Legalities

Legalities, a weekly column that appears in the Help section of the Southern Illinoisan, is a free service of the Self Help Legal Center. You can visit the Southern Illinoisan website at: http://www.southernillinoisan.com

Q: I have a complex, but interesting case that I would like to give to a law student to work on for me for free. I thought that they would get some experience and would do some of the investigative work that I can't afford to pay an attorney to do. The problem is, I don't know whom to call at the law school to get my request to their students.

A: Finding out who to ask is not your problem. Your problem is that law students are not allowed to do what you are asking.

If you watch a lot of television like I do, you would be left with the impression that law students (or students just right out of law school) commonly take on impossible, long-shot cases with little to no compensation in return.

The problem is, this is not the way it really works.

Law students are prohibited by law from taking cases, giving advice, and even doing research on a case unless they are supervised by a licensed attorney. For a student to work on your case, regardless of how simple or complex it may be, would be to engage in the unauthorized practice of law.

Some of you may have heard of law school clinics, (for example, SIU has an Elder Law Clinic) where law students work on cases. In these cases, however, students work under the supervision of licensed attorneys, and do not do cases on their own.

Even if having a law student work on your case without the supervision of a licensed attorney weren't against the law, it still wouldn't be a good idea.

While law students may be eager, energetic, and enthusiastic, they do not have the experience nor the knowledge that a licensed attorney would have. If you are tempted (because you cannot afford an attorney or because your friend is a law student or works at a law school) to ask for such help, think about the risks involved if the advice, information, or assistance you are given is wrong.

You wouldn't want a first year medical student in charge of your next surgical operation and you wouldn't want a first year aviation flight student flying your next trip to Orlando. Similarly, you shouldn't want an unsupervised law student working on something that is important to you.