Meet the Press

The University of South Carolina School of Law is stepping up to the plate to help out the journalism profession.

This fall, the school will host the first East Coast offering of the Journalist Law School, an educational program for journalists that has been running for nearly a decade at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

The programs are co-sponsored by the American Board of Trial Advocates. When Columbia attorney Joel Collins, ABOTA’s president, heard that the program was looking to expand to the East Coast because demand has outstripped the number of available seats at Loyola, he put them in touch with USC.

Rob Wilcox, dean of the law school, said that idea of hosting the program had immediate appeal.

“It was a chance to broaden our exposure a bit. You bring media into Columbia, and you give them something of value, and I think they’ll realize we have a pretty good law school here,” Wilcox said. “It’s a chance also for our faculty to make some connections with visitors and serve as commentators on stories of national interest.”

The program will start Sept. 30, Wilcox said. It will no doubt, provide its fellows the chance to learn some of the things that Sidebar has learned—not least of which being the charms of downtown Columbia.

David Donovan