Monday, March 16, 1998
Prelaw society offers students a taste of real-life legal
practice
From forums to LSAT tips, club keeps its members a step
ahead
By Emi Kojima
Daily Bruin Contributor
While UCLA law students go about their daily lives taking
classes and cramming for tests, a group of undergraduates on campus
dream about being in their place.
"UCLA is my dream school," said Scott Yang, fifth-year political
science major.
None other than the Pre-Law Society, the organization trains
students to do everything they can to be good lawyers both in skill
and in ethics.
Recently the organization decided to enter the American Mock
Trial Association and try their hand at the competition.
On Feb. 20 through 22, UCLA’s Pre-Law Society sent two teams
competed in the regional tournament for the first time against
teams from Redlands, Claremont, and of course, USC, among
others.
"The important thing we learned is to be fair and not to cheat
like other teams," Minh Nguyen, president of the Pre-Law Society
and fourth-year economics major, said of the mock trial
competition.
"The good guy won," he said, "As future lawyers, we learned the
lesson to be ethical."
The two teams placed third and fifth in the competition, beating
USC. Both teams will advance to national competitions.
The team in fifth place will need to beat out other hopeful
teams in the "silver" competition on March 20 in order to attend
the final national competition to which the third-place team has
qualified for by its high placement.
"There was hugging and kissing at the end and we brought the
trophies home for UCLA," Yang, also the internal director of the
organization, said.
"It’s a great feeling. I haven’t felt this way in my five years
of being here," he said.
The Pre-Law Society defines its mission to help members decide
whether or not to attend law school, expose them to different legal
fields, and help them through the admissions process.
While all of its meetings are open to the public, it currently
boasts 141 members who have paid the one-time $50 fee for a
lifetime membership.
The Pre-Law Society has been at UCLA since 1968.
This year, the society held its fifth annual law forum with 70
to 80 law schools in attendance. The forum cost the Pre-Law Society
between three and four thousand dollars.
"We’re the only student organization in America, to my
knowledge, able to put on a law forum of this size," Nguyen
said.
Additionally, members contribute to their journal, "The Forum"
sent to the top 50 law schools across the country to distinguish
UCLA undergraduates from other attorney-hopefuls.
Kaplan gives club members discounts on LSAT preparation
courses.
"Seventy percent of attorneys are disgusted with their career,"
Nguyen said, "many undergraduates are not prepared to meet the
demands of the legal field."
To expose members to the legal field to shows that what the
legal field really is like, the organization holds filed trips to
the court house to attend a live trial. It also arranges for panels
of lawyers to speak to members.
During fall quarter, it helps students with their law school
applications.
A new program, the "Community Response Task Force," is in its
infant stages and gives students a chance to help others while
honing their law skills.
Students provide guiding information about the law, donations,
and furniture to families experiencing catastrophes.
"Be careful, be selective in choosing a attorney," Nguyen said
he told families.
The Pre-Law Society hopes to distinguish itself even more and
gain national recognition with its success in mock trials.
Whether the Pre-Law Society will send their mock trial teams to
the national competitions, however, remains to be seen.
The club lacks funds to send one team to the preliminary
"silver" round, March 20, and the final round, April 3.
"We are going to beg and plead to the alumni to see if anyone
will sponsor us," Nguyen said.
The Pre-Law Society hopes to raise $10,000 in less than two
weeks.
"It would be sad for a team with so much potential not to go,"
Yang said.
"We’re at UCLA, there are too many resources on campus around
not to send the team because of a lack of money," he said.