News Release: April 4, 2012

Minneapolis: -- Educating and inspiring teens about the law was the goal of the sixteenth annual Legal Expo, which was held Thursday, March 29, at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center.  This free event, sponsored annually by the Hennepin County Bar Association, features volunteer attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers, and other legal professionals leading educational sessions designed for high school students.

Students and teachers from 16 area schools––traditional and non-traditional, public and private––attended this year’s Legal Expo.  Teachers have responded enthusiastically to the Legal Expo over the years because of its ability to make the legal system "come to life” for their classes.  

The Minneapolis Bomb Squad, led by Sgt. Wally Krueger, opened the program with a robot demonstration where one student was able to try on the protective suit worn by bomb squad units while others had the opportunity to run the remote controls for the robots.

Then, each hour throughout the morning students chose from three concurrent seminars.  Students actively participated in discussions during the following sessions:

• CSI Minnesota
• Sexual Violence Awareness
• Teen Parties, Alcohol, and Drugs: What the Law Says
• Jury Duty and You
• Jury Trial Demonstration
• Judicial Branch: An Inside Look
• Family Law and Teens
• I Got It from the Internet: Did I Break the Law?
• Careers in the Law

The Hennepin County Bar Association provides a wide range of resources for the community, including a speakers bureau of volunteer attorneys; Legal Stuff–a 52 page booklet of practical legal information; and the Lawyer Referral and Information Service.

Photos of Legal Expo 2012 are available on request. Contact Jim at 612-752-6615 or e-mail jim@hcba.org.