Judiciary Summer Pre-Law Program June 27 - July 13, 2022
Largest cohort to date with 22 participants
Committee Gears Up for Summer Pre-Law Program The start of the Program is only six weeks away! The Program's committee is hard at work making all the necessary arrangements - making reservations for the Meet and Greet, procuring supplies, getting attorneys to volunteer as mentors, designing posters to promote the Law in the Community Lecture Series, and more. We're already in the thick of teaching our LSAT workshops. Around half of the participants have been attending. This year's Program will be the largest ever, with 22 participants who come from all walks of life - college students planning for the future, those already working for the courts and law enforcement, and experienced professionals thinking about a career change. The Judiciary Summer Pre-Law Program will take place at the Guma' Hustisia. Classes begin on Monday, June 27, 2022. The Some committee members participated in the Program Program kicks off with a Meet and Greet at Surf Club on themselves, and we are lucky to have them on board. Friday, June 24, 2022, at 6 pm. Perhaps some participants this year will help plan the next Program! On April 23, 2022, Judiciary Summer Pre-Law Program participants work on practice problems at the LSAT Prep session.
FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2022 6 PM @ SURF CLUB
Meet and Greet
JUDICIARY SUMMER PRE-LAW COMMITTEE MEMBERS Supreme Court
CNMI Bar Association
Justice Perry B. Inos Justice John A. Manglona Judy T. Aldan, Esq.
Anthony H. Aguon, Esq. Carmen V. Borja, Esq. Frances "Frannie" T. Demapan, Esq. Benjamin S. Schwartz, Law Clerk Jose P. Mafnas, Esq. Keith H. Ketola, Law Clerk Nicole M. Torres-Ripple, Esq. Mary E. Novakovic, Law Clerk
Si Yu'us Ma'ase for volunteering!
the BASICS When June 27 - July 13, 2022; 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where
LSAT Preparation Preparation materials for the LSAT will be provided to the participants; this is available through a partnership with the Law School Admission Council.
Assembly Hall, Guma' Hustisia, Susupe
Courses Property Law and Legal Research & Writing
Preparing for Law School The Pre-Law program provides participants with an opportunity to experience first-year law school courses taught by seasoned law school professors. It is a three-week long program and includes two substantive legal subjects, legal writing and analysis, and property law, and culminates with a moot court component (appellate oral argument) in the NMI Supreme Court. In addition, the program offers a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) preparation workshop and guidance in preparing law school admission applications. Participants are paired with attorney-mentors. The program started 31 years ago in 1991, and this summer will be the 9th time that it is offered. Over 80 participants have graduated from the program, 35 of them obtaining their juris doctor degree from law schools across the nation. Most have returned to the Northern Mariana Islands to serve our community as prosecutors, defense counsel, private practitioners, and business consultants. Two are sitting members of the bench: an NMI Supreme Court Justice, and a U.S. District Court Chief Judge.
Law Clerk Keith Ketola instructs participants in the Summer Pre-Law Program at an LSAT prep class. (April 23, 2022)
Attorney Mentorship
Participants will be paired with a local attorney, who will provide mentorship, guidance, and assistance throughout the program.
Moot Court
Moot court is a simulation of an appellate court like the Supreme Court. Participants will research and write appellant and appellee's briefs and argue before a panel of three justices. This exercise prepares a participant for the first year of law school where moot court is a required component.
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JUDICIARY SUMMER PRE-LAW PROGRAM LSAT Prep Schedule
Law School Admission Test
Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Assembly Hall, Guma' Hustisia
April 2022
4/02 - Introduction 4/09 - Analytical Reasoning 4/16 - Reading Comprehension
May 2022
June 2022
5/21 - 1st Practice Exam
6/04 - Analytical Reasoning
7/02 - 3rd Practice Exam
5/28 - Review 1st Practice Exam
6/11- 2nd Practice Exam
7/09 - Review 3rd Practice Exam
4/23 - Logical Reasoning 4/30 - Writing
Law Clerk Mary Novakovic provides tips on the writing component of the LSAT. Law schools receive the writing sample and include it in the admissions evaluation process.
July 2022
6/18- Review 2nd Practice Exam 6/25- Analytical Reasoning
Law Clerk Benjamin Schwartz, at lectern, prepares participants for the first LSAT practice exam. The group meets each Saturday morning for two hours at the Assembly Hall, Guma' Hustisia.
meet the PROFESSORS
Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor Rose Cuison-Villazor was raised in Saipan and is a graduate of Mt. Carmel School. She is the Interim Dean of Rutgers Law School. Before coming to Rutgers in 2018, she spent 12 years teaching law at Southern Methodist University, Hofstra University, and UC Davis. She teaches, researches, and writes in the areas of immigration and citizenship law, property law, Asian Americans and the law, equal protection law, and critical race theory. Her research agenda explores the meaning of citizenship and the ways that legal systems determine membership and sense of belonging in the United States. Dean Cuison-Villazor received her juris doctorate from American University School of Law. She will be teaching Property Law this summer.
Associate Professor Eun Hee Han Eun Hee Han was raised in Saipan and attended Saipan Community School. Professor Han received her B.A. and master’s degree from George Washington University and her juris doctor degree from Georgetown Law School. Before becoming a professor at her undergraduate alma mater, she taught legal research and writing at Georgetown Law School, and Brooklyn Law School. She also practiced at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Professor Han will be teaching legal research and writing this summer.
Tour of U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
In early July, participants will be visiting the new courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to observe a hearing and speak with Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona and law clerks. Participants will have the rare opportunity to ask questions about a federal judge's daily work life, as well as converse about the legal profession.
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Law Clerks Ketola, Schwartz, Novakovic, Cenac, and Woods rotate in conducting Saturday LSAT preparation classes. These classes focus on the four sections of the LSAT Exam: Logical Reasoning, Analysis, Reading Comprehension, and Writing.
Supreme Court Law Clerks Keith Ketola, Benjamin Schwartz, and Mary Novakovic
Superior Court Law Clerks Gregory Cenac and Kara Woods
LSAT Format The LSAT consists of four 35-minute sections of multiple-choice questions. Applicants to law school also take an unscored writing section, which is administered separately from the multiple-choice portion of the test on a secure online platform. Copies of test takers’ writing samples are sent to all law schools to which they apply.
Multiple-choice sections include: • One reading comprehension section, which measures the ability to read, with understanding and insight, lengthy and complex materials similar to those commonly encountered in law school. • One analytical reasoning section, which measures the ability to understand a structure of rule-based relationships and to draw logical conclusions about that structure. • One logical reasoning section, which measures the ability to analyze and critically evaluate arguments as they occur in ordinary language. • One unscored section (commonly referred to as the variable section) that is used to evaluate new test questions and ensure they are free from any form of bias.
LSAT Preparation LSAC provides a wide array of free and low-cost LSAT test preparation resources, to help ensure that every test taker has access to high quality preparation and can demonstrate their true skills. LSAC has worked extensively with Khan Academy, a leader in world-class online education, to provide free, personalized test prep with the equivalent of nearly 20 full-length LSAT tests. Our free Khan Academy LSAT Prep is now used by more than 60,000 students per month, and surveys show usage is highest among Black/African American and other underrepresented minoritized students, as well as women and economically disadvantaged students.
https://www.lsac.org/sites/default/files/media/LSAT-Proven-Track-Record-Brochure_0.pdf
LSAT TEST DATES 2022-23 August 2022 August 12, August 13
January 2023 January 13, January 14
September 2022 September 9, September 10
February 2023 February 10, February 11
October 2022 October 14, October 15
April 2023 April 14, April 15
November 2022 November 11, November 12
June 2023 June 9, June 10
pre-law CALENDAR 24
Meet & Greet 6-8 pm Surf Club, Chalan Kanoa
MONDAY
27
TUESDAY
28
WEDNESDAY 29
YLUJ - ENUJ
FRIDAY
FIRST DAY OF INSTRUCTION @Guma' Hustisia
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8:30 am: Welcome
Property
Property
8:45-10:15 a.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
Property
Legal Writing
Legal Writing
10:30-12:00 p.m. Legal Writing
30
FRIDAY
1
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8:45-10:15 a.m.
Legal Writing
Legal Writing
10:30-12:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
Property
Property
Lecture Series 2 - EHH
Guma' Hustisia Tour
10 KEEW
THURSDAY
Lecture Series 1 - RCV
Lunch with Attorney-Mentors
Fourth of July Holiday
TUESDAY
5
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8
6
8:45-10:15 a.m.
THURSDAY
7
8:45-10:15 a.m.
Property
Property
Property
10:30-12:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
Legal Writing
Legal Writing
Legal Writing
Lecture Series 3 - RCV
FRIDAY
WEDNESDAY
YLUJ
4
MONDAY
11
District Court Tour
TUESDAY
12
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8:45-10:15 a.m.
8:00-11:00 a.m.
Property
Property
1:00-4:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
10:30-12:00 p.m.
Moot Court
Legal Writing
Legal Writing
@Supreme Court
Lecture Series 4 - EHH
WEDNESDAY
13
10:00 a.m.
GRADUATION
3-2 KEEW
MONDAY
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The Northern Mariana Islands Judiciary Historical Society and the Judiciary present:
THE LAW IN THE COMMUNITY
Lecture Series 2022
The public is welcomed to all lectures. All lectures will be live-streamed on the Judiciary's Facebook page. Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits available.
The Law in the Community Lecture Series allows the professors teaching in the Pre-Law Program to share their knowledge with a larger group and gives the public a chance to inform themselves about the law. Following the lectures, the professors will take questions from the audience. The Lecture Series is made possible by the support from the Northern Marianas Humanities Council, a nonprofit corporation funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the CNMI Judiciary.
Pre-law Program Coordinator Benjamin Schwartz Law Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Perry B. Inos Benjamin.Schwartz@NMIJudiciary.com
Critical Race Theory, Pacific Islands, and Cultural Rights
June 28 at 12:00pm Assembly Hall, Guma' Hustisia, Susupe Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor Rutgers Law School
Critical Race Stories
June 30 at 6:00pm American Memorial Park Auditorium Professor Eun Hee Han Georgetown Law School
The Insular Cases and Citizenship July 5 at 6:00pm American Memorial Park Auditorium Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor Rutgers Law School
Cross-Cultural Competency and Law July 7 at 12:00pm Assembly Hall, Guma' Hustisia, Susupe Professor Eun Hee Han Georgetown Law School
Thank You~Si Yu'us Ma'ase
TO THE PRE-LAW PROGRAM BENEFACTORS! YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS MADE THIS YEAR'S PROGRAM POSSIBLE.
Bridge Capital, LLC CNMI Bar Association Docomo Pacific Fisher Huesman, P.C. Guam Reef Hotel JET Holding Company Joeten Daidai Foundation King Law Office, LLC Law School Admission Council Marianas Legal Strategy Group, LLC. Pacifica Insurance Underwriters, Inc. Robert T. Torres Law Group Rotary Club of Saipan Saipan Shipping Company Saipan Stevedore Company, Inc. Tan Siu Lin Foundation Triple J Enterprises United Airlines