Firm News

Wiggin and Dana recently concluded another year partnering with the New Haven Academy (NHA), a public inter-district magnet high school located in New Haven, Connecticut.  Highlights of this year’s partnership include our lawyers’ collaboration with the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, teaching mock trial classes structured around Nicholas Dawidoff’s recent book, The Other Side of Prospect, which chronicles a young man’s quest for justice after suffering a wrongful conviction.  Author Dawidoff visited our classes, as did others involved in community action and local law enforcement.  Our students’ work culminated in a mock trial at the U.S. District Court (pictures below), during which the students conducted a criminal civil rights trial of the New Haven detective who was allegedly responsible for inducing a false confession as described in Dawidoff’s book.  The students’ performance was a spectacular success, and appears to have sparked many of the students’ interest in pursuing legal careers.  Jake Crutchfield, a NHA teacher involved in the project, said, “Working with Wiggin and Dana was an amazing learning experience for our students. It had them engaging with detailed lessons on how the justice system works through a local lens, and was a collaborative effort culminating with a mock trail based on everything they learned.”

In addition to our mock trial program, Wiggin and Dana bids farewell to its two New Haven Academy interns, who have been embedded in the firm for about a month.  Wiggin and Dana’s internship partnership with New Haven Academy is intended to develop students’ interest in the law, and grow a pipeline from New Haven Academy to law school.  Our program is built around our interns’ interests, this year focusing on federal asylum law and criminal justice issues.  Commenting on the internship program, student Zaria Bradley stated, “This opportunity has been an eye-opening experience and I learned that lawyer life isn’t what it’s like on TV.” Meredith Gavrin, NHA’s Program Director, explained: “We’re so grateful for the partnership — and [Wiggin’s] enthusiastic embrace of our students!”

We are immensely proud of our partnership with New Haven Academy, and thank all of this year’s students for another wonderful year.