ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - The Neblett, Beard, and Arsenault (NBA) law firm hosts field trips for schools in Rapides Parish each fall and spring semester. Students in grades 4-12 are given the opportunity to learn about the legal system firsthand.
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The Ninth Judicial District Court is where students visit during their field trips. With the various career fields law has to offer, attorneys at the law firm want students to learn more and experience the day-to-day duties each official has to juggle.
Michael Koch, an attorney for the firm, said planting the seed about this career to students is the goal after a field trip.
“It’s not for everybody, but you’re just planting that seed that maybe, not today, they decide that they want to do it, but it might be ten years from now,” Koch said. “We’re hoping that they go back and say, ‘I did like that man, I did like that woman, I liked what they did.’”
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The Clerk of Court, Tax Assessor and Registrar of Voters explain their daily duties to students and answered any questions they had. This becomes a hands-on experience, too, as students are able to participate in a mock trial as part of the trip.
The roles of a judge, plaintiff, defendant, bailiff and an acting jury are available for them to take on so they can experience the difficulty of each position. They’re also able to speak to an actual judge about their career, and sometimes to a prosecutor or defense attorney as well.
Matt Crotty, another attorney for the NBA firm, said students find out just how difficult it is to sit as a jury member.
“They’re stumped when they have to go back to the jury room and make a decision,” he said. “We really appreciate the fact that we can teach these kids that hopefully, one day, if they have to participate in a jury, that they will take it seriously and know how important it is.”
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Crotty and Koch know it’s likely that children, or even adults, will not ever set foot in a courthouse. They want to help students get over the potential fear of a courtroom, and to teach them that good things happen there, too.
“The courthouse should not be a place where people are afraid to go,” Crotty said. “They should want to go there, and if they need to go there, they should know that the people there are willing to help them out.”
Spots are booked for the fall semester, but schools can sign up for spring field trips by contacting the law firm’s office at 318-561-2500.
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