On June 3, 2022, representatives of law schools gathered to hear from the Street Law Inc. experts Richard Grimes and Amy Wallace about the Street Law Project launched as part of the USAID Rule of Law Program. 

In her welcome notes, USAID Rule of Law Program Legal Education and Bar Reform Advisor Nino Balanchivadze emphasized that the Project will involve multiple law schools to develop a collaborative network of Street Law programs. Through these programs, law students will gain experiential skills by teaching practical law-related lessons in secondary schools and communities around the country.   

Richard Grimes spoke about the role of law schools in public legal education (PLE). He said PLE helps communities recognize when legal problems exist and makes them aware of where to go if such problems do arise. “Street Law is a form of PLE using a well-tried and tested methodology. Raising the awareness of the public of their legal rights and responsibilities takes many forms, including formal education, government information, publicity and campaigns by NGOs.” – he said. 

Amy Wallace presented the Street Law Project and described its anticipated four phases. “We will carry out background research into what Street Law programs already exist in the country and establish the benefits, challenges and ‘best practices’ for Street Law initiatives in Georgia. We will then expand the Street Law project across the country. We plan to coordinate a Street Law Academy in 2024, where all the participating law schools will meet to share lessons and experiences in order to strengthen all the programs and develop collaboration among all participant law schools.” – she said. 

At the end of the event, the question-and-answer session enabled the attendees to learn more about the international practice of Street Law and the possible collaboration steps.