By TIFFANY MONDE
Buffalo Law Journal

Tasha Moore is alarmed.

"Across the nation we have seen a decrease in minority applicants to law school," said Moore, director of the Buffalo regional office for the New York State Division of Human Rights.

A Columbia University Law School analysis of Law School Admissions Council data indicates that between 1993 and 2005 - a period in which overall law-school matriculation increased 6.5 percent - the numbers of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans seeking admission to law school declined by 8.6 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.

The LASC reports that one in 25 U.S. lawyers is Asian, Native American, Latino, or African-American.

Moore, head of a Minority Bar Association of Western New York committee focused on educational outreach, wants to change that here. She is among the leaders of an effort to help the Buffalo City School District create a pipeline to help children prepare for higher education and opportunities in law.

"We need to make sure our bar reflects our community," she said.

The Minority Bar, in partnership with the University at Buffalo and Buffalo Public Schools, has created a program focused on minority students that will help prepare them for possible careers in law.

"We want to expose kids to what a lawyer is," Moore said, "and get them thinking about civic responsibility."

The Black, Latin American and Asian American student associations from the UB Law School have partnered with the program to go into two elementary schools - P.S. 45 International School and P.S. 39 Martin Luther King Multicultural Institute.

The program is about opportunity, said Moore, and will help students learn to take standardized tests and be better-prepared to compete for placement in college.

Many students are uncomfortable with test-taking and have anxiety, Moore noted, saying she hopes this initiative will help address these issues.

"You find that inner-city kids are the ones that don't do well on standardized tests," she said.

Moore wants to make sure the academic playing field is level for those who come from a disadvantaged position.

She met with law students at UB Monday to solidify dates for the law students to go into elementary schools before the end of the semester.

"It is important," said Lillie Wiley-Upshaw, dean for admissions and financial aid at the law school, "that all students are encouraged to pursue careers in law."

Bennett, Lafayette and South Park high schools will take part in a speaker series that is planned to begin in early 2010. The collaborators may conduct future events and programs at additional city schools.

The group is also trying to work with the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo; Moore hopes that they will receive grants for the program since they would like to expand within the Buffalo Public School system, and continue the program in the coming years.

"With the Minority Bar and the Buffalo Public Schools and the law school," Moore said, "it makes for a very complete process to expose kids to professional law."