The Idaho Law Foundation depends on the work of volunteers to help us carry out our work. Each year over 1,000 attorneys, or nearly 20% of Idaho’s Bar, give generously of their time to help with Law Foundation programs. Attorney volunteerism is the cornerstone of the Foundation’s work to help the profession serve the public.

There are so many meaningful ways attorneys assist with all of the Foundation programs from leading CLE presentations for other attorneys and teaching young people about the law and our legal system to taking pro bono cases or participating in legal clinics. Law Foundation staff knows we couldn’t accomplish any of this work without Idaho attorneys.

Here are a few specific examples of what the Law Foundation was able to accomplish in the last year with the support of our volunteers:

• 741 attorneys worked on 548 cases, donating 14,330 hours valued at nearly $3 million dollars.
• Over 100 attorneys coached and judged for Idaho’s mock trial program, allowing over 200 high school students to participate in the Idaho High School Mock Trial Competition.
• 223 legal clinics were held in all parts of the state, providing over 1,300 individuals with free legal advice and counsel.
• Attorneys volunteered over 500 hours to teach Idaho high school students about the 18 in Idaho

The Idaho Law Foundation would like to thank the many Idaho attorneys who stepped up in 2017 to help us make our programs possible. More information about volunteering for Law Foundation programs can be found on the Law Foundation’s website.

By 2025, Law Related Education plans to more than double the size of our mock trial program to include a minimum of 60 teams and host regional mock trial competitions in all seven judicial districts. To meet this ambitious goal, the LRE Committee has spent the last year developing a strategic plan that will serve to guide this growth.

While the plan will not official begin until May of 2018, the program is already off to a good start. Mock trial has steadily grown over the last several seasons and for the 2018 competition, it’s anticipated that participation will increase from 24 to at least 30 teams, including 4 new schools who have never before participated in mock trial.

The Mock Trial Strategic Plan will include three focus areas.

• Education: Provide a hand-on educational experience that ties to Idaho’s Common Core Standards and creates opportunities for students in all parts of Idaho to practice what they have learned.
• Competition: Utilize a competition model that delivers high quality content to maximize learning and provides opportunities for sportsmanship.
• Funding: Create a consistent pipeline of annual funding sufficient to cover staff and competition expenses.

The initial stages of the mock trial strategic plan focus on growing mock trial in more rural school districts in the Sixth and Seventh Judicial Districts. According to Idaho’s Department of Education, two-thirds of Idaho students attend school in rural school districts, many of which do not currently offer programs like mock trial.  For many of rural districts, their greatest impediment for participating in extracurricular educational activities relates to access and funding.  The Mock Trial Strategic Plan offers practical support that makes participation in mock trial feasible

2018-2019 objectives include:

• Recruiting 10 new mock trial teams from underserved, rural schools in Idaho’s Sixth and Seventh Judicial Districts.
• Identifying and training at least 20 new attorney and teacher coach partners to lead mock trial teams in the Sixth and Seventh Districts.
• Underwriting Sixth and Seventh District costs that make it possible for teams to participate in state mock trial activities.

The Law Related Education Program is excited to begin a concerted, thoughtful effort to grow Idaho’s mock trial program in the years to come. If you are interested in getting involved in mock trial, contact Carey Shoufler. You can also sign up using the Online Volunteer Form.