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St. Cloud State University
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Legal advising in the works
By Adam Hammer
Published:
Thursday, April 15, 2004
As students may have noticed on the student government general elections ballot, a proposal has been made to provide free legal advice on campus.
"If we can't get the support, it doesn't pay to go forward," said Kathy Uradnik, associate political science professor and pre-law adviser.
Uradnik, along with the help of the student government and its chief justice Eamonn O'Moore, created the proposal for an on-campus student legal services office.
"The best thing about this program is that it's going to apply to all students," O'Moore said. "It will be a benefit to students both on and off campus."
The staff at the legal services office will offer free legal advice to students regarding alcohol, traffic and noise violation misdemeanors, landlord/tenant law, insurance law, immigration law, family law and employer disputes. Depending on the staff, some of these topics may have to be prioritized, Uradnik said.
The service would require a 15-cent per credit raise in the student activities fee, creating $50,000-$55,000 per year for the program.
"We can put a program in place, but without funding it doesn't make sense," Uradnik said. "We can't have full representation to 16,000 students for $50,000. We can help steer them in the right direction though."
The money raised will not be enough for a full-time attorney and at least two attorneys would be necessary to avoid any problems with conflict of interest toward students.
"You can't even walk into an attorney's office for less than $100," Uradnik said. "An attorney is not going to get rich off this program. They are going to have to want to help students."
Uradnik is currently working with the Vice President of the Stearns-Benton Bar Association Jackie Shuh, to create a legal reference library. The relationship could also be beneficial in finding attorneys who are willing to offer services at a lower competitive price.
"Whoever the attorney is, they're going to have to have some guidelines," Uradnik said.
Privately-funded malpractice insurance and on-campus hours will be included in the requirements. Although the campus attorney's main purpose will be to advise students, Uradnik is hopeful they will be able to offer representation at a lower cost or give referrals of attorneys willing to help.
"There's a distinction between consultation and representation," Uradnik said.
Representation in court will not be a top priority for the legal service office. Uradnik said the attorneys might represent in court on a case where many students will receive benefits as a result.
Uradnik commented that a dozen attorneys have already expressed interest in the program.
Similar services have been successful at other Minnesota universities including Minnesota State University Mankato.
"They're not uncommon," Uradnik said. "God knows we're long overdue."
As an adviser and a political science instructor, Uradnik is often faced with student questions regarding legal matters.
"It seems that anybody with legal connections on campus gets inundated with legal questions," Uradnik said.
If the vote passes for the legal service office, the next step will be to institute a pilot program to test the bugs, Uradnik said.
Uradnik and O'Moore both declared interest in establishing the pilot.
The general elections are being conducted today until 3 p.m. and at least 8 percent of the student population must vote in order to root the plan into SCSU.
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