600 students attend Law Day

About 600  prospective law students attended Law Day on Tuesday at the Indiana Memorial Union and met with law school representatives from throughout the country.

Admissions deans from law schools traveled from as far as Florida, California and Washington, D.C., to attend the annual event.

Dan Bragg, from Ohio attended Law Day with his son, a junior at Cedarville University in Ohio.

He said attending Law Day has been helpful so he can now have a knowledgeable conversation with his son about his options, Bragg said.

“The benefits are just the education piece, the gathering data,” he said. “It’s a research project, in a sense. Everyone has been very nice. The representatives are really helpful.”

Bragg said he was searching for represented Ohio law schools but also checked into schools that incorporate faith.

“I think it’s good for students to talk to representatives from around the country in one place,” said Jessica Mehl, assistant dean for law admissions at the University of
Toledo.

For the seventh year in a row, Law Day was the largest law fair event. Representatives from about 120 of the nation’s approximately 200 law schools participated, answering students’ questions and handing out information.

Students signed in outside Alumni Hall in the IMU and began the maze through about 120 tables that extended through the solarium, the room adjacent to the hall.

“I can’t believe how big it is,” IU senior Samantha Kelly said.

She said she hasn’t attended Law Day before but said it’s good to get face time with people who affect admissions, since getting into law school is competitive.

Law school advisors have recognized the University’s Law Day as top-notch.

“I’d never miss this event,” said Renee Alten, interim director of admissions for the Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. “It’s one of the best in the country.”

Alten said she has attended the event before and a lot more students participate in Law Day than other events like it.

Attendee Alphonse Harris graduated last year from Denison University — a small school near Columbus, Ohio — and is currently working in Indianapolis.

He said 80 to 90 percent of the schools he is interested in were represented at Law Day.

Baylor University Law School Professor Jim Underwood also attended last year and saw a lot of students from different places.

“It’s a really good use of my time to be here,” Underwood said.

Law Day is an efficient way for students to get information at little to no cost, and they save time, Underwood said.

Not only does he enjoy the event, but he said he loves being in Bloomington in
October.

“I love Big Ten towns,” he said.