Recent News

February 3, 2006

Employers needed for 2006 SLIP program

June is right around the corner and many offices will be faced with staffing challenges as employees embark on those long-awaited summer vacations. Don't let productivity slow down while your key support staff members are off enjoying a week at the seashore or time on the greens. Instead, hire a SLIP student to help around the office!

Sponsored by the Columbus Bar and Columbus Public Schools, SLIP is preparing to begin its thirteenth year providing seniors-to-be an exciting and intense employment and education program related to the law. Participants work eight weeks for pay in law firms and government agencies and also complete an academic program that involves readings, writing assignments, on-site visits to the federal courthouse, the Supreme Court of Ohio, and Ohio Court of Claims, preparing for a mock legislative committee hearing and mock trial.

The program has several goals, including to provide summer employment to youths who might not otherwise get jobs; to expose the students to the legal profession and to the work routine of the business world; and to help keep them on a track toward college and a professional career.

Past participants have found their summer experience invaluable. Cedric Collins, an Eastmoor Academy graduate said, "I believe my experience will be a driving force for me to strive to get as much education as I can get." Centennial High School alum Cheri Carethers added, "It really helped me to learn the way the professional world works."

SLIP is coordinated by a small group of dedicated volunteers: Hon. James E. Green, Franklin County Municipal Court; Janetta Bell, teacher for Columbus Public Schools; and Vicki Jenkins, legal counsel for the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, but the real success of the program comes from the commitment of the employers. Last year, SLIP employers included Baker and Hostetler; Bricker & Eckler, Chester Willcox & Saxbe, Crabbe Brown & James, Frost Brown Todd, Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, Scott Scriven & Wahoff, Thompson Hine, Ulmer & Berne, Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease and Wiles Boyle Burkholder & Bringardner.

Employers are asked to commit to hire a student at an hourly wage of $5.75 to $7.75 for a period of eight weeks. If you would like more information about hiring a student for the summer, please contact Donna Sweet at donna@cbalaw.org or 614/340.2062.