Tucked away in room 0367 across from the M-Shop in the Memorial Union is Student Legal Services.

Funded by the Government of the Student Body and free to currently enrolled ISU students, SLS has offered students legal service since 1985 and continues to assist in advising students and student groups about personal and academic cases.

Landlord/tenant cases run in high volume in the SLS office, as well as other kinds of administrative issues such as driver’s license problems, criminal and immigration cases and family law issues.

This year Nick Davis, junior in political science, consulted the SLS office with an issue he encountered with his summer employer.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to get paid, so I didn’t really know how to go about getting that money that I was owed, so I went and talked to them,” Davis said.

Davis didn’t end up having to pursue legal action, but appreciated the advice that SLS provided and the benefits that it provides for students.

“I think it’s a cheap way to figure out what you need to do so you don’t have to talk to an attorney outside campus and get charged for a consultation when you don’t know if you actually need them or not, and it’s really convenient,” Davis said.

Michael Levine and Paul Johnson, the two lawyers in the office, and office manager and secretary Debbie Carter do not limit their services to just civil matters and have gone to court on specific cases.

However, SLS does not handle any fee-generating cases where personal injury or insurance is involved or any other types where private attorneys are typically involved.

With new laws and a lack of knowledge that accompanies them, SLS is at the students’ service to assist them in their needs.

“We have a long history on this campus,” Levine said. “Our feedback from the students we serve is that they’re very appreciative that we’re here, and that we save the resources they need for school and also provide a lot of assistance with some pretty serious things that can come up.”