A free law firm, run out of Houston Hall

One female student was assaulted by a cab driver. Another was the victim of a hit-and-run.

And both found help in an office in Houston Hall.

Legal Services - a joint initiative of the Undergraduate Assembly and the Graduate and Professional School Assembly - sees about 50 students a year, according to UA Chairman and Wharton senior Brett Thalmann.

Students can meet with a professional lawyer - usually in the Office of Student Life in Houston Hall - for up to 30 minutes, free of charge. The lawyer - James Higgins, who runs his own law firm in the Philadelphia suburbs - is paid by the University, although he would not say which division specifically funded him.

Penn's General Counsel Wendy White approached Higgins four years ago, he said, about starting such a program at Penn. Higgins said the program has proven a valuable student service ever since.

"I did this because I was hoping to give students who had legal problems some comfort," Higgins said. "A feeling that they could get an answer to their questions . [and] a solution to their problem."

The consultations usually end in a referral to another lawyer.

"It's a free service," Thalmann said, one "that's really great for students who are away from home who would [normally] get advice from family or people they know."

Since the program is a University-sponsored one, Higgins cannot deal with cases involving landlord-tenant disputes or suits involving the University.

"It's a fairly common type of program," Director of Student Life Fran Walker said. "He takes cases on a contractual basis . [and the cases] are kept confidential."

Higgins operates his own office in Newtown Square and travels down to Penn several times a semester to consult with students.

He has worked with a slew of different agencies and corporations, ranging from the Federal Trade Commission to the military contractor Raytheon to the U.S. Navy as a judge advocate in Vietnam and San Francisco.

But his job at Penn is to "work at a basic level "with students, he said, since students only get a half hour of his time.

And while those with whom he consults don't always keep him informed of new developments in their cases, he does occasionally hears news of how they are doing.

The student who was assaulted by a cab driver is "moving toward getting a monetary settlement from the cab company," Higgins said.

Another student who received a falsified check when he sold his car was eventually able to retrieve the vehicle.

Penn Law professor Douglas Frenkel, who runs a pro bono program that offers free legal services to poor local residents, said he sees the clear benefits of the Legal Services program.

Such a program "strikes me as a good idea," Frenkel said. "Students . can easily have needs on the legal field, just like in the medical [and] psychological fields."

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