Wake Forest Law Awarded AccessLex Grant to Increase Pathways to Legal Education

Winston-Salem, North Carolina – Wake Forest University School of Law has been awarded a grant from AccessLex Institute^® for the Program for Legal Access and Career Excellence (PLACE). The goal of PLACE is to make the path to law school clearer, more accessible, and more achievable for talented students across North Carolina. Through formal partnerships with Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), North Carolina A&T, UNC Charlotte (UNCC), and UNC Greensboro (UNCG), PLACE offers a structured, supportive route to law school for students with strong potential, but who may have faced significant barriers to entry.

“PLACE makes the promise of law school real for students who have talent and ambition, but not always the roadmap,” says Wake Forest Law’s Barbara Melendez, Assistant Dean of Achievement and Impact. “This program offers students critical guidance and tailored support, and affirms that students from all backgrounds belong in the legal profession. Through PLACE, we are creating a clearer, more equitable path to legal education.”

Comprehensive, targeted interventions are crucial to reducing the barriers to law school, including for groups traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession. The PLACE program provides a clear pathway for students from across the socioeconomic spectrum to attend and succeed in law school. PLACE moves students from early exploration to confident matriculation through three interconnected phases: 1) Awareness: students explore legal curriculum, law school, & legal careers; 2) Access: prepare students for the application process (e.g., LSAT prep, financial guidance); 3) Achievement: position students for success during transition to law school and in 1L year. This model combines a structured program with personalized support that helps students see law school and the legal profession as a real and attainable goal.

“We are excited to embark on this partnership with AccessLex and continue working with our partner institutions to ensure that the opportunity to pursue a legal education is accessible to all students,” says Wake Forest Law Dean Andy Klein. “Ultimately, our goal is to develop ‘citizen-lawyers,’ who will go on to make an impact on their communities, and creating pathways to law school is a crucial step in that process.”

“AccessLex is committed to supporting efforts to encourage legal education access and success,” says Aaron N. Taylor, Executive Director of the AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence^®. “PLACE is a comprehensive, holistic program, designed to cultivate robust and sustainable pathways to the law degree. As such, the program is cultivating the next generation of lawyers who will serve as leaders in their communities and beyond.”

The PLACE program not only invests in students and equips them to thrive in the legal profession, but helps to realize a vision of legal education that expands opportunity and strengthens the profession from the ground up.

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About Wake Forest University School of Law

Wake Forest Law advances the cause of justice by creating knowledge and educating students to meet the legal needs of the world with confidence, character, and creativity. We instill in students a respect for the law, a devotion to the ideal of service, and a commitment to professional values.

About AccessLex Institute

AccessLex Institute^® is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of lawyers by improving legal education’s access, affordability, and value. In partnership with its nearly 200 member law schools, increasing diversity, expanding access, and positively influencing legal education have been at the heart of the Company’s mission since 1983. AccessLex devotes substantial resources to financial education, scholarship programs, research, policy advocacy, grantmaking, data analysis, student success, and beyond. Learn more about AccessLex Institute’s commitment and contributions to the future of legal education at AccessLex.org.