Program Overview
The Charles Hamilton Law School Preparatory Institute, commonly called “the Institute” or CHH", was founded by Attorney Donald M. Temple in 1979. Named in honor of the late Charles Hamilton Houston, the Institute is taught in the engaging spirit of Houstonian jurisprudence. In 1980, Temple joined forces with Everett Bellamy, then a first year Assistant Dean at Georgetown University Law Center to institutionalize the program and CHH classes have been held at Georgetown’s Law Center since then. Temple and Bellamy collectively taught CHH pro bono through 1985. In 1986, they added four (4) professors and extended its five (5) week program to seven (7) weeks and 100 class hours.
CHH offers its students a rigorous introduction to law study. Its orientation familiarizes students with the substantial legal accomplishments of Charles Hamilton Houston in a film titled: "The Road to Brown." During the program's first week, CHH students are introduced to the American judicial system, the civil litigation process, legal vocabulary and surgical case and legal analysis techniques. CHH students’ first assignment is the reported Dred Scott v. Sanford decision. The balance of the program covers the following first year law school courses Civil Procedure, Torts, Contracts, Research and Writing, and Appellate Advocacy. CHH also features an annual Charles Hamilton Houston Lecture presented by a celebrated jurist or attorney. Appellate Advocacy instruction begins in week three and students are assigned an appellate issue to brief and argue in week four. Appellate briefs are submitted in week six and argued in week seven before a panel of judges and/or lawyers. Students are required to write a legal memorandum and take three (3) law school examinations. The program culminates in a formal law school graduation. CHH Professors include the following accomplished and dedicated, dedicated lawyers and educators: former District of Columbia Bar Association and National Bar Association President, Kim Keenan, Professor Charles Ogletree, Professor Tanya Washington, Everett Bellamy, Administrative Law Judge Jennifer Long, Chief Administrative Law Judge David Simmons, and Attorney Temple. Additionally, Washington, D.C. area judges and lawyers participate in CHH's annual moot court competition.
The Institute’s guest speakers include, among others, the late Dean Wiley Branton, former Dean of Howard University School of Law), the late Attorney James Cobb, former President of the National Bar Association, the Honorable William Coleman, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation), the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, Attorney Lennox Hinds, Attorney Timothy Jenkins, the late Thomas Duckenfield, former President of the National Bar Association, the late Attorney Frederick Abramson, former President of the District of Columbia Bar Association, Professor Angela Davis, the Honorable Judge William Pryor, the Honorable Theodore Newman, the Honorable Inez Smith Reid, Professor Michael Higginbotham, Attorney Themba Mthetwa, Attorney James McCullum, Attorney Felicia Chambers, Barrister John Robotham, the Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee and the Honorable Alexander Williams.
CHH graduates ave attended and graduated from law schools across
the country. This year marks its 34th consecutive year.
CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON
Charles Hamilton Houston entered Harvard Law School in 1919 and in 1923. He became the first African American to serve as the editor of the Harvard Law Review. After grad
uating from Harvard Law School, Houston attended the University of Madrid to complete his work in law. He was appointed Vice-Dean of Howard University Law School in 1929 and he embraced this as an opportunity to forge legal challenges against Jim Crow Laws. He was responsible for training and inspiring many lawyers who played key roles in fighting for true equality for African Americans, including the late Justice Thurgood Marshall. Later, as special counsel to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Charles Hamilton Houston argued several key civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and laid the groundwork that led to the landmark decision of Brown v. Board of Education.
In honor, CHH is designed to equips students with the tools necessary to successfully manage the study of law. It strategically demystifies the law school process and provides its students with pragmatic techniques for achieving academic success.
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS
The Totlee J. Dixon Brown Memorial Scholarship
The Arthur S. Dixon Living Trust is pleased to present its annual memorial scholarship award to the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute in memory of Totlee J. Dixon Brown. Ms. Brown, a very charismatic and charming personality, was a graduate of New Rochelle High School and Toledo University where she produced award winning shows and received her Bachelor’s of Art degree. After graduation from college, she embarked upon a very successful and noteworthy career in the communications field. She founded and served as President of Black Media Women (BMW), a national organization that addressed matters of importance to black women involved in media. BMW hosted various events in different forums that featured well known and outstanding speakers.
In the media and communications field, she was well recognized as the Co-Producer of the television show, “Soul Alive”. She also produced various programs for ABC T.V. including “For You Black Women” which featured appearances by Muhammad Ali, Congressman Harold Ford, Sr., Rev. Ike, Dr. Priscilla Hambrick Dixon and other well known personalities. She also worked closely with Barbara Walters and Hugh Dowson on ABC’s 20/20 television show and she was involved in other productions for Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Ms. Dixon Brown received national acclaim when she was presented with an “Emmy” for her work with ABC Sports and its President, Roone Arlidge at the 1984 Olympics. In addition to these publications, she spoke at New York’s famous Apollo Theatre with Rev. Al Sharpton and other notables and she hosted a gospel radio show in Brooklyn.
Ms. Dixon Brown was also an activist participating in the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and was involved in other civil rights activities. Posthumously, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Columbia’s School of Journalism for her outstanding work in the communications field. She was sought out as a speaker and lecturer at local schools where she lived and worked and she also served as a mentor for African-American youth interested in pursuing a career in the field of communications. Ms. Brown passed away in 2000 from cancer.
Arthur S. Dixon Family Trust Scholarship
CHH Young Alumni Scholarship Award
The Charles Hamilton Houston Young Alumni Scholarship Fund will award a scholarship to the graduating CHH student. In accordance with prior years, the students have the option of competing for the scholarship by completing a brief writing submission. The Fund will present an award to the qualifying student at the CHH graduation program.
McGuireWoods Moot Court Competition
McGuireWoods is a global law firm with approximately 900 lawyers and 19 strategically located offices worldwide. Sharply focused on their clients, McGuireWoods ensures that all of the firm's actions are based on what will best benefit their clients. Tracing the firm's roots back to 1834, McGuireWoods has a long history of growth through mergers with predecessor firms in existing markets, as well as client-centered expansion into new markets. Working with clients to develop these strategies, the firm is able to keep pace with their changing needs – helping them meet their goals. This has been their philosophy for more than 175 years, and it continues to direct their endeavors as they look toward the future.
As stated in their 2010-2012 Strategic Plan, “For us to achieve our destiny, diversity and inclusion must be woven into our very fabric. At McGuireWoods, we define diversity as recognizing and valuing the differences in our workforce.” Chairman Emeritus Robert L. Burrus Jr. chairs the firm's Diversity Committee – an exemplification of McGuireWoods' commitment to diversity. Their lawyers and staff work to promote diversity throughout the legal profession and in our communities. McGuireWoods saw the value of diversifying its legal team decades ago. As early as 1977, it initiated a joint venture with a minority-owned law firm. Today, they continue to receive numerous awards for their diversity efforts.
McGuireWoods proudly supports the Charles Hamilton Houston Law School Preparatory Institute and are honored to sponsor this year's Moot Court Competition.
For more information: www.mcguirewoods.com