Foley Highlighted for Street Law Program, Impact on Milwaukee Youth

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Nick Welle and senior counsel Tim Patterson discuss Foley’s annual Street Law Legal Diversity Pipeline Program in the BizTimes Milwaukee article, “‘They need somebody’: Nonprofits provide safety and support for Milwaukee’s youth.”

Foley hosts the six-week Street Law Diversity Pipeline Program in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America each year. The program offers curriculum introducing Milwaukee high school students from low-income families to career opportunities in law.

“We teach them about what it’s like to be a lawyer, what you need to understand when you’re a lawyer and what your job is as a lawyer. The goal is to also help students ‘understand that they can do this,'” Patterson shared.

He added, “This is something that students who attend the Boys & Girls Clubs should think about, and we encourage them to use the attorney volunteers who are there as mentors.”

Welle, who leads the Street Law program, said it is important for him to use his position to help make legal careers more accessible for others.

“I think the judicial system in this country works better if it’s more representative of the people in this country,” he said. “If we can even do our small part in that, even if it’s helping four or five kids who otherwise wouldn’t have become lawyers to become lawyers over a 10-year stretch, I think it’s all worthwhile then.”