UI asks for court-ready clothing for law students

The University of Idaho College of Law is asking the public for donations that can help put its students on equal footing.

It is seeking donations of professional clothing such as suits and jackets that will be collected and stored at the Moscow and Boise campus.

Professional clothing is crucial for law students as they attend mock trials, court appearances and job interviews.

“We talk to students about professional dress,” said Elana Salzman, co-director of career development for the College of Law. “We talk to them about interview dress, courtroom dress, things like this, so we want to make sure that they are putting their best foot forward as they go out there and look for jobs and present themselves to employers.”

Professional clothing is expensive and Salzman said the law school hopes this clothing drive will help make it accessible to all students. She called it an inclusion effort.

“We want everyone who comes into law school to have the same kind of opportunities no matter where they came from before they were in law school,” she said.

Salzman said the University of Idaho Student Bar Association previously created an initiative that allowed people to donate money to students who were in need of clothes. Twenty students applied to receive these funds, but there was only enough funding for a few of them.

Salzman said that sparked the idea for the College of Law to ask for new or lightly used clothing donations in Moscow and Boise.

“It’s the kind of item that a lot of people have,” she said. “It doesn’t require monetary donations.”

Salzman said that since this effort was announced, she has received emails from people in law professions saying they wish this had been available when they were students.

Formal clothing is an essential part of being in court, and is especially important during job interviews. Salzman said she tells students to dress for interviews the same way they would dress for court.

“I think that our profession tends to be among the more conservative when it comes to dress,” she said.

Donations must be clean and on hangers. They can be brought to the administration office of the Menard Building in Moscow or the third floor of the College of Law building in Boise.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.