The Red Velvet Lawyer

The Lions Club ASL students serve in the local Lions Club in many ways to fulfill the mission of the national organization . The World's Largest Service Club Organization The national organization identifies 46,000 clubs and 1.35 million members as affiliated with it, thus making it the world's largest service club organization.  It also asserts that it is "one of the most effective." Our members do whatever is needed to help their local communities. Everywhere we work, we make friends. With children who need eyeglasses, with seniors who don’t have enough to eat, and with people we may never meet. The Lions Club Vision Statement To be the global leader in community and humanitarian service. The Lions Club Mission Statement To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs. Activities and Events Sponsored by ASL Students and Other Local

"The Rhetoricals" Toastmasters Club of the Appalachian School of Law In 2012, ASL students created a local chapter of Toastmasters International, a public speaking and leadership educational group.  The club -- The Rhetoricals -- meets monthly and posts meeting dates and its program on TWEN. The International Organization The website  for Toastmasters International explains that it is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations.  It has more than 292,000 memberships in more than 14,350 clubs in 122 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. It also publishes a monthly magazine supporting the professional growth of members.  The national organization explains: The educational program is the heart of every Toastmasters club. It provides members with a proven c

The Appalachian School of Law Jug Band ASL has its very own house band that plays at Heritage Hall, the local nursing home, at least once a month. This community service opportunity brightens the lives of band members, the nursing home's patients, and its staff.  The performance provides a much anticipated and appreciated social event for the residents, many of whom are wheel-chair bound, frail, or suffering with mental disabilities.  The band also provides entertainment at law school events, including the annual pig roast, the BLSA Apollo Night , and "Jugs Over Grundy."  It also appears at local venues like the Serendipity Cafe (The Dip). Help Needed! The Jug Band experienced almost a 100 percent turnover in personnel after the graduation of the 2013 class.  Accordingly, it needs new members who sing, play an instrument (any kind), would like to learn an instrument (the band has quite a selection of percussion items), or would other

The Appalachian School of Law's Innocence Project The Appalachian School of Law established a local chapter of the Innocence Project in 2012.   Mission Statement The website of the national organization explains its mission: The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. To date, more than 300 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 18 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 13 years in prison before exoneration and release.  The Innocence Project’s full-time staff attorneys and Cardozo clinic students provide direct representation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The Innocence Project’s groundbreaking use of DNA technology to free innocent people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions are not isolated or

The Appalachian School of Law  Softball Team The Appalachian School of Law Softball Team (ASLST) has two purposes: To organize and run the ASLST for the benefit and enjoyment of all the members of the ASL community who wish to participate; and To organize and run the ASLST, which participates in the Annual University of Virginia School of Law Softball Invitational in Charlottesville, VA.  The current members of the ASLST choose new members twice a year.  Members must be students (and not alumni) and they pay an annual dues of $10.  While the organization's Constitution contains a non-discrimination clause, it still reserves the right to base selections for this athletic team based on the ability to perform the activities related to the group's purpose.  The Executive Officers choose the final team roster for the tournaments. They consider skill, ability, attitude, participation, and team need. The organization has two regular meetings,

Appalachian School of Law Students  Help Build the Great Eastern Trail Students at the Appalachian School of Law organized to help with the title work associated with building the Great Eastern Trail Project . In August of 2007, the trail groups involved in the effort incorporated as the Great Eastern Trail Association and held an organizational meeting in Virginia in November of 2007. Project organizers intend to establish an organizational structure that will encompass the entire length of the trail and to begin filling in the gaps in the trail. About the GET Project The Great Eastern Trail (GET) Association, working with American Hiking Society and local trail partners, is creating America's newest long-distance hiking trail.  This path runs for 1800 miles across nine states.  It runs roughly parallel to the Appalachian Trail, but follows the ridges on the Western side of the Appalachian Mountains.  Its path takes it close to Buchanan County and the la

The ADR Society of the  Appalachian School of Law The Appalachian School of Law is the only law school in the U.S. founded with a focus on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  Beginning in 2006, the school placed increasing emphasis on its ADR curriculum, as I described here .   The ADR Society is a student organization dedicated to the advancement and awareness of ADR practices, to the exploration of career opportunities in ADR, and to equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary to represent their future clients effectively in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration forums.   Students created this organization in 2012. Thus, it joins the other offerings falling generally under our Lawyer as Problem certificate program. Its Constitutional Preamble provides: The ADR Society exists to provide Appalachian School of Law students with opportunities to learn about Alternative Dispute Resolution practice, utility, and technique. It does th