2008 Woodie Awards
UI's student-to-attorney ratio among worst in Big Ten
Carla Keppler - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Metro
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A single attorney advises the UI's 29,000 students.
Numbers gathered by Student Legal Services from seven Big Ten universities and several national institutions found the UI had the worst student-to-attorney ratio in the Big Ten and second worst nationally.
The organization stumbled upon these statistics in January after submitting its annual budget to the UI Student Government.
"My main concern is that students aren't getting represented when they really need to," said Greg Bal, the sole Student Legal Services attorney, adding that a second lawyer would increase efficiency of service, decrease the learning curve for interns, and lessen the office workload.
Since Bal's arrival in May 2007, the legal office has seen a 28 percent increase in clients, according to statistics provided by the organization.
Employees attribute this "fairly significant" boost to a combination of advertising, word of mouth, and informational presentations given to UI students.
This means heavier workloads for the staff.
As the sole attorney supervising one part-time and four full-time law-student interns, Bal is responsible for overseeing all of the office's activity - from initial meetings with clients to final proceedings in court.
Bal said that with only one lawyer covering an increased number of incoming students, the work has become less efficient in terms of services the office can and should provide students.
"I'm not as interested with the statistics as I am in giving students what they're entitled to," he said. "I think every student who pays the activity fee should have access to our service; unfortunately, students don't always get that because we fill up so fast."
While some students must wait up to two weeks to receive legal advice, the office handles emergency situations by coming into work early, staying late, or working on weekends.
Andrew Henning, the undergraduate director of Student Legal Services, said that operating under a single lawyer is "inconvenient" and makes it "very difficult to make sure that students receive information" they need.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Daniel Slade
posted 3/07/08 @ 7:32 AM CST
Not all Big 10 schools allow legal interns to work in their respective student legal services offices. For the comparison across schools, this bit of information should have been provided. (Continued…)
JW Haga
posted 3/07/08 @ 10:14 AM CST
What part of 1 Degreed, Licensed Attorney to 29,000 students didn't you understand?
The use of interns is irrelevant when you consider only an attorney can actually plead/argue in any student case ranging beyond simply advising or referring to brief, finding, statute or case law. (Continued…)
Daniel Slade
posted 3/07/08 @ 3:18 PM CST
JW Haga,
While I apparently don't "understand" the finer points of this article, I was able to locate Iowa Court Rule 31.15 (which is a part of the Iowa Code) which reads as follows:
31. (Continued…)
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