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"Lawyer For A Day" – English Learners Class get VIP treatment at Warner Bros. Studios

Walter Reed recently founded the first West Coast middle school chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), a national student organization.  The mission of FBLA is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership.

Hot on the heels of its inaugural event, Judge for a Day, the Walter Reed FBLA chapter’s first sponsored event was the “Lawyer For A Day” program at Warner Bros. Studios.  The “Lawyer For A Day” is a non-profit nationwide program that has reached out to and helped over 600 middle school students across the United States gain first hand experience about the legal profession. 

The purpose of this event was to give English learners and underprivileged youths at Walter Reed a chance to connect with leaders in a variety of legal fields such as patent law and media distribution.  The aim of FBLA is to give these disadvantaged students inspiration and a real goal to strive towards.

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On April 8th, eighteen students from the English learning program at Walter Reed Middle School toured Warner Bros. Studios.  The students started their day as they left Walter Reed at 8:30 am and arrived at Warner Bros. Studio for a special VIP tour of the Warner Bros. backlot. They saw everything from the outdoor sets where Spider Man, Batman and Friends were filmed, to the Movie Museum where they had the opportunity to be “sorted” by the Harry Potter Sorting Hat.

In addition to the tour, the students had a lunchtime mentoring session with seven different leaders.  Lawyers from various firms such as Warner Bros. Studios, DLA Piper Global Law Firm, and Disney Entertainment came to meet with the students and explain their positions and responsibilities.

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Many of the lawyers themselves were of minority backgrounds.  This, in itself, provided motivation to the students to show them that a profession in law is an obtainable goal.  For example, Margarita Hernandez, a lawyer at Warner Bros., was born in Mexico and immigrated to the United States at age nineteen.  She attended law school in Madison, Wisconsin and eventually secured a position at Warner Bros. specializing in media distribution. 

After enjoying a lunch provided by DLA Piper, the students received an amazing gift bag filled with donations from Warner Bros. such as hats, figurines, and necklaces. The students really enjoyed their day.

One student was inspired by the speech given by the patent lawyer and stated, “I never even thought about being a lawyer until today.”  This tour also sparked interest among the students in other fields.  For example, Guadalupe is now considering becoming a costume designer and Rubin would like to become a digital editor.

In the end, this experience was not only a fun day, but also a memory that will stay with the students and guide them on a journey to a successful career. 

(Courtesy of Kaelyn Park and Miya Khoo, Reporters, FBLA Walter Reed, who wish to thank their co-sponsoring partners DLA Piper LLP, Association of Corporate Counsel-SoCal, Warner Bros. Studios, and the Studio City Youth Chamber of Commerce (SCYCC), on behalf of their organization)

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