Thousands of students take their tales of lost rent deposits, failed marriages and charges of public intoxication to Student Legal Services each year, and any student can benefit from the service.

Student Legal Services handles a “wide variety” of cases, from immigration matters to divorces, family law matters and unemployment cases, said Mike Levine, attorney.

Levine and Paul Johnson have been attorneys at Student Legal Services since 1990.

“I thought it would be a challenging and interesting job, and it certainly has turned out to be so,” Levine said.

Dorinne DeKrey, secretary at Student Legal Services, said the attorneys see about 1,400 students a year.

“It’s a really great service for students, because most students can’t afford an attorney,” DeKrey said.

She said if only $100 or $200 is at stake, students who do not know about Student Legal Services will usually just forego the money instead of paying an attorney to help.

“[The services are] free to students and student organizations,” DeKrey said. She said the program is funded by the Government of the Student Body, which created the office in 1985.

DeKrey said students can walk in to Room B11 in the Memorial Union or call 294-0978 to make an appointment. She said an appointment can usually be set up within a few days.

DeKrey said there are some cases that the attorneys do not handle.

“If it’s a fee-generating case, where someone is suing for bodily injury, for instance … we figure [students] can get anyone to do that,” DeKrey said.

She also said Student Legal Services does not take cases involving a student vs. a student, a student vs. the university or university disciplinary matters. It also does not handle felony defense cases, federal court matters or cases requiring excessive time.

Levine said most of the criminal cases attorneys handle deal with alcohol-related crimes, while most civil cases are related to housing, leasing and landlord-tenant disputes.

“One thing that causes a lot of consternation among students is an Ames Police program called Cops in the Shops,” Levine said. He said the police receive special funding for the project, an undercover operation designed to deter and prevent alcohol consumption by minors.

Levine said Ames Police officers go to businesses that sell alcohol and watch for young people who appear to be with others over 21.

“They focus on conversations they might overhear and any interactions or exchange of money between the people,” Levine said.

He said that while some underage students certainly do ask older friends to buy them alcohol, not all cases that seem suspicious actually involve criminal behavior.

“Otherwise innocent behavior can often appear as criminal behavior,” Levine said. “Sometimes students are just shocked when they get to their cars and a police officer arrests them … when maybe all they did was give a friend a ride to the grocery store.

“We’ve been successful in defending a lot of those people,” he said.

Levine stressed that Student Legal Services is a free service. He said as long as a person is enrolled as an ISU student, full time or part time, he or she can call and make an appointment.

“We will certainly talk to them,” Levine said. “We can’t represent everyone … but we will try to help them out. They have virtually nothing to lose by coming here, and hopefully a lot to gain.”