Free legal advice offered to students in Ackerman
By Elaiza Torralba
Nov. 11, 2008 9:43 p.m.
Associated Students UCLA teamed up with the UCLA Student Legal Services to provide free legal services in Ackerman Union.
On every first and third Thursday of each month, registered and enrolled UCLA students can come to Ackerman A-level for “Law in the Union,” an event which gives students the opportunity to speak with an attorney about a variety of legal issues, including housing, financial aid, discrimination and other topics.
Two female attorneys from Student Legal Services were stationed at a table in A-level of the Union last week, ready and waiting to answer any general legal questions.
A large sign stood adjacent to the table and in large bold letters read “Know your rights!”
“I think it’s very convenient that the Student Legal Services station is located right in the middle of Ackerman,” Jocelyn Pacheco, a second-year sociology student, said.
“It was very easy to approach the attorney people to ask some basic questions about a housing situation,” she added.
The partnership between ASUCLA and Student Legal Services was fostered on the desire to outreach to more students who may not otherwise know that legal services are offered on campus, according to the Student Union Director Roy Champawat.
“We want to bring things that are useful to students into the union and the law program was interested in being able to reach out to more students,” Champawat said.
“We’re glad that they can accomplish this by using our facility.”
According to Student Legal Services Director Elizabeth Kemper, the “Law in the Union” event was created in spring of 2002 when she decided that mobile legal clinics staffed by the Student Legal Services attorneys would be a good outreach opportunity.
“Students would be able to ask simple legal questions, like how long their landlord had to return a security deposit, as well as learn more about the services we offer,” Kemper said.
Among other legal concerns Student Legal Services addresses include automobile, criminal, family law, personal injury and identity theft, as noted in the services’ Web site and brochure.
However, they do not offer any tax or immigration legal advice.
Champawat mentioned also that regarding costs and fees, ASUCLA does not charge Student Legal Services for offering their services in the Union.
“The general legal advice given in these events is free, but if the Student Legal Services decides to take on a student’s case, there is a $30 charge,” Kemper said.
“The preparation of legal documents and other services also have fees.”
Kemper added that these mobile legal services were not first offered in Ackerman Union.
“Our first mobile legal clinic was “˜Law on the Hill’ in Covel Commons and began on May 15, 2002,” she said.
“It was very successful, so I thought it would be good to expand to Ackerman,” she added.
Because the event has been around for six years, Kemper believes that both the “Law in the Union” and “Law on the Hill” events will continue to provide students with aid on their general legal concerns.
“We always have lots of people stopping by to ask questions,” she said.
The next “Law in the Union” event will be held on Nov. 20 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in Ackerman A-level.
“Law on the Hill” is currently offered on the first Wednesday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m. outside of the De Neve dining hall.
