University Student Legal Services

Programs: Student legal services began at nc state in 1986 and became an incorporated non-profit (501(c)(3)) in 1992. The office began with 2 fulltime attorneys and after adding a third position in 1992, added a fourth full-time attorney in 2014-15 with a focus on immigration matters. Additional staff support is provided by financial aid work study and other student employees. To avoid conflicts of interest, the attorneys are not employed by the university. Student legal services maintains their own account, audited annually by an outside accounting firm, and is reimbursed monthly by the university from student legal service fees paid by the students. The approximate number of annual individual cases is 3,000 and grows steadily each year. Services provided include: advice on legal matters, correspondence and phone calls on students' behalf, settlement negotiations, drafting of legal documents, legal document review, court representation in civil matters of $10,000 or less, criminal expungements, resource referrals, educational materials, workshops, panel discussions, seminars, and advisement and representation on legal matters for registered student groups/student government/student media/union activities board. The top types of cases handled are: criminal; landlord/tenant; immigration; traffic; and domestic/estate. Student legal services is unable to provide representation for the following: disputes between two nc state students, disputes with nc state university, disputes against the state of north carolina, disputes which would violate the attorney's duties under the rules of professional conduct as set out by the north carolina bar, disputes outside the legal parameters of the prepaid legal plan, and disputes that require appearances outside of the north carolina counties of wake/durham/orange/johnston/ franklin. Campus and community involvement encompasses the following: alcohol coalition, asap (alliance for sexual assault prevention), wake county domestic violence task force, national legal aid and defender association, academic courses, on-site weekly vet school appointments, orientations, housing fair, open houses, panels, seminars, conferences, and advisement of student organizations.