Header – Erik Simpkins, a board member of the Futuro Academy charter school, poses at the school Wednesday, March 18, 2026. Simpkins is the proposed principal for a future Legal Prep Academy in Las Vegas. Photo by: Steve Marcus
A school geared toward young people who aspire to become lawyers could soon join the Las Vegas area’s growing charter school landscape.
Officials from the proposed Legal Prep Charter Academy say they plan to submit their application to the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority next month, hoping to gain approval in time to begin classes for the 2027-28 academic year. The school would function similarly to a career and technical academy. It would serve middle- and high school students with an interest in the legal profession.
Legal Prep is a burgeoning chain, with a flagship campus in Chicago. A second campus in Indianapolis opens this fall.
School CEO and co-founder Sam Finkelstein said the school was a college prep academy, and he doesn’t mind if its graduates don’t go on to become lawyers — one alumna went on to earn a degree in aerospace engineering. But they will be lawyerly, he said.
“We do kind of use the law as a hook, and yes, if you want to be a lawyer, Legal Prep’s going to be awesome for you, because you’re going to have all these amazing connections. But we really focus on lawyerly skills like critical thinking, analytical reasoning, oral advocacy, all of those things. Those are really transferable to other areas as well,” said Finkelstein, who previously practiced law in Chicago and taught at Northwestern University’s law school.
Erik Simpkins, the proposed principal for Legal Prep Vegas, is an experienced Las Vegas educator. After more than a decade as a teacher and administrator in the Clark County School District, launching Legal Prep Vegas is now his full-time job.
He said the UNLV Boyd School of Law and others in the local higher education and legal communities have given their support, and 52 parents have signed intent-to-enroll forms for children.
The school would start with sixth- and ninth-graders and gradually grow into a full middle and high school. He wants to locate as close to UNLV as possible, ideally in the working-class ZIP codes 89119, 89121 and 89120 in the central and east valley.
The state first needs to approve the application. After that approval — expected in September — is received, funds would be released, giving officials time to secure a space, hire staff and purchase equipment.
The curriculum calls for daily classes taught by current or former attorneys and monthly field trips to courthouses, law firms and municipal offices. Sixth-graders would start with a course on legal terminology.
Plans are to introduce students to career paths in ninth grade, and in their senior year, they would participate in mock trial, a debate-style activity where they will play the roles of prosecution, defense, judge and jury.
The Chicago campus, which opened in 2012, is in a high-needs neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. It has a 100% graduation rate and a 93% college acceptance rate, Legal Prep said.
“That model will definitely fit here in Las Vegas. I spent three months immersing myself in the program with the students and staff, and it was very moving,” Simpkins said.
He says more school options are good, especially in high-needs neighborhoods.
“I was a student who was in the Upward Bound program,” a federally funded program that prepares low-income and first-generation high school students for college, he said. “Having exposure to working professionals and folks in other careers that maybe (weren’t) readily available in my community or my school dramatically changed my trajectory.”
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https://lasvegassun.com/news/2026/mar/28/legal-eagles-in-training-law-focused-charter-schoo/
