It was on a dark night before Valentine’s Day when Cortney, an English junior, crashed her 1999 Cavalier through an electric construction sign and three orange construction cones at about 55 mph before coasting into an abandoned house on Coolidge Road.

The English junior found herself crawling out of her totaled car’s back seat door to escape the accident after she had two glasses of wine on an empty stomach about an hour before. The 20-year-old also had taken some prescription medication at about the same time. Red roses remained scattered in her passenger seat.

She had a blood-alcohol level of .17. Two hours later at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital, it had hit .21. The legal alcohol level for driving is .10 for people of age in Michigan.

Later that night, when Cortney arrived at East Lansing’s jail, she learned about MSU’s free Student Legal Services provided by ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, and the Council of Graduate Students, the graduate student government.

“There were so many people in that jail,” Cortney said. “It’s amazing that those cops are going back and forth like this is so typical for them. I was crying so hard, and (the police officer) said, ‘This isn’t a big deal. We get a million of these a week.’

“It was shocking. To me, this is like changing my world.”

Free findings

Cortney is one of hundreds of students who were represented by Student Legal Services for alcohol-related crimes so far this year.

Three full-time attorneys assist about 125 or more undergraduate and graduate students per week who are charged with criminal or civil matters. Of those students, more than 50 are represented in court every week during the fall and spring semesters.

Monday through Friday, the attorneys deal with student misdemeanors and acts that caused up to $25,000 worth of damage for up to a year from when the act occurred in Ingham County.

The team confines its representation to district courts in East Lansing, Lansing and Mason. Most of the cases it deals with involve minor in possession of alcohol tickets, and it often has more cases in the fall, when students return to campus. Seniors often use the service for landlord problems, while graduate students use it most often for civil crimes such as landlord and tenant issues.

“Our contract specifically limits what we can do,” said Brian Jeffries, a Student Legal Services attorney. “We get a practice that gets us to represent as many students as we can with the dollars we have.”

Jeffries is representing Cortney, who is being charged with operating under the influence of liquor in East Lansing 54-B District Court.

Cortney’s legal matters do not end there - Jeffries advised her to contest her driving license suspension. After two trial postponements, her court date is undetermined because Jeffries is in the process of plea bargaining.

Student Legal Services advice and referrals are unlimited, although the lawyers can’t represent students outside of district court. Driver’s license contestations are handled through the Secretary of State’s office.

Jeffries referred Cortney to a lawyer who charged her $300 for the hearing. It paid off, she said, because her license is no longer suspended.

“They said if you don’t have a lawyer, (secretary of state officials) are just going to ignore you because they don’t have the time,” Cortney said.

The Student Legal Services law firm, Jeffries & Newton, is collaboratively hired by ASMSU and COGS. In 2001, the firm’s services cost $291,812 and is budgeted this year for $300,440.

ASMSU contributes about 44 percent of its $1 million budget toward Student Legal Services. A portion of ASMSU’s $13 student tax, which is incorporated in undergraduate tuition each semester, partially pays for the service.

COGS contributes about $51,000 to the total Student Legal Services budget, which includes the law firm and Student Defenders, a program offering legal advice for on-campus issues. The total proposed budget for the 2002-03 year is over $400,000.

In March, a $3 ASMSU tax increase referendum was on the universitywide ballot, but failed. The money, which would have brought the semesterly tax for undergraduate students up to $16, would have helped to pay for Student Legal Services. The increasing cost of legal supplies stretches the undergraduate student government’s budget, officials said.

“As long as we continue to expand that service and reach more students, it’s a completely reasonable amount to pay,” ASMSU Student Assembly Chairperson Matt Weingarden said.

On the up and up

While the Student Legal Services adds more expenses every year to account for rising costs, more students have been using the service than in past years. From 1994 spring semester to 2001 spring semester, services have increased about 69 percent.

But Cortney never knew Student Legal Services existed until her accident. She said she couldn’t have fought her drunken driving case without an attorney.

“There’s no way,” she said. “That’s how you slip through the cracks of these systems. You get so much jumbled information. You have no clue what’s going on.

“Everyone is uneducated about ASMSU. It’s just amazing to me that they can offer that service. And what, it’s just a few bucks a student? I mean there’s 40,000 students. A few bucks isn’t going to hurt.”

On other grounds

A look at Stanford University, for instance, which has hired a law firm for the past 10 years, shows MSU to be a more involved operation with fewer lawyers.

Associated Students of Stanford University, Stanford University’s student government, exercises about 10 attorneys from a firm that advises graduate students, undergraduate students, their spouses and domestic partners for free.

Lawyers from the McManis, Faulkner & Morgan law firm comes to the university two days a week, and sees about an average of eight to 10 students each day. About 480 students are advised each year.

Standord’s Legal Counseling Office is funded by students through fees, said Jacquie Faulkner, office coordinator. She said students rate the service highly.

The attorneys limit their services to giving advice and referrals, and they don’t represent students in court unless they pay.

“They think it would be a conflict of interest with their outside practice,” Faulkner said. “They will answer questions about almost anything. They generally refer.”

The lawyer life

It was 18 years ago when Jeffries & Newton, a private law firm, moved its two spacious oak desks into 329 Student Services.

Since then, the attorneys have acquired their offices next door to room 329. Bookcases that line the walls have been filled, pictures of past ventures have been put up and college diplomas are on display.

Jim Newton and Brian Jeffries said representing students has fulfilled their desire to help people who otherwise might not get any legal assistance.

“It’s a different population that you are dealing with - it’s a population that needs services,” Jeffries said. “I think students are taken advantage of many times.”

Newton said he chose representing students instead of working for a larger law firm in a city.

“Practicing in a big firm isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Newton said. “You are kind of the low man on the totem pole. You are doing a lot of work for other people, and putting in a lot of long hours. Sometimes big law firms chew people up.”

Jeffries agreed with Newton in 1984 that representing students was the way to go. At 47, Jeffries has had a variety of different work experiences. Upon graduating from MSU in 1978, he worked at an adult foster care. He also has worked at the state Capitol with a senator and was chairperson for the Ingham County Board of Commissioners where he stayed from 1982 to 1992, the longest continuos tenure in the board’s history.

“It was very satisfying work, but I got exposed to different things, and my interests were elsewhere,” Jeffries said. “I’ve been doing this for 18 years. The fact situations are very different every time - it keeps it fresh.”

In addition to practicing law, Jeffries is a member of the Lansing Housing Commission and is an elected official on the Lansing Community College Board of Trustees.

The two colleagues went to Cooley Law School together from 1981 to 1983. In 1984, they decided to become law firm partners.

“We had a couple of classes together,” Newton said. “A lot of students went their separate ways, but I knew he was still in the area.”

Newton was a law clerk for Student Legal Services the year after he graduated from law school, and knew ASMSU members wanted to expand the program. Before 1984, Student Legal Services was only paid for by ASMSU, and there only was one part-time attorney who practiced at MSU and in downtown Lansing.

By 1984, the part-time attorney had left MSU, and Newton became a full-time attorney. Jeffries worked part-time for about seven or eight years while he kept another part-time practice in Lansing. In 2000, a third attorney, Tim Baumann, was hired into the law firm because of an increase in clients.

Newton didn’t think he would stay at MSU for 18 years, but said he is glad it has worked out to be a fulfilling and rewarding experience.

“With the district court practice, your victories, although they may be small, they are numerous,” Newton said. “The rewarding part is the thanks you get every day from people who have nowhere else to turn, and can’t afford an attorney. They need to speak to somebody about an issue, and that, at the time, is the most important issue in their life.

“I can do that without worrying about being paid by that person so I can take however long it takes to talk with them.”

Newton, 47, said he stays young by working with college students. He taught a high school English class in Three Rivers for three years after he graduated from Central Michigan University in 1977, but realized that wasn’t something he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

“I didn’t want to get burnt out,” the Kalamazoo native said. “I wanted to try something new, and I had always enjoyed the law and debate about the law.”

Among the cases Newton has represented, a March 27-28, 1999, riot case stands out. He defended a student who was charged with damaging a police vehicle.

“Because that was just such a hot issue, that was kind of memorable,” Newton said. “We had a jury trial, and he was acquitted. The case was actually dismissed by the judge. The kid was going to jail if he was convicted, no doubt about it.”

In addition to being a lawyer, Newton is a member of the Kresge Art Museum Board of Directors.

Tim Baumann, 43, has been an attorney with Student Legal Services for about two years.He was an intern in 1998, and became a full-time attorney when the firm was expanding.

Baumann also teaches law classes at Cooley Law School and Lansing Community College.

One of the first MSU students he represented at trial was his most memorable case, he said. A male student was charged with physically pushing over a light pole, which hit a female student. He was acquitted on the charge after five months of the trial process.

“We went through a trial, and trials are very difficult for the client, particularly because it’s not a quick process like you see on TV,” Baumann said.

Baumann said he went to Cooley Law School to help people who probably aren’t in a financial situation to help themselves.

“Really, we are looking for folks to help through the legal system, and they are at a stage in their life where a criminal record is never good,” Baumann said. “Certainly you don’t want to get one while you are in college, and start facing the job market with a brand new college degree, no job experience and a criminal record.”

Baumann, who was raised on a farm in Missouri, has work experience with insurance agencies and a law firm. In 1989, Baumann moved to Lansing to work for Jackson National Life insurance agency as director of communications, but quit his job in 1995 to go to law school.

“I always wanted to practice law, and I knew if I stayed in a corporate environment, I wouldn’t be practicing,” Baumann said. “I could have stayed at Jackson National and made a lot of money, but I wouldn’t have been able to help these folks.”

Learning law

Cortney never thought she would need legal help in college. She never thought she would drink and drive.

But it happened in February.

Although Student Legal Services offers free representation, many payments accompany criminal offenses. Cortney had to pay for the damage she did with her car, car insurance deductible, towing, court time expenses, lab work, police assistance and alcohol education classes. The cost was about $2,400.

Another local law firm, Witzel & Zoeller, charges about $750 for representation on a drunken driving case like Cortney’s.

“I’m extremely lucky my parents had the money to pay for this, but at the same time I’m going to be paying them all summer,” Cortney said. “This is amazing, (Student Legal Services) is free.”

Cortney decided to use Student Legal Services after she convinced her parents the service she learned about at jail it was legitimate.

“They had called around, and called the jail again because they wanted to verify that it was free,” Cortney said. “They were curious if they should call a real lawyer opposed to a fake lawyer. The common misconception I’m assuming is that this is students.”

East Lansing’s 54-B District Court Judge Richard Ball said he can’t comment about Student Legal Services, but said student’s don’t always get court appointed representation if they are not in danger of serving jail time.

“It’s hard to know whether they would get counsel under the circumstances now,” Ball said. “We wouldn’t put any person in jeopardy of jail without a court appointed counsel.”

Diana Cilla, a law clerk for the East Lansing city attorney, said Student Legal Services is a beneficial program.

“It depends on the situation,” she said. “The law can be very complicated. If you ever have a discomfort, go talk to an attorney. It’s like talking to a priest.”

The Student Defenders Program, which gave legal help to about 40 students this semester, works with the law firm to solve problems. The student program works with academic dishonesty, residence hall problems, assault, discrimination and appealing administrative decisions. Public policy analysis senior Rebecca Ford, the former director of the program, said she originally joined the program because she was considering a career in criminal law. A new director is transitioning into the position.

“The lawyers are very helpful to the defenders program,” she said. “It’s good to have that connection with them. Plus, they refer a lot of students to us.

“It can be very rewarding, but it can be hard to deal with. You’re making other students’ problems your own.”

But Cortney said she has learned from her actions and is grateful someone was willing to take on her problems.

“I get good grades,” she said. “I’m involved in lots of different things. And if you looked at me, and who I was, you would never think I went through that. And now that’s an element of my life. I’ve been in jail. I had to go through this. This will follow me for the rest of my life.

“I made a huge mistake, and I thank god there was people that helped me.”

Alison Barker can be reached at barkera6@msu.edu.