OCTOBER , 2008

NEWSLETTER

THE COSTUME PARTY IS HAPPENING

Danny Glover’s I.N.S.P.I.R.E. group is hosting a Costume Party at East Bay Law School on October 31.  You and your family and friends are invited.  Wear your best costume. It’s a fundraiser for East Bay Law School.  We look forward to seeing you there.  A $25 donation is requested.  Even if you can’t come, your donation of any amount will, of course, be appreciated. Being located in the heart of the community, East Bay Law has become a constant resource to some members who live in the area.

The purpose for the event is to raise funds so that we can provide the opportunity for a broader spectrum of the east bay community to receive a legal education.    Halloween is a convenient holiday. Masks and partying are fun.

Our constant hope is that you will join us to not only celebrate the accomplishments of East Bay Law School, but to also assist us in making East Bay Law School the great resource it is destined to be. East Bay Law School is a non-profit organization.  What that means for us who keep in functioning is that it is a community resource.  We are a “mutual benefit” corporation.  We appreciate that the community is involved with the program.  After all, ultimately, the reason we work hard to realize of our goal of educating more lawyers is so that they can become problem solvers in the community. The bay area is underrepresented by minority lawyers.

To educate more lawyers is an undertaking that must be shared.  Students must be encouraged.  Professors must be applauded.  Dreams must unfold, decently and in order. Here are some of the things that occurred in 2008 to move East Bay Law School forward. With the expertise of such brilliant lawyers as Emerson Stafford and Beverly Baker-Kelly, East Bay Law School has taken “individualized” instruction to a whole new level.  The students who need help with everything from reading for understanding to writing with the skill that leads to a well thought-out, reasoned conclusion, receive it from practicing attorneys, eager to help them (inspire them to) fare well on the First Year Law Students’ Examination. 

A “support team” comprised of leaders such Betty Shepherd, Danny Glover and the I.N.S.P.I.R.E. group are diligent in their effort to increase the visibility of East By Law School.  They go beyond that, however, when they sponsor events such as the Halloween Masquerade Ball.  They help us with the basics needed operate on a small budget.  They raise awareness of the school’s existence, and also raise funds to help pay for the expenses.  Everyone in the community is always encouraged to make a financial contribution, large or small, are encouraged to come to the fundraisers and bring their friends.  A good time should be had by all.  More importantly, the school gets the exposure that allows the community to know that this non-profit has been entrusted to “faithful stewards”.

East Bay Law School is a small, 501(C)(3)non-profit organization that assists a broader spectrum of the east bay community to obtain a legal education and qualify to take the California Bar Exams that are required in order to practice law in California.  Those meeting the minimum qualifications:  at least a “C” in all their coursework, and at least an AA degree from an accredited college or university (60 units), can earn a juris doctorate degree in four years.  Being tuition driven, the school, like most small non-profits, is always in need of operating funds.  Despite that, the tuition is still $325 per unit.

The  I.N.S.P.I.R.E., Danny Glover group deserves accolades for the work they are doing in getting the word out about NONI, the healthy drink.  While selling their product is definitely  one of the things they must do, the group also spends a great deal of their time educating and training participants.  Meetings are held at East Bay Law School every Wednesday night, right where the Halloween Party will take place:  554 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA.  Call Betty Shepherd at the school (510) 835-7999 for more information or to make contribution.  You do not have to be present to win! As are our students, staff, faculty, and volunteers:  you’re already a winner.

OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

Domestic violence is everybody’s business. Each year East Bay Law School takes the opportunity to remind our readers that October is Domestic Violence Awareness month.  Since domestic violence is not limited to any one group, all of us likely know someone who has been victimized.  Please join us in supporting Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  As one songwriter (Nina Simone) put it:  The whole thing has gotten out of hand.

Before things really heat up, take a deep breath, count to ten, and instead of making a bad situation worse, walk away.  It could save your life, or that of someone you love.

Here’s some useful information from Wikipedia, the http://www.calbar.ca.gov/ free encyclopedia

"Domestic disturbance" redirects here. For the 2001 film, see Domestic Disturbance.

Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another. Domestic violence often refers to violence between spouses, or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate partners. Domestic violence occurs in all cultures; people of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexes and classes can be perpetrators of domestic violence. Domestic violence is perpetrated by both men and women.

Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation, and threats of violence. Violence can be criminal and includes physical assault (hitting, pushing, shoving, etc.), sexual abuse (unwanted or forced sexual activity), and stalking. Although emotional, psychological and financial abuse are not criminal behaviors, they are forms of abuse and can lead to criminal violence. There are a number of dimensions including:

·                 Mode: physical, psychological, sexual, and/or social.

·                 Frequency: on/off, occasional, & chronic.

·                 Severity: in terms of both psychological or physical harm and the need for treatment.  

·                 Transitory or permanent injury: mild, moderate, severe, & up to homicide. 

Domestic violence statistics

Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, irrespective of economic status.   In the United States, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics women are about six times as likely as men to experience intimate partner violence.  Percent of women surveyed (national surveys) who were ever physically assaulted by an intimate partner: Barbados (30%), Canada (29%), Egypt (34%), New Zealand (35%), Switzerland (21%), United States (22%). Some surveys in specific places report figures as high as 50-70% of women surveyed who were ever physically assaulted by an intimate partner…. Almost always, surveys will undercount actual numbers^] Results will also vary, depending on specific wording of survey questions, how the survey is conducted, the definition of abuse or domestic violence used, the willingness or unwillingness of victims to admit that they have been abused and other factors.

Another controversy is the level of physical aggression in relationships of men versus women. One researcher…examined 219 studies on intimate partner violence and concluded that "women are as physically aggressive, or more aggressive, than men in their relationships with their spouses or male partners." 

Going forward, moving closer to holidays, wouldn’t it be nice if we all adopted the notion of “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” 

If you can think of other ways to quell the violence, or would like to send your comments or poems, send then and we’ll put them here for others to see.

The question is:  Are we planning to get accredited?  The answer is:  “Not this year.”  The question is: “Why not?”  The answer is because East Bay Law School was organized to “fill a need”.  We found a need.  We’re fulfilling it.  The need is for there to be a choice available to prospective lawyers who are not inclined to attend larger, more expensive school.  East Bay Law School is an excellent choice as it is.  You don’t have to be wealthy or a “straight A” student.  You may qualify to get a law degree in 4 years at East Bay Law School.

Many people want to go to law school, but do not pursue it.  The reasons for postponing it vary.  Some potentially good lawyers think they are “too old” to go to law school.  The average age of our students is 45.  Some think they can’t afford it.  The annual tuition is $8,000. Others think it won’t fit their work schedule.  All classes are held 3 evenings a week, from 6 to 9 p.m. Some have once in a while obligations that prevent them from being available every week for 15 weeks.We are a “fixed facility, in residence” law school.  What that means for students is that students must be present at least 80% of the time to remain in good standing.  Another reason:  low grade point average.  You need at least a “C” average to be considered by East Bay Law School. The LSAT is recommended; not always required.

We started East Bay Law School for many reasons. With great pride, we fill a need.  Our goal is to provide the opportunity for a wider spectrum of the community to obtain a legal education, at an affordable cost.  We do a fantastic job.  For those who recognize, and want the opportunity, we are the pathway to their dream come true.  .  We’ll give you a chance to attend law school, even if you have a “C” average in your undergraduate work.  We talk with you even work with you if you have only had time to earn an AA degree.  Although our tuition is still only $325 per unit, we might be able to work out a “payment plan”.  We’ll invest our best in you.

All of our classes are taught by first-rate, well respected professors.  Your cheering team includes sitting and retired judges, practicing lawyers, the best law library access, an excellent location, a community to cheer your success, and one-to-one tutoring.

The East Bay Law School philosophy is founded on the belief that there are many excellent prospective lawyers in the east bay community who never took the plunge.  They have the potential, the interest and the intellect to be performing well as a lawyer in the community.  Many already have a cause to which they could lend their legal knowledge. Some just never got around to applying to law school.

Some of our prospective students tried to get admitted to American Bar Association (ABA) accredited law schools, in the Bay Area as well as throughout the country.  They didn’t get accepted, or if they did get accepted, they didn’t accept the offer.  Some couldn’t afford the tuition.  Others, all well qualified to meet the challenge, couldn’t attend day classes. Some turned 35, 40, 50 then 60 years, still with the yearning.  They assume they are “too old” to go to law school. The list of reasons why well qualified prospective lawyers didn’t attend one the 69 law schools in California before now is known only to them.  None of it matters now. What matters now is that East Bay Law School has provided the resources you need to get your law degree.  You grade point average is OK if it’s at least a “C”; you’re the perfect age – whatever it is.  You don’t need a lot of money.

It is not your past education that will qualify you to practice law in California, but your ability to pass the General Bar Examination.  At East Bay Law School we painstakingly provide the education, the guidance, the support, and the extra tutoring to assist you.  We teach you how to read, analyze and answer a complicated set of facts and arrive at a reasoned conclusion based on the facts and the law.  We teach you test-taking skills to improve the likelihood of your passing the First Year Law Students’ Examination. We teach you how to succeed as a lawyer by surrounding you with successful lawyers and success models. 

The State Bar of California makes it possible for all of you who are qualified to attend a California law school to get a legal education that qualifies you to practice here. No one can guarantee that you will pass the qualifying examinations, as that factor depends on your own effort.  Every law school in California that provides the training that qualifies you to take the First Year Law Students Examination and the General Bar Examinations operates with the approval of the State Bar of California (“State Bar”), using guidelines established by them.  No one is discriminated against based on the school they attended.  There is only one Bar Examination in California. Every practicing lawyer took it; every prospective lawyer must pass it.

The State Bar is the designated organization that sets the criteria, grants the permission to operate a law school, provides the oversight for all of the 69 law schools located throughout California, and administers all examinations.  All law school in California operate according to the State Bar’s established guidelines, and operate as either a fixed facility, as does East Bay Law School, or provide distance learning, as do six law schools in California. 

Each of the 69 law schools, regardless of the category, must operate under one of the designated categories: accredited, unaccredited, approved, registered, correspondence, or distance learning.  Whatever the category selected, all California law schools that provide a legal education which qualifies graduates to take any examinations administered by the State Bar must adhere to their established rules.  That oversight includes ABA accredited, State Bar accredited, fixed facility, correspondence, unaccredited and registered law schools. 

East Bay Law School is not for everyone. It is for you if:

1.      You would like to get a law degree where the tuition for four years is still $32,000 (tuition is $8,000 per year, including the summer session). 

2.      You have either not taken or did take the Law Students Admission Test and scored between 138 and 150.

3.      You feel comfortable around “older” (aged 26 to 70 years) rather than “younger” (aged 18 – 25 years) students.\While everyone is welcome at East Bay Law School, most of our students are over 25.  The average age is about 43.

4.      You are a member of an under-represented minority groups.  We accept women, persons with disabilities, persons representing the ethnically diverse east bay community, etc.

5.      You cannot attend classes during the day.  Our classes are held on three evenings a week, from 6 to 9 p.m.

6.      You have transportation problems.  We are centrally located in close proximity to the bus, B.A.R.T. and perfectly suited to those who enjoy walking.  We are directly across from beautiful Lake Merritt.  Of course, parking is close by, if you choose to drive.

7.      You think it is an advantage to have full time access to the law library at the University of California Law School at Berkeley (formerly Boalt )

8.      You like small classes and personalized instruction.

9.      You want a steady support team, dedicated to helping you achieve your goal.

10.  You want a first-class education from practicing, successful lawyers.

11.  You want it enough to be a good student, work hard, and keep your goal in view.

12.  You think it’s your time.  To achieve it, you must first believe it!

We really want you who subscribe to these values to come to East Bay Law School.  As with you, success is our goal.  East Bay Law School is not for you if you think any day now it will become “accredited”.  The hope that we will change our category is not one you should cling to.  We are an alternative to accredited, Ivy League law schools.  Our goal is to help you reach your goal of becoming a lawyer in a supportive, respectable, affordable, evening law school environment. East Bay Law School may or may not be the best choice for you.

Call (510) 835-7999) and speak with one of our counselors.  If you really want to go to law school, we want to encourage you to do so.  Lawyers are needed in the bay area.  The numbers for minorities practicing law in California are dwindling.  In this great State, with such a talented, well-educated public, we believe everyone who wants to be a lawyer should have the opportunity to attempt it.  For those who want to attend an accredited law school, California has about 38; 14 in the Bay Area.

If you think you qualify, (at least 2 years of college, at least a “C” in all your coursework, for starters) and you want to give the East Bay School legal training program a try, we welcome you.  We will do our best to help you succeed in reaching your goal of becoming a California attorney.  For every step you take, we take two.

Are we planning to become accredited?  Not this year.  Why?  Because if we do, we probably wouldn’t be able to accept the very people we are created to serve – those who need an alternative approach to obtaining a law degree.  Accreditation may become a future goal.  At this time in our journey, however, our goal is to make an affordable legal education available to a broader spectrum of the community.

STATE BAR SITE HAS USEFUL INFORMATION

The State Bar of California’s website is filled with useful information, including information about unaccredited law schools.  You might want to log onto it.  http://www.calbar.ca.gov/

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT OCTOBER

Some of you may not realize that at East Bay Law School October is a very special month.  It was during October of 2003 that the paperwork to incorporate East Bay Law School was finally completed, and East Bay Law School was born.  Overcoming many trials and tribulations, Doris Peeler-Brown began a chapter that would change the course of her life, and that of a few others, forever.  As the only African-American female ever to start a law school in this category, she was taking a bold step forward to make a way for the many people who want to go to law school but would likely never have had the opportunity to do so. 

Dean Brown has many role models. Most of them don’t know her, or that they are her role model.  Some she knows; most she doesn’t.  “Most of my role models don’t even know I exist, but I know they exist.  I believe in attaching myself to a star.  One such star, who doesn’t know me, but (in part, at least) shares my belief system about law school applicants) is Mr. John Nussbaumer.”

Here is one article written about Mr. Nussbaumer: 

“The American Bar Association recently named John Nussbaumer, associate dean of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Auburn Hills campus, to its prestigious Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession.  Cooley Law School is one of the nation’s most diverse law schools with the most African-American students of any U.S. law school, the fifth most Asian-American students, the sixth most Hispanic heritage students and the most foreign-national students.” 

Dean Brown shares his philosophy, which states in part…

”At a time when almost two-thirds of all African-American applicants and half of all Hispanic applicants are totally shut off from every law school they apply to, it is more important than ever for us to work to make sure that all applicants who have a reasonable chance of success in law school are given the opportunity to prove through performance that their LSAT score is not, necessarily, the best measure of law school success.”

“Celebrating its 35^th anniversary this year, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country.  Founded in 1972, it operates J.D. programs across Michigan in downtown Lansing, Auburn Hills and downtown Grand Rapids.  Today, Cooley Law School has more than 12,000 graduates across the nation and worldwide….”

“Keeping East Bay Law School afloat has been and is the greatest challenge of my life”, Dr. Peeler-Brown stated recently.  “There are two big reasons why I continue to believe that East Bay Law School is worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears that has gone into for nearly 6 years later.  Reason number one:  I still believe it’s a good idea – even if we are only successful in training a few lawyers.  That’s a few more than we have now.  And the second reason is very simple:  I’m not a quitter.  I’m sure we each had a dad, a friend, a relative or a mentor who reminded us from time to time that we must be diligent in our efforts, and that endurance pays off.  

“Winner never quit; and quitters never win!”

LAST “ WHAT’S SO GOOD FOR THIS MONTH…..a Trailblazer”

Charles Hamilton Houston.    Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, called Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1949) “the first Mr. Civil Rights” out of respect for his mentor, Houston preceded Marshall as an African American lawyer who took on the highest courts in the land and won.  Born in Washington, DC, he graduated from Amherst College in 1915.  After teaching at Howard University for two years and serving in the infantry in World War I, he entered Harvard University Law School.  In 1922 he received his degree and the following year he was awarded a doctorate of juridical science.