For the fifth consecutive year, attorneys from Discover Financial and Burr & Forman partnered with the Midtown Education Foundation (MEF) at the Midtown Law Apprenticeship to lead a program that exposes high school students to the legal industry and also teaches them about career opportunities in the legal field.

This year, the day-long program included a mock appellate argument in which the students, coached by Discover attorneys and the Burr & Forman team, presented oral arguments in connection with a Supreme Court case.  Students also served as the justices and helped evaluate their peers’ arguments where they were responsible for rendering a decision after hearing all the oral arguments. After the mock trial, the class then listened and learned from the real arguments that were presented to the Supreme Court during the actual case.

The team included Burr & Forman partners David Elliott (Birmingham) and Jacqueline Simms-Petredis (Tampa) as well Discover’s Michael Gray, who is very involved with the MEF and lead the team in creating the programming.

About Midtown Education Foundation
MEF operates through its Metro Achievement Center for girls and Midtown Center for boys in grades 4 – 12. Programs focus on Hispanic and African American youth, offering after-school and summertime growth opportunities that help students of average academic ability to achieve above-average results. Programs are rooted in Catholic moral and social teaching and embrace students regardless of their religious, racial, ethnic, or familial status. MEF received its original inspiration from Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church, and continues today its partnership with Opus Dei.

For more than a century, Burr & Forman LLP’s experienced legal team has served clients at the intersection of business and government with local, national, and international interests in numerous industry and practice areas, ranging from commercial litigation and class actions to corporate transactions, including bankruptcy and restructurings. A Southeast regional firm with 360 attorneys and 19 offices in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, Burr & Forman attorneys draw from a diverse range of resources to help clients achieve their goals and address their complex legal needs. The firm operates as Burr Forman McNair in North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, visit the firm’s website at www.burr.com.