Student Legal Services - Bloomington, Indiana

Iryna V.

I received the legal help I needed on a very important issue, and it was covered by my student fees. You work with an intern (from IU Law school) who is supervised by a certified lawyer all along the process. Overall, I had a good experience working with them, although the wait time can be slightly longer than when working with the paid lawyer, but I think it is worth the wait.

Hannah L.

I used student legal services this last school year when I had to sue my landlord for negligence after our living room floor caved in and I had to go to the emergency room. I felt way in over my head and Marc, my attorney, was so compassionate, friendly, and helpful!! He made the whole process so easy to understand and was just awesome. I had a similar experience with everyone I spoke with in the office. And best of all, I won my case! I’ve never had such a positive experience with a student service before. I truly couldn't recommend them, Marc especially, enough.

Dohyun L.

I used the service three times before. I think the service quality depends on who the attorney supervisor for the legal intern addressing your case is. In two out of the three cases I had, they helped me well prepared. I could do resolve the problems. In the other case, I decided to meet up with the attorney supervisor as I did not agree with the person. I had a lengthy discussion in which I found the supervisor could not convince me much. The attorney said my case stank a lot, but they wanted to close the case as it would be exhausting. The lawyer supervisor gave me some more reasons. I did not believe the supervisor’s argument and reasons why they wanted to close the case, but I saved my words because the attorney became a little aggressive and talked like an unreasonable panel on TV discussion programs (unconvincing reasons to close the case). The lawyer told me that I had to believe what the person said just because the person was a qualified lawyer. As you know, it is a sort of red flag that an individual wants to rule over the other without a sound rationale. I ended up to go to a paid lawyer for me. I am not saying I was totally right. But, the supervisor lawyer did not do well in convincing me to believe what the person explained. The examples the attorney used did not seem objective, and the person relied on the authority much.

The supervisor attorney could be right about the case, but I did not feel that I was convinced based on good examples and understanding.

In summary, you may have either really good service or bad one, depending on who the attorney supervisor is for your legal intern. It is my experience. However, I cannot deny that the Student Legal Service is a precious asset for students at Indiana University. Just...I recommend the legal office better care about how the attorney supervisors deliver the service. Maybe, they can let clients evaluate the attorneys for the better service quality in the middle or the end of the service.

PS: I hope my one experience does not discredit the other good lawyer supervisors' and interns' work. In two of the three cases, I met good people there.

Lark F.

I have used SLS twice, once for a leasing issue and the other for drafting a Living Will. If you are an enrolled IUB student and are in need of any legal advice/help (like say you want a living will drafted or housing contract looked over before you sign it), I HIGHLY recommend SLS.

Vaishnavi M.

I had a great experience with SLS.
They knew what they were doing and helped out with every aspect of my case.
My issue has been completely resolved.
The legal intern who worked with me (Siyu) is great to talk to and very professional.
The best part is that it’s free!
(legal service is included in the activity fee)
Overall I would recommend SLS for any legal matter.

C G.

I’ve utilized Student Legal multiple times over many years and would STRONGLY advise against it. On more than one occasion, the advice I received caused harm to my case. Other times, the advice was directly contradictory to advice received from qualified lawyers in such a way as to not protect or advance my own needs in the case. SLS advice seems to exist first and foremost to avoid any possible liability to the University.

Toby K.

I think their outreach programs are really great, and love that they work with residential life and other campus partners.
That being said, it is a free service and many of my friends who have had cases with them have expressed disappointment and even anger at how things were handled.

Emmett B.

They wasted several weeks of my time just to inform me they couldn’t take on my case on account of information they were well aware of prior to the intake session.