The offices of Student Legal Services are tucked away on the bottom floor of the Student Center Building B, which most students probably glance at fleetingly on their way to Price Center or Main Gym. If you squint through the trees as you ride the loop shuttle to York, you might spot the front door. It makes you wonder if they don’t want you to find them.
An employee at Student Legal Services waits at the reception desk to direct appointments and walk-ins.
Nothing could be further from the truth, which is especially fortunate if you’ve got some legal issues or questions. Director Elyce C. Morris works hard to let students know that SLS is there for all kinds of problems.
“We empower students in dealing with legal issues, because people think they can take advantage of them,” Morris said.
She cited academic misconduct, landlord/tenant issues, consumer fraud, breach of contract, drugs and family issues as the most common sources of problems for which students seek SLS’ help, but stressed that students come for all sorts of other reasons.
Thinking about starting a business? SLS can inform you of the legal hurdles you may face, and how to prepare for them. Getting divorced? It happens more often at UCSD than you might think. Need your income taxes done? Ask for help before the IRS breaks down your door at night.
What trips up students the most, according to Morris, is their reluctance to ask for help, which causes delays in rectification. In life, as in academia, students can’t seem to avoid the procrastination demon. Morris estimated that SLS sees at least two or three students a week with problems that could have been avoided. “They tell us, ‘I didn’t think it was serious enough,’ and the problem is now even worse,” she said. “The Internet frustrates me, because anyone can put anything on it — good information and incorrect information. Some people find information that they agree with and then stop researching. I ask them where they found the information, and they say, ‘Well, it was posted by a guy with the screen name KermittheFrog.’ If you don’t get help from us, at least seek a reputable source, like a governmental agency.”
The programs that SLS runs are designed specifically with such prevention in mind. For example, most students will go out into the big, bad world of suburban San Diego at the end of their second year, sometimes agreeing to rental contracts with only the barest idea of what they’re signing — a problem SLS attempts to address with a “Moving Off-Campus” series held during the months of April and June.
“Our workshop makes a major difference in people’s lives when they just give us 30 minutes to tell them about what they can legally do, what they’re signing when they sign a lease, what happens when they’re evicted or are breaking a lease,” Morris said. “And at the end of the year, the majority of what we see are problems with tenancy agreements.”
Service-oriented students — or those just looking for extracurricular activities and a good reference for law school — can find opportunities there as well. SLS offers internships that, while unpaid, feature a lot more one-on-one time and direct experience than most law firms may offer. Programs like the Community Law Project and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance offer students the opportunity to get training and experience in tax and family law and serve the UCSD and general community.
“There is not anything we haven’t heard,” Morris said. “There’s no value judgment here. No one will say you are a ‘bad’ person.” She even points out the box of Kleenex on her desk for when students get overwhelmed — “So I say seek the help and get it.”
