Above photo: Student Government attorney general Marion Nuraj is offering the Legal Aid program to USF St. Petersburg students in need of legal advice. Courtesy of Marion Nuraj
By Luke Cross
Student Government’s office of the attorney general is offering a program that provides USF St. Petersburg students with free legal advice.
The Legal Aid program pairs students with local licensed attorneys looking for pro-bono work. The attorneys provide students with advice on any legal issue – including criminal charges, traffic tickets, misdemeanors, felonies, divorce or civil law.
“When I was contacted by the solicitor general for the Tampa campus, I jumped on that ship right away,” said Marion Nuraj, Student Government’s attorney general. “It’s just so beneficial for students. Certainly now, with all the negativity going around.”
While the attorneys can provide legal guidance, the program does not include free representation in court.
“Students can get free legal advice, but hiring one of the attorneys needs to be paid for and depends on if the attorney wants to take the case or not,” Nuraj said.
There is no limit to the amount of legal aid appointments a student can request, but the program hasn’t seen much use since it came to USF St. Petersburg.
“USF Tampa has had a Legal Aid program for about a year,” Nuraj said. “We’ve had this program in place for about six months; however, we haven’t had much media coverage so not many students know about it.”
Due to the low demand, there are currently two attorneys partnered with USF. St Petersburg’s Legal Aid program.
“If we get more requests, I’ll look into bringing more lawyers to match student needs. I’m confident we can get more if we need to,” Nuraj said.
Students looking to request legal aid should contact Nuraj, who will provide them with a waiver to fill out before any advice can be given.
“The form and request won’t go on the student’s record or file or anything. It’s here to hold us liable that they won’t use the services to sue the university,” Nuraj said.
The Legal Aid program cannot be used against the university, but legal issues with fellow students are fair game.
“One student can be another student’s tenant, and they can get legal advice on how to fight their tenants decisions,” Nuraj said. “Anything with a legal process surrounding it, the attorneys can help with.”
For more information or to request legal aid, contact attorney general Marion Nuraj at nurajm@mail.usf.edu.
