Kansas University students have a friend in the legal business, although not many of them realize it.

“We are basically a free law office for KU students, but I’m not sure enough of them know what we can do for them,” said Jo Hardesty, director and managing attorney for Kansas University’s Legal Services for Students.

Jo Hardesty, director and managing attorney for Kansas University's Legal Services for Students, left, and attorney Lauren Reinhold consult on a recent tax case for an international Kansas University student.

Located in the basement of the Burge Union, the service can provide legal advice, or in some cases actual representation, to any student enrolled in a class at KU’s Lawrence campus.

Every student enrolled at the Lawrence campus pays a $6 per semester fee to support the service and its three attorneys and six law students.

“Every student pays the fee each semester whether they use the service or not,” Hardesty said. “But then when they do use the service, it’s free. They don’t have to pay anymore.”

Hardesty said it is a valuable service to many KU students. She estimated her office served between 2,000 and 3,000 students in the past year.

“We get quite a few things that aren’t major crimes but rather are examples of college kids not thinking about what they’re doing when they are doing it,” Hardesty said. “We see quite a bit of alcohol-related offenses, some fake IDs, some shoplifting.”

Working to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants is the most common type of case the office handles, Hardesty said.

“That’s a real typical situation for us because almost all students live off-campus and almost all of them rent, and landlords and tenants don’t always get along,” Hardesty said.

Hardesty said when it comes to landlord-tenant issues, the office puts a heavy emphasis on making sure students understand their rights and obligations and on giving advice on how to stay out of disputes in the first place.

“We always tell them to read things before they sign them, save copies of correspondence and paperwork, put all agreements in writing, and get names of people you are talking to over the phone,” Hardesty said. “If you do some of those things it can make your life easier down the road.”

But landlord-tenant cases are one of the few types of cases the office can actually provide courtroom representation for students. Hardesty said the office does take several cases to court during a year. Like the department’s other services, there’s no fee for the courtroom representation, which means students are saving, in some cases, thousands of dollars on legal fees.

The other type of case the service can provide courtroom representation on is in consumer disputes, such as when students buy cars, stereos or other big-ticket items and believe they somehow have been ripped off.