On January 28, Lakes Law competed in the “We the People” competition sponsored by the Justice Teaching Center for Civic Learning at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. This competition is among law students from different middle and high schools throughout the State of Florida. The event is of great importance because it brings honor and recognition to the winners as well as their law programs. This competition helps students to develop the Constitutional Law skills needed at the next level of law study.  As stated by PBL law instructor and “We the People” Coach, Michael Marrero, “This competition is a mock congressional hearing which is conducted nationally based upon a program originally endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

For this competition, students spent countless hours in preparation for what was to come. “Students … prepared for months to become experts in their select units or “fields.” They polished their writing for the main congressional questions, developed their team [in terms of] being part of a panel of experts, and [honed their] speech skills to be able to deliver a highly academic legal speech to experts in the field.”

What was the outcome of it all? Well, this was the first year that Lakes Law competed in a while (since the start of Covid), so all of its competitors are first year Law Academy students. Even with that, the team walked away with the PROFESSIONALISM AWARD–a tremendous nod to the culture that is created in the academy. Kudos to all the Lakes Law competitors and all of the law students across the State of Florida! Until next year!!!