About

The Summer Law & Trial Institute is a free, two-week pre-law program hosted by Ohio University's Center for Law, Justice & Culture, open to rising high school juniors and seniors with preference given to students from Appalachian Ohio. Founded in 2016 by Larry Hayman, Ohio University's pre-law advisor and a licensed attorney, the program was created with a specific civic purpose: to increase legal literacy among students from rural southeastern Ohio, inspire them to pursue legal careers, and encourage them to return to their communities to help close the attorney shortage that affects rural Appalachia. Now in its eleventh year, SLTI has admitted 20 students per cohort from a competitive applicant pool — in 2025, 20 students were selected from nearly 120 applicants, an acceptance rate of approximately 17%.

The 2026 program runs June 28 through July 10 in a hybrid format. The first week — June 28 through July 2 — consists of daily virtual sessions from 9am to 2pm covering legal reasoning, case analysis, negotiation, public speaking, and trial advocacy. On July 5, participants travel to Ohio University's Athens campus for a six-day residential experience, housed in university residence halls and eating in the dining hall. The residential week immerses students in the legal ecosystem of southeastern Ohio: they meet with attorneys and judges, visit the Athens County Court of Common Pleas, engage with organizations including Legal Aid of Southeastern and Central Ohio and the ACLU of Ohio, and travel to Columbus to observe a live oral argument before the Ohio Supreme Court — with the opportunity to meet Justice Jennifer Brunner. The program concludes July 10 with a full mock trial presided over by a sitting Ohio University alumnus judge, with family members invited to attend as students argue as prosecutors, witnesses, and defense attorneys.

Over 30 speakers participate across the two weeks, the majority of them Ohio University alumni practicing law across the state. Current OU pre-law and mock trial students serve as mentors and co-instructors alongside SLTI alumni who have returned to the program. The curriculum covers trial advocacy, constitutional law, evidence, courtroom procedure, and criminal justice, with particular emphasis on access-to-justice issues in rural communities — plea bargaining strategies, the rural attorney shortage, and the role of legal aid organizations in southeastern Ohio. The application requires a high school transcript and a recommendation from a non-family member; official or unofficial transcripts are accepted. Applications for 2026 are reviewed on a rolling basis with a deadline of May 25 — students outside Appalachian Ohio are considered for remaining spots after June 2.

The program is entirely free, funded by Ohio University alumni donations. No costs are passed to students or families; housing and meals during the residential week are covered. For a high-achieving student from Appalachian Ohio with genuine interest in law, SLTI is one of the most substantive and most accessible pre-law programs in the country — a competitive cohort, real practitioners, a live Supreme Court argument, and a culminating mock trial before an actual judge, at no cost. Students from outside the region are eligible but should apply early and understand that Appalachian Ohio students receive priority consideration in admissions.