Kristen Bucci thinks lawyers get a bad rap.

People see how much they charge, and for those who come into contact with a lawyer, it usually isn't for anything positive.

As a family lawyer, Bucci knows about people who aren't happy to see someone in her position.

But most people don't realize how much pro bono work lawyers do, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a lawyer in Thunder Bay who doesn't volunteer time for a charity or a board of directors, said Bucci, a lawyer of 15 years.

In 2003 when she headed up the Thunder Bay Law Association, Bucci started Law Day, which includes mock trials for high school students, courthouse tours and a poster contest for students in Grade 5, the grade when youngsters begin studying civics.

Wednesday, the city's law association announced that Bucci is the 2007 recipient of the Ontario Justice Education Network Chief Justice's Award.
It's an annual award, handed out by the chief judges from the Ontario Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

While she was named for the award, many lawyers, judges and courthouse staff are involved either on the planning committee or through helping out on Law Day itself in April, said Bucci.

Late each January, lawyers make their first of several visits to coach high school students in the fine art of courtroom lawyering.

Sometimes they use mock trial scripts put together by the Ontario Bar Association, but at least twice a local lawyer has picked a trial and combed over thick transcripts to write a script himself.

The teenagers play everyone but the judge, from witnesses to the accused, Crown lawyers to defence council.

The youngsters are generally very attentive when he's coaching them about how to be a lawyer in court, said current law association president Michael Harris, who has worked with Bucci since the planning group started four years ago.

"We can't give her enough credit" for getting Law Day events started, Harris said.

The kids often have questions about how lawyers go about their work - and they always ask if he's ever done a murder trial, said Harris, who, as a civil lawyer, hasn't.

It's a great educational incentive to get kids involved, said Harris. Generally, he said, people don't have a good understanding of the legal system unless, unfortunately, they're caught up in it.

Ultimately, the goal is to hold a mock trial competition for local high school students, and to take a team of teens to Toronto for the provincial competition, he said.

This year, Westgate, Hillcrest, Port Arthur Collegiate and Hammarskjold, along with French high schools from both Thunder Bay and Longlac, took part in the mock trials.