In the fall of 1999 the Legal Aid Clinic and the state-wide Court Assistance Offices Project teamed to create the Pro Se Clinic at the College of Law.

This cooperative effort allows second and third year law students to staff the Court Assistance Office in the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. Students assist predominantly self-represented litigants, two-thirds of whom are involved in family cases, including divorce, domestic violence, custody and modification proceedings.

Other matters include:

• Small Claims
• Landlord/tenant
• Name change
• Adoption, and
• Guardianship cases

Student interns screen patrons for eligibility for free or reduced fee legal services and assist them in applying for those services offered by the Legal Aid Clinic, Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program, the Legal Resource Line operated by the Idaho Law Foundation, Idaho Legal Aid services and Legal Aid's Domestic Violence Hotline.

Students also direct patrons to legal research materials and teach them the steps involved in conducting research;

• assist patrons in selecting the appropriate standard court forms to use for routine matters;
• outline the basic procedural steps for court actions; and
• provide general legal information on a wide variety of subjects.

Students help patrons understand the risks of self-representation, especially in contested cases; and refer to local attorneys, many of whom have agreed to provide a fee free initial consultation. During their staff hours students are required to exercise judgment and their legal knowledge to provide the appropriate assistance, and specific forms and instructions.

The classroom component trains the students to work effectively in the office and covers the substantive and procedural law that routinely comes up in the clinic. Students have a variety of assignments designed to familiarize them with the forms and the related legal issues plus the option of a research paper or an approved program project each semester.

Frances Thompson, Adjunct Faculty