Blair law class learns firsthand from professionals

The two Law classes in the Human Services Academy took a field trip on Wednesday, Dec. 15 to Choice Hotels International Corporate Headquarters, located in Silver Spring. The trip featured numerous events designed to enrich the students' understanding of corporate law.

The day's events began with a breakfast at Choice International, during which the events coordinator and Choice International attorney Leah Turner addressed the crowd.

"Life is like a job interview," Turner said at the podium. "You never know if you'll meet someone you're going to have to call on later in life."

Choice International cooperated with Street Law, a non-profit provider of education for youth on law and human rights, to coordinate the field trip with Blair.

"I learned about Street Law in law school," said Turner. "I asked my general counsel [at Choice] if it would be okay to contact them." Choice International approved the program.

"Choice Hotels has really gone above and beyond in trying to make this program work," said Street Law Senior Program Director Deborah Foster.

Turner claimed that her inspiration for the community outreach program stemmed from the fact that she herself is a Blair alum. "Blair's near to my heart," she said.

Foster praised the cooperation of Blair students with the program. "The students at Blair have been incredible in working with our attorneys," she said.

The students broke into three groups and rotated through three main events, which took up the majority of the day. These events included a mock mediation between a plaintiff and two defendants designed to settle a dispute before taking it to court, a "mini" job fair at which professional attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants and legal secretaries from Choice International and the University of Maryland answered questions from students about their jobs and a presentation and a lecture about corporate advertising and branding laws.

The mock mediation centered on a hypothetical case in which the PTSA of an Iowan high school sued the property owner of a hotel and Choice Hotels Corporation after an incident in which two rival basketball teams raised havoc and fought, causing property damage and bodily harm. Students filled the roles of plaintiff and defendants, offering cash settlements and threatening to sue. A professional JAMS mediator, Linda Singer, volunteered her time to hear the students' cases and act as alternate dispute resolution mediator.

"It was a great event," Singer said. "The students did a great job." Turner added that none of the groups could reach an agreement in time.

The "mini" job fair featured premier attorneys and other legal experts who had previously volunteered their time to come to Blair and lecture at the Law classes. Leslie Pujo, Senior Attorney at Choice International and one of the experts to visit Blair, moderated the event. The fair began with Pujo asking questions individually to the legal experts present, and then shifted to an interactive session in which students asked questions of their own.

"Have a path, but don't have it in stone," advised panelist Louise Gussin, Academic Director of Legal Studies at University of Maryland University College to one group.

Assistant General Counsel Paul Mamalian presented on technical corporate laws in the area of advertising and branding.

"Advertising is everywhere," said Mamalian. "There's advertising in e-mail – spam mail." Mamalian said that there is "even advertising on the product itself," using bottled water as an example.

Student reactions to the field trip were unanimously approving. "The food was good, the place was nice and I had fun," remarked junior Jessica Smith.

Junior Sihle Moffat agreed. "The establishment is beautiful, and the food was a plus."

Everyone came back together before lunch for a quiz game show, featuring Principal Phillip Gainous as surprise host. The game show, named "Let's Make a Choice," consisted of multiple-choice trivia questions about corporate law. The winning team received free tickets to a movie theater of their choice, and all students received parting gift bags as they left.

The students and program staff then had a buffet-style lunch and left for Blair at 1:45 p.m. Transportation to and from Choice Hotels was paid for by Choice International and included a van service and a super-stretch Lincoln Navigator SUV.