Citywide "Law Week 2011" Features Free Legal Help and Community Events

PHILADELPHIA, April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Volunteer lawyers from the Philadelphia Bar Association will offer free legal advice, visit high school classrooms, welcome new American citizens, invite inner-city students into the courts, and present mock trials based on popular fairytales to grade school children from May 2-6 as part of "Law Week 2011," an annual citywide celebration marked by the Bar Association and coordinated by its Young Lawyers Division.

This year's Law Week activities are:

Legal Advice Live!, Monday, May 2 – Volunteer attorneys will provide free, in-person legal advice to area citizens from 12 to 2 p.m. at four branches of the Philadelphia Free Library: Central (1901 Vine St.), Haverford (5543 Haverford Ave.), Ramonita de Rodriguez (600 W. Girard Ave.; Spanish-speaking attorneys will also be available) and Donatucci (1935 Shunk St.).

Also on May 2, a Naturalization Ceremony welcoming dozens of new U.S. citizens will be held at the U.S. Courthouse, 6th and Market Streets, at 10:30 a.m. Here, the winner of the Edward F. Chacker Essay Contest – named after a past Chancellor of the Bar Association – will read aloud his or her essay. The winning Philadelphia high school senior will be awarded a $1,000 college scholarship.

Lawyer in the Classroom, May 3-5 – Volunteer attorneys will visit Philadelphia schools throughout the week to address students' concerns about the law.

LegalLine, Wednesday, May 4 – Volunteer attorneys will staff a phone bank at the headquarters of the Philadelphia Bar Association to answer legal questions free-of-charge at 215-238-6333 from 5 to 8 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia.

Lawyer for a Day, Friday, May 6 – Volunteer attorneys and judges will take more than 100 high school students into the city's courtrooms for an inside look at how the law works. A concluding lunch ends the day, during which the students will hear from this year's guest speaker: Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams.

The Trials of Goldilocks and the Big Bad Wolf, Friday, May 6 – Volunteer attorneys and judges will dress in costume and use facts from the popular fairytales to act out mock criminal trials for more than 250 grade school children at seven City Hall courtrooms. The students play the role of jury and determine whether the characters are guilty.

For more information, visit www.philadelphiabar.org/page/LawWeek.

SOURCE Philadelphia Bar Association