Jeff Lewis of our Columbus office joined our firm as a Summer Associate in 2018, and then stayed on as a Law Clerk through his third year of law school. In the weeks since taking the bar examination, Jeff has undertaken an impressive project known as Court Camp. Court Camp was a three day program to expose students from the Columbus area to the different careers within the legal profession. Being the founder and president of the First Generation Law Students of Capital University Law School, Jeff has found a passion in educating, inspiring, and exposing other first generation students to the practice of law. Many students have a stereotypical view of what a lawyer does, largely due to the portrayal of lawyers in pop culture. Much of that stereotype focuses on criminal trial work, or working in a big law firm closing multi-million dollar deals. Although these are not negative stereotypes, there are multiple career paths that one can take as a lawyer which do not necessarily require being present in a courtroom or working in a big law firm. The ultimate goal of Court Camp is to inspire students from various backgrounds into pursuing a legal career.
Through their partnership with The Ohio State University’s LiFESports program, the participants in Court Camp were exposed to lawyers from all types of disciplines. The students got to tour Nationwide Arena and speak with an attorney for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The students also explored different law firms and learned about the various types of law practiced at each firm. The students toured the Ohio Statehouse and learned about the legislative process and what the job of a lobbyist is. Finally, the students got to speak with federal district court judges about their careers and their respective paths through law school.
Jeff looks forward to continuing to grow the program and making it a week-long endeavor, allowing the students to engage more actively as they learn about the practice of law, hopefully inspiring our next generation of lawyers. We are proud of Jeff and his hard work with this program and know he will be a great asset to our firm when he joins us as an Associate this fall!
