The University of Wisconsin Legal Information Center is hoping to better help the Madison community with possible legal concerns by providing collaborative information between law and undergraduate students.
Director and UW law student Sean Drury said the Center aims to help students and the Madison community understand legal issues affecting them and to provide the relevant information to face these issues.
According to Drury, the Center addresses information on a variety of legal issues, including landlord problems and security deposit return issues. They also look at basic criminal issues, although these often lead to referrals to other community organizations.
The Center’s volunteers are comprised of UW undergraduate students and law students, Drury said. He added this means they can only provide information and not formal legal advice, which must be presented by an attorney.
“The LIC tries to be a one-stop shop or a resource for people that have a legal issue that they need more information on,” Drury said. “A lot of the time people think something isn’t right, but they’re not exactly sure what it is.”
According to Drury, the Center is unique in that it works with both undergraduates and law students. The Center has a campus office in the Student Activity Center and is staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said.
Drury said about 140 students volunteer with the Center, and about 50 percent of their clients are students. Each volunteer receives training on legal information and issues prior to working at the Center, he said.
“The goal is to help people begin to navigate the legal system,” Drury said.
He added the Center provides information by describing legal issues, at times with pamphlets, or through referrals to other community organizations when a client needs more resources.
According to UW political science professor Howard Schweber, a challenge to this type of organization would be ensuring the center provides information, rather than formal legal advice or representation.
“Most legal clinics provide legal representation,” Schweber said. “This seems like a low-key effort.”
Most college legal clinics utilize both law students and attorneys to provide more formal advice, Schweber said. However, he added UW’s center could be beneficial by providing information when students or community members do not know how to address their legal problems.
“It’s an enormous problem when people don’t know where to turn,” Schweber said. “It’s all good to get legal information out to the public, especially if the forum is to tell people where to go. That seems to be only positive.”
One new feature at the center this year is an increased effort to receive feedback from clients. Drury said the Directors have added a feedback section on the Center’s website and that reactions to the Center have been favorable.
“We didn’t know for sure if that information was providing help,” Drury said. “So we added that to hear more from clients after they used our service, and feedback has been generally good.”
While the Legal Information Center has taken many different forms at UW, Drury said it has been available to students either on or off-campus since the late 1960s. He added they now operate from both an ASM operations grant as well as a grant from the Student Bar Association at UW’s Law School.
“First and foremost, we serve the Madison community,” Drury said. “We’re reminding them that we’re here and available for any question that they have.”
