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UCLA School of Law Academic Outreach Resource Center
The Academic Outreach Resource Center is committed to ensuring equity, access and excellence in legal education. The center engages in a wide variety of outreach initiatives designed to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to apply to and attend law school at UCLA.
Marina Gatto '17 talks about why she chose UCLA Law, the positive impact of the Law Fellows Program and how UCLA Law is a home for first-gen law students.
In 1997, the Law Academic Outreach Resource Center launched the Law Fellows Program. This program is designed to encourage and prepare high-potential undergraduate and graduate students for a career in law, increase the pipeline of diverse students interested in law, and demystify the law school experience.
The program format is made up of several components, and includes a series of Saturday Academies held at the law school. These academies offer professional-level instruction by UCLA Law faculty in which Law Fellows are exposed to cases and a variety of other materials taught in law school. In addition to the academic enrichment component, all Fellows are assigned law student mentors with whom they will interact throughout the year. Informative seminars and panel discussions, designed to demystify the law school experience, are led by staff, alumni and other members of the legal community. Finally, participants complete a J.D. Action Plan and meet with the directors of the program regularly, often over the course of several years, until they matriculate to law school and beyond, receiving continuous academic support, mentoring, counseling and career guidance.
Read the latest news about Outreach.
Leo Trujillo-Cox
Executive Director of Academic Outreach & Development
Associate Director of Admissions & Recruitment
Instructor, Law Fellows Program
B.A. Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley, 1991
B.A. Political Science, UC Berkeley, 1991
J.D. UCLA School of Law, 1997
trujillo@law.ucla.edu
Amanda Smith, Esq.
Assistant Director of Academic Outreach & Development
B.A. Political Science and Black Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2008
J.D. USC Gould School of Law, 2012
asmith@law.ucla.edu
Established in 2013 with a grant from the California Bar Foundation, the UCLA Law Fellows Central Valley Program selects 20-to-30 Fellows through a competitive application process. Fellows attend two full-day Saturday Academies held virtually. The academies offer academic enrichment through law school‐level instruction, workshops on law school admissions, personal statements, financial aid, and counseling regarding preparation for the Law School Admissions Test. Additionally, practicing attorneys and judges from the local legal community provide insight into their respective practice areas and share their personal, academic and professional experiences.
The Central Valley Program is implemented by UCLA Law’s Academic Outreach Resource Center, under the leadership of Executive Director Leo Trujillo-Cox.
California’s Central Valley is one of the fastest growing regions of the state, but it is also one of the most underserved. The Law Fellows Program-Central Valley plays an important role in helping to increase the pool of attorneys and expand the delivery of legal services in the Central Valley.