Student Legal Services (SLS) offers many services to OU students. These services range from consultations to healthcare planning and more. For more information on the services that SLS provides, please review the below. If you have further questions, please contact SLS.
All legal advice offered through SLS is personal to the student’s unique circumstance and is most often provided through individual private consultations. Legal education services are usually delivered similarly, but can sometimes be made available in a group setting through presentations or via shared online resources.
SLS provides free legal consultations to clients in a variety of formats. Students can become clients of SLS by completing the intake process.
Intake and Consent form – When a student completes and submits this form, they become a client of SLS. This form establishes the limited attorney-client relationship, which grants the student the protections of confidentiality and privilege. This form also allows for screening for conflict(s) of interest and availability of services. The attorney cannot discuss a student’s legal matter or provide any assistance until the completed form is received and reviewed. Students should submit this form prior to booking their consultation.
In person appointments: In-person appointments are held in the SLS office, located on the 4th floor of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Room 428. Sometimes students are uncomfortable discussing their legal matter in any format but a face-to-face conversation.
Video Conferencing Appointments: Video appointments are conducted over Zoom and are arranged through the scheduling platform, Calendly. This may be best-option for individuals who commute, are most comfortable meeting from home, etc.
Telephone Appointments: The protocol for when a student selects a consultation by phone is as follows:
Email Consultations: Email consultations are often overlooked and undervalued, but they can be especially helpful in a variety of situations, particularly those that are heavy with documentation, such as Landlord-Tenant conflicts. The attorney responds to email consultations as her schedule allows, rather than at specific times. In practice, this often means that students can get a response faster through email than with other formats, and it provides students with a written evaluation for future reference.
Please Note: The consultation cannot take place until the client's intake and consent form and supporting documentation has been submitted and received and attorney has had meaningful time to review prior to consultation. In the event that these items have not been received, your consultation may be rescheduled at the attorney's discretion.
What are Limited-Scope Services?
Oklahoma is among a growing number of states that permit attorneys to practice law on a “limited-scope” basis, which is sometimes referred to as “a la carte legal” or “unbundling”. This allows for less than full representation and promotes access to justice by authorizing attorneys to help individuals at a transactional level on a short-term basis – in effect offering guidance to clients representing themselves pro se. For more information, you may visit the following webpage.
Limited-Scope Service Areas Include:
If you have questions over whether your legal issue may be addressed through limited-scope services, please contact SLS.
SLS can provide notarial services to students free of charge, but appointments are required. Students must bring the unsigned original of their document(s) along with their photo ID. The services that Oklahoma notary publics are able to provide include acting as a witness or attesting to signatures on documents, acknowledging a declaration, administering an oath or affirmation, and certify copies of certain documents. There are several other notaries on campus. Please note, the maximum fee per document stamp that can be charged by law is $5.00. Please be aware that when using SLS as a notary, no legal advice may be given regarding the forms presented for services.
In situations where students need assistance beyond limited-scope services, SLS can provide referral resources to local private counsel.
Student Legal Services strives to maintain a variety of legal education programs on topics of particular interest to students. Existing programs can often be customized to fit the needs of your group, or you can send a proposal for a new program. If you are interested in a collaboration, please email SLS.
Limitations
In addition to our consultation and representation services, SLS is available to give presentations to student organizations on topics of law that impact university students. To request a specific presentation for your organization, please reach out to the SLS office.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not constitute the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; SLS does not recommend or endorse the contents of third-party sites. SLS reserves the right to modify the program, with or without notice.
The SLS program is a department within the Division of Student Affairs.
