Jessica Sotindjo (from left), Richard Minor and Estefhani Tavarez.

We hear a lot about programs geared to help top students from underserved backgrounds. But what happens to those kids who don't make it in the top 10% of their class—the overlooked students in the "forgotten middle?"

That's where Legal Outreach comes in. The organization provides an invaluable service to an underserved New York City community: young people with a passion, a dream and not enough opportunity.

James B. O'Neal.

Legal Outreach was founded in 1982 by attorney James O'Neal, currently the executive director. The organization provides guidance, mentoring and a path to success, using the field of law to attract at-risk junior-high students. The program, which works with students from eighth to 12^th grade, teaches young people about rights and responsibilities and how the law can be used as a tool to help improve the quality of life in their communities, O'Neal said. It also helps students develop writing, reasoning, public speaking, listening and critical thinking skills, which are essential for performing well in high school, college and beyond, he said. In addition, the program seeks to inspire many of them to pursue careers within the legal profession.

How the Legal Outreach program works: Legal Outreach finds students by presenting a law-related lesson to eighth-graders within about 30 middle schools in underserved communities in New York City. The students who exhibit an interest in the program are then invited to apply to one of seven Summer Law Institutes that Legal Outreach implements with seven host law schools in New York: Brooklyn Law School, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Columbia Law School, City University of New York School of Law, Fordham University School of Law, New York University School of Law, and St. John's University School of Law. At the Institute, the students are introduced to legal professionals and they learn about the criminal justice process. Students also take field trips and are introduced to trial practice skills, and they participate in skill-building activities. At the end of the Institute's session, they have the opportunity to apply to College Bound, Legal Outreach's after-school continuation program that meets every summer of their high school years from ninth through the 12^th grades.

The stats prove that the Legal Outreach mission is successful. Since 1993, the year Legal Outreach graduated its first class of College Bound Program with six students, 776 students have completed the four-year program, with 99% attending college and 97% four-year colleges, O'Neal said. More than 90% have graduated from those colleges. Fifty-five Legal Outreach graduates have also attended 29 different law schools, including Harvard Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Penn State Law, New York Law School and others.

Legal Outreach is funded by various sources including private educational foundations, corporations and law firms, and individual donors.

Last spring, Legal Outreach hosted an event at Reed Smith's New York office for students and alumni. Here's what some of them had to say.

Annys Bai, a 23-year-old graduate of Mt. Holyoke College: "The program has allowed me to rub elbows with professionals where I normally wouldn't have had the ability or the connections. It's taught me how to be an adult in a society I didn't know how to navigate."

Michael Chung, a senior at the University of Rochester, when asked what the best thing about Legal Outreach was, he said, "It's free!" He continued, "My dad is a taxi driver and my mom's a pedicurist. My parents work endlessly, and we still can't afford a lot of things, Legal Outreach provides free SAT prep, writing classes, amazing mentorship and a stipend!"

Estefhani Tavarez

Estephanie Tavarez, a junior at Mt. Holyoke, is inspired. "Because of my experience with Legal Outreach, I have an idea to create my own scholarship, mostly for students of color who can't really afford to go to college. It would be a small scholarship, but it's through the inspiration of the program that I want to give back and be as involved as possible. I want to make a change within the community. I want to practice corporate law, but I will definitely do pro bono work too."

Richard Minor, a 15-year-old from Queens, said: "Legal Outreach gives me a different professional perspective on the future. Like, where I come from people are either going for sports or music, and this program gives me a different way out. And each internship teaches me something different."

Jessica Sotindjo, 17, started with Legal Outreach in eighth grade. She appreciates the study skills Legal Outreach has given her. "I never used to study much, because I got good grades, but Legal Outreach taught me to organize my time, study better, so I can ultimately achieve my goals."

While these young people are not at the top of the class, and many of them start without the confidence to shine or be recognized, through Legal Outreach, they represent the excellence in the rest of us.