Associated Student Government senators will vote tonight on a budget that would allocate $40,000 to fund a part-time lawyer who would counsel students.
ASG President Adam Humann said the lawyer would help students with minor legal problems, such as underage drinking and parking tickets, and advise off-campus students on problems with landlords.
But the lawyer would not be able to help students take any legal action against Northwestern, said Thomas Cline, NU’s deputy general counsel.
“We’re not going to support a lawyer that’s going to be suing us,” Cline said. “We’re not going to allow student funds to be used for that purpose.”
Humann said NU would pay for an on-campus office, and Cline said NU’s general counsel would create a list of candidates from which ASG could choose. The lawyer would work eight hours a week, and students would pay for any courtroom appearances. Humann said he hopes to find a lawyer who will offer discounted rates.
ASG Treasurer Nick Kacprowski said an NU lawyer would help students from outside Illinois, who often do not know where to turn for legal aid.
“Most students’ parents are out of state, all the lawyers they know are from out of state, and they get caught in the Illinois legal system and they don’t know what to do,” he said.
Members of A&O Productions said a lawyer could speed up NU’s contract-approval process.
Director of Concerts Josh Pool said NU took nearly a month to approve their contract with Ben Harper, limiting the time to publicize.
A&O Sen. Neil Shah said the problem would not have occurred if a lawyer were available to approve the contract.
“If the money’s going to come from the student activities fee, then it should be used to facilitate student activities,” said Shah, a Weinberg junior. “Reviewing contracts should be (the lawyer’s) primary responsibility.”
Humann will propose increasing the amount of money budgeted for the lawyer by $10,000 from last year’s request to $40,000 per year.
“With the amount of money we had set aside, the salary we would have been able to offer would not have been near market value,” he said.
ASG requested funding for a lawyer Spring Quarter from the Student Activities Funding Board, but the request was denied.
The student-staffed Legal Aid Office offered assistance to students until Fall Quarter 1999, when it closed due to a lack of student volunteers.
Weinberg junior Heather Fowell, who worked in the office her freshman year, said the office gave more referrals than actual assistance.
“There was a big list on the wall with names of different attorneys in Chicago and Evanston, and we would refer callers to them,” she said.
