Back in October, Director of Student Activities, Mr. Verisario introduced an initiative to create extracurricular activities to promote student engagement. A flurry of club requests and emerging sports became school-wide phenomena. Beyond sports, excitement buzzed about clubs and extracurriculars, enriching Deerfield’s academic offerings. Many answered the call — myself included, and soon numerous clubs had found a sponsor, acquired the needed interest, and received the final stamp of approval from Mr. Verisario himself.
Included in this new wave of clubs was Law Club. Before the founding of Law Club, no clubs at DHS were in place to obtain knowledge about practicing law and to provide insight for a possible career in law. Deerprints sat down with Law Club founders, Gale Harvey and Eliana Kaplan, to learn about the club’s purpose, function, and direction. “Law Club is to inform students who are looking into law as their career choice and just learning more information that can help, like deciding which schools to go to and how to prepare and what classes to take and what to expect.” Said Gale, a sophomore, who is personally interested in a career in law. Law Club is not a competitive club where students participate in tournaments based on academic knowledge — such as Scholastic Bowl or Mathletes, but a club focussed on learning about preparing for a career in law or working in a law-oriented profession. As for how this is done, Law Club has an extensive list of experienced speakers who can elaborate on various parts of the law. “Once a month we have a guest speaker who is in a different branch of law come in, and he or she can describe the events leading up to their career, the path they took, and basically all the information you need to start your own law profession, and what classes to take, and what courses, and what to expect when you go on this specific job.”
On March 14, Law Club featured Lake County State’s Attorney, Eric Rinehart. Rinehart is leading the prosecution against alleged July Fourth shooter, Robert Crimo III. Rinehart, who has been serving the district since 2020, is one of the many speakers students in Law Club will have a chance to listen to.
With a single guest speaker, once a month, Law Club is particularly attractive to busy students who are engaged in multiple extracurricular activities five days a week, each week. While there is only a single meeting per month, the expertise of guest speakers extends past Law and into other careers. “It really can help narrow down your choices for the future and also especially and if you’re not interested in half of law it also provides you with good skills.” Said Elie Kaplan, fellow sophomore and co-leader of the Law Club. She elaborated that there is still potential knowledge that could be gained, even if you’re not particularly interested in law, or thinking of pursuing a career in law.