“Street Law” is an established course at many U.S. law schools in which law students first learn about substantive areas of law and then deepen that understanding by teaching those areas of law to non-lawyers (usually to high school students).  The twin pedagogical goals of the course are to strengthen the law students’ substantive legal understanding of various legal subjects and to hone their practical lawyering and leadership skills in a realistic and professional setting.  There is also the community service goal of improving local community understanding of basic legal principles and the commitment to the rule of law.   After law students learn the substantive legal material and the practical legal skills involved doing traditional coursework, they teach high school students through both classroom instruction and interactive teaching strategies such as simulations, role-playing, group projects and mock trials/moot court.

Law students teach various legal subjects and practical legal skills to local high school students, and provide mentoring and role modeling for those students. Legal subjects include Constitutional Law, Civil Rights Law, Criminal Law, Torts, Contracts, and various other legal subjects, as well as the International Law counterparts in each of those subject areas. Law students teach two weekly sessions at a high school, are responsible for drafting and grading exams, and coach high school students in mock trials at the end of the semester. In addition, law students take a 1-hour weekly seminar at the law school and keep a journal. The seminar provides law students with instruction on substantive legal issues, and serves as a forum for sharing general impressions and ideas concerning successful teaching techniques and class administration. P/F (3 units). (Limited enrollment).

The course envisions a step beyond the traditional “Street Law” courses at other law schools -- Street Law is taught at 80 other law schools across the country, and at ten of the top twenty law schools -- by adding international subjects and comparisons.  The idea is to introduce high school students to international, as well as domestic, legal issues that affect their lives.  Consistent with this goal, the publishers of the Street Law casebook are currently adding an international chapter to the next edition to their casebook.  The international components to the course material makes the Pacific McGeorge Street Law International course more substantively rich than existing Street Law courses at other law schools, reflecting the commitment at Pacific McGeorge to globalizing the curriculum and preparing students to practice law in a 21st Century international context. 

Street Law International is a perfect fit with the evolution of Pacific McGeorge into a leader among law schools regarding international law, as well as with institutions committed to the betterment of diversity in law schools, the legal profession and society at large.  Pacific McGeorge will increase its standing further in the local Oak Park community, the Sacramento Legal community and keep up with and even forge ahead in the national law school community.  

A critical component of the course is that local judges and attorneys both attend  class sessions whenever possible and help the law students teach mock trial skills to the high school students. Most importantly, local judges and attorneys can also serve as mentors and role models to both the law students and high school students