Partner Paul L. Leclair, of Adams Leclair LLP, has accepted chairmanship of an Educational Outreach Subcommittee for the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

The subcommittee is tasked with developing an educational program for high school students focused on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Initial plans include developing a mock argument competition based on essays written by 12th graders who participate in the curriculum.  Additionally, there will be an art contest open to students of all ages, with selected pieces displayed at the Buffalo and Rochester courthouses. 

The subcommittee establishing this program is comprised of judges, law clerks, attorneys, as well as educators and it will be offered to all school districts within the seventeen counties of the Western District of New York.

“This program is designed to give students an understanding of the role of the judiciary and how the interpretation of our Constitutional rights protects the way we live in a free society,” explained Leclair, who is also the treasurer of the Monroe County Bar Association. 

The curriculum is centered around the Supreme Court’s 1943 landmark decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624.  The Barnette opinion, authored by Justice Robert H. Jackson, a Jamestown, New York native, addresses the constitutionality of compulsory flag salutes in schools and has been described as “one of the most eloquent articulations of American liberty ever written”.

In 2025, the Western District of New York, one of 94 U.S. District Courts, will celebrate its 125th anniversary of judicial providence in New York State.  Currently, the Honorable Elizabeth A. Wolford serves as the Chief Judge and oversees the Educational Outreach Program. Besides offering this special curriculum to school districts, the overall committee is planning recognition of federal judges who have served in the district plus community events to coincide with the anniversary year.        

Paul Leclair’s attorney profile can be found here.