5. Obtaining a Volunteer Attorney

You will need to ask a volunteer attorney to supervise the case. Please attempt to obtain the services of a volunteer attorney before asking POP’s "in-house" counsel (i.e., law professors or CLC staff). Volunteer attorney lists are located in the POP office. A supervising attorney must review all of the student’s work and sign all documents to be filed in court. Try to notify the volunteer attorney early. Each attorney handles cases differently, so be sure to communicate often with the attorney. Look at the Attorney Notes record located with the volunteer attorney list for notes made by volunteers who have previously worked with that attorney.

Attorney lists are located on the POP desk. Try to contact attorneys who have not taken a case in a while. Most attorneys are willing to do one case each semester.

Record all contacts with attorneys on the volunteer attorney list, so that we know if the attorney has recently accepted a case, declined to take a case, or is on vacation, etc. Record any unique requests that the attorney makes, so that future volunteers can tailor their work to the attorney’s expectations.

As law students, it is impermissible for POP volunteers to engage in the practice of law. It is somewhat difficult to define the boundary that exists between tasks that do and do not constitute the impermissible practice of law. However, as a general rule, it is impermissible for POP volunteers to render legal advice. Only the volunteer attorney actually can represent a client or give legal advice to the client. The job of the POP volunteer is to give the client some information on how the POP action is likely to proceed (which is different from legal advice), facilitate the connection between the client and the volunteer attorney (whether that attorney is from outside or within the law school), draft the forms to be reviewed by the attorney; and deliver those forms to the court. Students must check with their volunteer attorney or a faculty advisors on any case where there is an issue as to how best represent the client or as to what Indiana law provides on a particular issue. Volunteers should remind the client periodically that the client is represented by the volunteer attorney and that the student volunteers are not attorneys and cannot advise the client per se.