SBA Hosts Trivia Night to Support UK Law Legal Clinic
November 16, 2015
What does law, disasters of the 18th century, sports and shark biology have in common? They were all subjects of questions asked during the first annual Student Bar Association (SBA) Trivia Night to benefit the UK Law Legal Clinic.
Students and faculty gathered together at Paulie’s Toasted Barrel for a fun-filled night of socializing and complicated, yet intriguing, trivia questions. Professors Franklin Runge and Collin Schueler served as the entertainment (aka the MCs) for the evening. Twenty teams, comprised of law students and professors, came together to raise over $800 to support the Clinic.
“The College of Law students and professors showed their true colors by turning out for an event designed to provide access to the courts for the Clinic's poor clients,” said legal clinic director and professor of law Allison Connelly. “The participation by so many, for those with so little, shows the hearts of our students and their teachers. These funds will go a long way toward helping those who have nowhere else to turn. I am so proud of our school.”
UK Law students are well aware of the impact the Clinic makes on the local community, and wanted to do their part to show their gratitude and support. “SBA wanted to put on an event that would help support the legal clinic in order to recognize the profound significance it has on the student body and the community as a whole,” SBA President Kara Beer explained. “We thought a trivia night would be a great way to bring both the faculty and student body together in order to raise money.”
Third-year students at UK Law have the unique opportunity to advise, counsel and represent needy clients on a variety of civil legal matters through their involvement in the Clinic. Under the Kentucky Supreme Court's limited practice rule, and with the supervision of the clinic director, third year law students represent clients before state agencies and in state court proceedings. Students also interview clients, draft legal documents, file pleadings and conduct discovery.
The Clinic allows students to integrate their knowledge of substantive and procedural law with practice skills, including problem identification and solving, legal analysis, legal research, interviewing, investigation, counseling, negotiation, drafting, case planning and management, and the recognition and resolution of ethical problems. The Clinic offers an exceptional introduction to the realities of legal practice and client representation, whether students choose to pursue a career in public interest law or private practice.
Professor Runge summed up the evening, “It was great to see such a large turnout in raising money for the Legal Clinic. Our nerdiest students were happy to have a pint and answer some near-impossible trivia questions.”