With complete bipartisan support the Indiana legislature approved funding for an Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity program in 1997, and the measure was approved by then-governor Frank O’Bannon.

Chief Justice of Indiana, Randall T. Shepard

I am proud that Indiana was the first state in the nation to have its own CLEO program to assist minority, low-income or educationally disadvantaged college graduates pursuing law degrees.

Since the program was created, we have helped hundreds of students realize their dream of entering the legal profession; we have African-American and Latino attorneys and judges; but we still have a lot of work to do and ICLEO is a step in the right direction.

The legal profession benefits when we recruit minority applicants and help them succeed. Our job is to ensure all citizens have faith and confidence in our system – faith and confidence that they are truly equal in the eyes of the law. When there is diversity at all levels of the legal system, our entire system better serves society.

When our ICLEO fellows graduate and begin practicing, more clients will be served by minority members of the bar, and more children will grow up with attorney role models in whose steps they can follow. Each class we graduate creates a wider and stronger base to build on.

Our ultimate goal is to have law school classes as diverse as any Hoosier neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Randall T. Shepard,
Chief Justice of Indiana

Randall T. Shepard chairs the CLEO Advisory Committee which reviews
applications from those interested in pursuing a law degree in Indiana.