Associated Student Government opened an office on the third floor office of Norris University Center last month called Student Legal Services. The name suggests that Patty Marinakis, the office’s attorney, is a zealous advocate who can represent students against uncooperative landlords or intimidating prosecutors. In reality, though, ASG’s Student Legal Services offers nothing of the sort. Although money from the Student Activity Fee pays her $30,000 salary, Marinakis can provide little more than a one-hour consultation that students could receive from local attorneys. This is ASG at its most wasteful.
According to ASG President Jordan Heinz, Student Legal Services replaces the defunct Legal Aid Office, which was a group of pre-law students who gave free legal advice to other students.
“We decided to make this a better service,” Heinz said.
The ASG service allows each Northwestern undergraduate a one hour long consultation per quarter. But is one hour really enough time to explore most legal issues confronting students?
Despite Marinakis’ eagerness to help students, the terms of her contract with the university severely restrict the kinds of issues on which she can advise students. A student cannot get advice about a conflict with another student or with the university administration. It would be unfair, Marinakis says, for one student to use the service against another student, when they’re both paying the ASG activity fee.
In addition to these exclusions, Marinakis is hampered by one additional term of the contract ASG approved: Marinakis cannot represent NU students in disputes. She can only advise them.
“My role is to give advice about basic rights and responsibilities under law or contracts. I cannot represent (students) on an ongoing basis,” Marinakis said.
The distinction between advising and representing is significant. Not only is Marinakis prohibited from initiating lawsuits or representing students, she also cannot contact third parties, such as a negligent landlord, on the behalf of students. A simple phone call to your landlord from an attorney could be sufficient motivation in many cases for your landlord to patch that hole in the ceiling. If this is the legal help you need, Marinakis can tell you only to find another lawyer who can actually provide it.
It is in this way that ASG’s student legal service falls far short of a similar service at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Like NU’s service, UIUC’s is funded by student activity fees. Three full-time attorneys supervise law student interns who represent students in court.
Marinakis’ experience and enthusiasm for working with college students make her a fine choice for the position. A 1994 graduate from the John Marshall Law School, she has worked as a senior real estate attorney for Bridgestone/Firestone.
Marinakis’ abilities, however, are squandered by the constraints of her contract with NU. Her capacity to serve as an attorney is too constricted. Lawyers often provide free initial consultations. Since Marinakis is prohibited from making even a single phone call on a student’s behalf, ASG offers NU undergraduates something they could receive for free elsewhere. And they’re spending roughly $30,000 a year to do so.