s mock trial team hosted forty high school mockers for dinner and a practice. The following week, Cornell’s mockers presented an abbreviated version of their case on the Orange Carpet. President Brand and Professor David Yamanishi served as judges for this 60-minute mock trial.

To celebrate all of their accomplishments, the team held its End of the Year Banquet on Sunday, April 23. The following Sunday, they held a mock trial on the Orange Carpet that they had written over the course of the spring semester. This Cornell-created case centered around the events of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster musical, Hamilton. The trial contained many quoted lyrics, nerf guns, excessive ruffles, and a lot of laughter. 

Finally, the Program has concluded its search for its first full-time head coach. Stay tuned for an exciting announcement later this summer!

EMMA CLARK

Director, Stoll Program for Law and Society

Emma graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2012 and began her legal career as an Honors Attorney at the US Department of Labor, where she practiced for seven years. She has also served as an AmeriCorps Member with Campus Compact and as a librarian in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains. She is excited to be working as part of a team dedicated to exploring the intersection of law and education.

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