The purpose is three fold:

1) to communicate vital information to Spanish-speaking communities on various issues confronting their communities;

2) to serve as a mentoring and networking program between members of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County (LLAQC) and law student members of the Latin American Law Student Association (LALSA) at the St. John‚s University School of Law;

3) to sharpen law students skills in public speaking and advocacy. The LALSA law students prepare for the presentation under the supervision of a LLAQC attorney(s).

The law student presents to the attorney(s) and on the date of the outreach conducts the presentation. The attorney also participates during the question and answer period of the program.

The first outreach effort was conducted on April 10, 2005 where the topic areas covered were "Tenants Rights" and "Workers Rights." Over 150 individuals appeared at the parish where the program was held. A second outreach effort was held on June 30, 2005 covering financial literacy, banking and credit issues, and identity theft protection. We had over 65 junior high school and high school students attend this "Consumer Smarts" summer outreach. A third outreach effort was conducted on October 23, 2005 and the topic area covered was "Immigration and Fraud." The program will continue in the Spring of 2006, and may be expanded to CUNY Law School in the near future.

This program was originally designed by a St. John‚s University law student over twenty years ago and ceased to exist over a decade ago in its former name "Spanish Street Law." The former St. John's student, Jose L. Perez, Esq. is a practicing attorney and LLAQC member. This program is new to the LLAQC and an integral part of the LLAQC mission.

Photographs commemorating these outreach efforts are available HERE.