Legal Services Program

All students enrolled at the Bowling Green, Ohio campus of Bowling Green State University, including Firelands Pathway students but not eCampus and Distance students, are given the opportunity to enroll in the legal service plan during each Fall, Spring and Summer semester.
Students electing to pay the participation fee may access SLS for individual counseling and representation during that semester, subject to the limitations expressed herein. Legal services will only be available during the academic semester in which the participation fee has been paid. For example, a student paying the participation fee for the Summer semester will not be eligible for services once the Fall semester begins unless that student has also paid the Fall semester participation fee.

Summer semester students who have paid the participation fee for any summer term shall maintain eligibility for services for that entire summer semester.

A student’s waiver of participation during one semester does not prohibit the student from electing to participate in any subsequent semester(s) so long as that student is otherwise eligible.

If a student loses eligibility for any reason while being represented in a pending court proceeding, legal services will be withdrawn at the earliest opportunity that would not unduly prejudice the legal rights of the client.

Legal services are provided to the individual fee-paying student and are not available to faculty, staff, administrators, parents, spouses, dependents, friends or partners of eligible students who are not otherwise personally eligible. Furthermore, no campus organization, student business, student club, fraternity, sorority or other such entity shall be advised or represented by SLS.

The current student legal service participation fee is thirteen dollars ($13.00).

Separate charges

In addition to the student participation fee, each student client will be responsible for any investigative, discovery or other litigation costs, such as travel, depostions, interrogatories, document production, expert witness, subpoena, service of process and copying charges. These costs will be approved by the client prior to being incurred and then passed directly to client for immediate payment.

Other expenses

Filing fees, court costs, fines, damages and other penalties or expenses imposed by the court or administrative agency will be the student client's financial responsibility. Such costs can vary widely among jurisdictions and can depend on the nature of the matter. These costs will be paid directly by the client.

Attorneys will be available at reasonable times during each semester to render legal and referral services to individual BGSU students who have chosen to participate in the legal service plan. SLS attonerys, properly licensed for practice in Ohio, will assist students in the following ways.

Guidance
Legal services will be provided through one-on-one counseling with individual students. Counseling sessions shall provide students with answers to their legal questions, advice on ways to proceed and/or referrals to available resources to assist in resolving the problems. Students may seek advice on a variety of legal topics even if full in-court legal representation is unavailable in that area.

Education
Students will receive education regarding their legal rights and responsibilities through a combination of seminars, workshops, and/or lectures presented by SLS attorneys or sponsored by the SLS office. Additionally, SLS will produce, acquire and distribute law-related publications that will assist students in understanding the law.

Individual students or groups may utilize SLS as a resource for locating sources of legal information or assisting in class projects dealing with the law and the judicial process.

SLS can arrange shadowing opportunities for those students considering careers in the judiciary. Finally, requests for law-related or legal education programs and suggestions for program topics will be given due consideration by SLS.

In-Court Representation
In-court legal representation will only be available to students in the Bowling Green Municipal Court, the Perrysburg Municipal Court, Sandusky County Municipal Court #2 in Woodville, Ohio, the Wood County Court of Common Pleas, the Wood County Court of Appeals, and the Ohio Supreme Court.
Typical matters in which representation will be available include the following:

Actions between landlords and students

• ADA compliance
• Drafting/reviewing/interpreting lease
• Emotional support animal
• Eviction defense
• Fair housing complaints
• Illegal entry
• Obtaining necessary repairs
• Parking/towing
• Rodent/vermin/bed bug infestation
• Roommate agreements
• Security deposit disputes
• Snow removal/yard care issues
• Sub-lease agreements
• Utility disconnects

Actions involving the defense of a student charged with a misdemeanor crime

• Assault/menacing
• Criminal damaging/mischief
• Disorderly conduct
• Driving under the influence
• Inducing panic
• Interrogation meetings
• Littering/failure to clear premises
• Marijuana/paraphernalia possession
• Nuisance party host
• Obstructing official business
• Open container
• Petty theft
• Presenting false identification/misrepresentation
• Resisting arrest
• Search warrant
• Tampering with fire alarm/false alarm
• Traffic offenses
• Trespassing
• Underage alcohol possession/consumption/intoxication/furnishing
• Zoning violations

Actions involving consumer transactions

• Breach of warranties
• Garnishment wage/bank
• Identity theft
• Internet fraud
• Lemon law violations
• Negotiation with debt collectors
• Review of consumer transactions/contracts

Actions involving the resolution of domestic matters

• Civil protection/anti-stalking orders
• Domestic violence
• Name changes
• Paternity dispute resolution
• Marriage dissolution

Actions involving conversion of property

• Recovery of unlawfully held property
• Victims of crime reparations

Miscellaneous matters

• Collateral consequences of conviction
• Conferences, mediation, and/or negotiations
• Early probation termination proceedings
• Employment contracts review
• Estate planning document drafting or review
• Investigation and factual research
• Non-compete agreements
• Notary services
• Record sealing/expungement
• Simple wills, living wills, medical power of attorneys

Eligible students should contact SLS directly to schedule an appointment with an attorney. 

Same day appointments are typically available. Appointments may be made during regular office hours, when classes are in session. SLS is closed Saturdays, Sundays, all University holidays and when classes are not in session.

For a specific determination regarding your legal needs, you must meet with SLS for an explanation of the services, if any, available to you.

All members of the legal profession in Ohio practice law subject to the restrictions of the Rules of Professional Conduct as expressed by the Ohio Supreme Court. The obligation of a lawyer to preserve the confidences and secrets of a client is controlled by strict policies. Therefore, information regarding a student may not be released to third parties, even parents or guardians, without prior written authorization from the client.

Students encountering a legal emergency between semesters may qualify for services under certain circumstances. A legal emergency is understood as an arrest or other unforeseen legal matter requiring a court appearance that cannot be delayed until the start of the next semester. Ordinarily, legal emergencies are limited to situations in which students have been arrested, are being held in jail, and/or are being evicted. Legal emergencies do not typically include cases where a student desires to initiate a court proceeding. If a legal emergency exists, a student must have paid the participation fee for the preceding semester and be a continuing fee-paying student.

Many legal problems are complex and continuing in nature. As a result, clients may initiate a legal action while eligible for services and find that the case is still pending later when they are no longer an eligible student. For example, a court action may begin during the Spring semester and a court date be scheduled for the middle of summer. If the student does not attend classes, pay tuition and the participation fee during that Summer semester, he/she would not fall within the normal eligibility requirements.
For this reason, to guarantee continuity of services, to protect individual clients’ interests and to preserve the professional responsibility of the attorney involved, continued services are available on the following basis.

• If a student is involved in an unresolved legal matter initiated during a semester in which he/she paid the legal fee then SLS will normally continue to represent that student until the case is concluded, subject to any other limitations in this document. If, however, alternative legal services are available, without unreasonable interference in the progress of the case, SLS may withdraw in favor of such alternative services consistent with the ethical obligations of all attorneys.
• At no time will a student be eligible for continued service for purposes of initiating a separate legal matter; extended eligibility for legal services is provided as a measure for protecting the client once a legal procedure has been initiated.

Subject to the foregoing, SLS will withdraw from any case as follows: after final judgment is rendered, when the client fails to meet other requirements for coverage, when the client is no longer a BGSU student, or the legal matter is otherwise resolved. Clients desiring to initiate new and differing legal matters must be eligible for legal services at that time.

If a legal problem falls outside of our domain, a student will be referred for legal assistance to private attorneys or other appropriate resources. Even if representation is not provided for a legal problem, students are encouraged to meet with SLS for education and referral.

Legal Restrictions
In compliance with Ohio law governing operation of the legal service plan, representation will not be provided for the following:

• Actions between students and BGSU, including code of conduct violations
•  Actions between students of BGSU
• Actions against a member of the Board of Regents, Board of Trustees, faculty or staff of BGSU
• Actions against a state officer or agency arising out of the performance of the officer or agency
• Any other actions specifically prohibited by Ohio Revised Code § 3345.022, and may be amended from time to time.

Policy Restrictions
Due to consideration of the costs in terms of time, energy, money, expertise required and value to the student community as a whole, representation will not be provided for matters such as the following:

• Actions involving intellectual property such as copyright and patent issues;
• Actions involving a student that is charged with a felony;
• Actions involving immigration and/or naturalization;
• Actions involving representation in the Federal court system, including bankruptcy;
• Actions in which a conflict of interest arises;
• Actions in which representation may typically be secured through private counsel without the payment of money in advance of the resolution of suit (i.e. contingent fee cases);
• Actions in which the attorney’s involvement is likely to have little or no impact on the outcome of the case and/or matters in which the student can provide adequate representation on his/her own (i.e. parking tickets);
• Actions involving the provision of services normally performed by non-lawyers (i.e. financial planning, tax returns);
• Actions involving pre-existing legal problems;
• Actions involving excessive time or expertise if, in the judgment of the attorney, assistance or representation for such a case would unduly monopolize program resources to the disadvantage of other students. Typically, civil cases under the jurisdiction of the common pleas court will fall into this category.

If any student believes that SLS should reconsider the foregoing policy restrictions due to changes in student community needs or for other legitimate reasons, the student may petition the Undergraduate Student Government, the Graduate Student Government, the Vice President of Student Affairs and Vice Provost, or the SLS Managing Attorney for consideration of the proposed expansion of services among these various university representatives.

Any student asserting a claim that the representation provided would be unethical, improper, or inadequate under the circumstances of the matter involved will be referred to the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, or designee, for adjudication and appropriate relief determination. Upon such a finding and need for relief, SLS will pay for the legal services rendered by selected counsel to the extent that such services were covered under the plan and in an amount equal to the cost that would have been incurred if the plan had furnished designated counsel, as provided in Rule XVI 5(E) and (F) of the Supreme Court Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio.

SLS may not, according to the Rules of Professional Conduct, represent both sides in the same lawsuit. Therefore, if two eligible students are adversely involved in a single legal action, SLS can assist only one student, and then, only if both parties agree which one will use the program services and if the other waives the right to service from the program. When agreement on waiver is not reached, both parties will be referred to outside counsel or other agencies. Once it has been determined that, because of conflict of interest, service will be denied to both adversaries in a dispute, neither adversary will be represented by SLS in the dispute at any future time, even if one party leaves school or otherwise loses eligibility for service.

A student who seeks counseling and representation from SLS has certain obligations as a client. These basic duties are vital to any successful attorney/client relationship.

• Always advise SLS of any change of address or telephone number at the earliest opportunitiy
• Always attend all scheduled appointments, hearings or trials
• Bring all documentation or other information relating to the legal problem to any meeting with your attorney
• Communicate openly and honestly, the attorney must know all the facts, both good and bad, to properly represent a student
• Be prepared to pay for all sheriffs' service fees, filing fees, fines and other court costs necessary to prepare, file or conclude the case.

Students who consistently schedule appointments and then fail to make them without advance notice risk losing their SLS eligibility for the semester. SLS has a "no-show" policy to discourage this practice. Should a student schedule an appointment and fail to keep that appointment or cancel on at least two (2) separate occasions in any single semester, that student will lose SLS eligibility for the remainder of that semester.

By mutual agreement, SLS and BGSU may modify or amend their contact agreement to ensure that SLS remains responsive to the needs of the BGSU student body.