Students will no longer be able to visit an ASG-funded lawyer for free legal advice starting next quarter.
Associated Student Government President Jonathan Webber said he decided not to renew attorney Patty Marinakis' contract, thus closing the Student Legal Services office, because the service was expensive and was not being used enough.
Part-time attorney Marinakis meets for free with full-time students who need legal advice, providing up to one hour of counseling per case. Cases can range from landlord-tenant disputes to underage drinking offenses. The Student Legal Services office, located at Norris University Center, was started in 2002 and is financed by the Student Activities Fee, a $44 quarterly payment included in undergraduate tuition.
Marinakis is supervised directly by the ASG president, and her contract length varies year to year at the president's discretion. This year, her contract was only one quarter long and Webber chose not to renew it for Winter Quarter, he said.
"This was by far the hardest decision I've had to make as ASG president," Webber said. "It's something I took very seriously and thought about it for months - it deals with somebody's job."
After consulting with the rest of the Executive Board and ASG adviser Helen Wood, Webber, a Weinberg senior, said it was not financially responsible for ASG to continue paying for the services. Not enough students knew about or used it, despite ASG's attempts at advertising, he said.
Webber also said that for each student who met with Marinakis, it cost ASG a little more than $300. He declined to give exact numbers for how many students used the service.
Out of ASG's $68,000 internal budget, $35,000 is used to pay for Marinakis' parking permit, legal databases, office supplies and salary, said Financial Vice President and SESP senior Aneesa Arshad. This quarter, The Graduate School contributed to her salary because of her work with graduate students, which offset some costs.
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