Chapter Charters Increase Involvement, Opportunity in ABA

Imagine heading up one of your law school’s largest student-run organizations. Now imagine being the group’s only officer. Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Yet that is generally the arrangement at most law schools. The ABA representative typically gets elected at the same time as the student bar association officers and then is thrust into his or her role with very little training.

Students at Villanova University School of Law recently solved this problem by adopting a chapter charter through the ABA’s Law Student Division. The chapter charter program allows ABA representatives to form a more organized ABA presence at their law schools, increasing the participation of ABA members by enabling them to run the organization at the school level.

Members of Villanova’s newly chartered ABA chapter quickly found that having an official chapter presented many benefits. They found that as a group, the new board could better interact with the school’s students. Having more than one officer made the ABA more available to the student body. This led to increased student awareness of the LSD’s place in the school. As a result, membership and participation in ABA activities by the student body dramatically increased.

Other law schools are catching on to the chapter charter program. Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh decided to apply for a chapter charter last fall after observing Villanova’s success.

"The primary reason for wanting to start a chapter charter at Duquesne was to have more students at our school involved with the ABA/LSD," says Mike Dutkovich, a third-year student at the school and one of the principle organizers of its ABA chapter. "The ABA/LSD provides numerous opportunities for law students, and I would very much like to see my fellow Duquesne students take full advantage of these opportunities."

Chapter charters also enable students to implement more ambitious programming, often in conjunction with local practicing lawyers who share ABA membership. "The main goal for our new chapter charter is to start a mentoring program for students with alumni from our school," Dutkovich explains. "We help to resolve any questions students have about working in the legal profession as well as what type of legal position they would like to have."

If you’re interested in organizing a chapter charter at your law school, contact LSD vice chair Matt Graham at vchair2000@abanet.org. Don’t miss out on this fabulous opportunity to get your student body involved in the ABA/LSD. •

 

Michael Caramelo

Michael Caramelo is a third-year student at Temple University School of Law and the LSD’s 3rd Circuit lieutenant governor for communications.