A LOOK-BACK AT HCBA’S LAW WEEK 2019
Law Week Committee
Continued from page 44
Week, we invited local students into
the conversation.
For the past several years, the
HCBA Young Lawyers Division
has hosted Law Week — one week
to recognize the countless ways
the rule of law impacts our lives.
This year’s theme for Law Week
was “Free Speech, Free Press,
Free Society.” From March 11-15,
local judges and attorneys focused
on the importance of First
Amendment freedoms (as well
as the importance of the legal
profession) by graciously
volunteering their time to lead
court house tours, speak in
classrooms, and conduct mock
trials in front of Hillsborough
County students.
Volunteer attorneys went into
local classrooms to discuss First
Amendment freedoms and their
profession — suitable topics for a
digital age that is questioning how
these freedoms will be interpreted
in the future. And third-grade
students has the opportunity
to see first-hand how a trial of
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
could unravel. As participants, the
students got to decide whether
Goldilocks would be found “guilty”
of bad manners. Luckily, several
classes found she was not.
More than 3,000 students
benefitted in some way by the week’s
engaging events. During one of the
courthouse tours, a judge selected
a fifth-grade student at random
to “be the judge” and to sit at the
bench. Unbeknownst to the judge,
this student had aspirations of
being a future judge himself. These
are exactly the type of moments
Law Week aims to create.
Law Week also hosted a student
art contest, where 54 talented
students displayed their artwork
and their own renditions of what
Free Speech, Free Press, and Free
Society meant to them. Contest
finalists were able to display their
art during the courthouse tours
for all to see. On May 8, the
winners of the art contest will
be recognized at the HCBA Law
Day Membership Luncheon at
the Tampa Hilton Downtown.
Law Week events came to a
close on March 15, but the lessons
learned will continue to impact
students and volunteers alike. On
behalf of the HCBA Law Week
Committee, we greatly appreciate
all the teachers, volunteer judges,
and attorneys for making Law
Week a success.
A very special thank you to Debra
Blossom and Hillsborough County
Public Schools for their continued
partnership with the HCBA. We
also are very grateful to our own
committee chairs, Dane Heptner
and Stephanie
Generotti, for
their leadership.
Until next year!
Author:
Christina Potter
Bayern – Merlin
Law Group
Holidays in
the New Year
The Young Lawyers Division was pleased
to host children from A Kid’s Place on
February 2 at the Xtreme Adventures Center
in Lutz to celebrate the “Holidays in the
New Year.” Thanks to the members that
participated and donated items for the
children to
help them
have a
memorable
and fun day!