Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-07-31
Society Running Full Time.

The society has been running fuil
time since it's organization. This sum-
mer has seen no let-up III Its actiVl-
ties, the Offices on the sixth floor OF
! the new Masonic Temple, being open
Tuesday, Thursday and SATURDAY
nights from to o'clock. The active
members are assigned to take charse
of the Office in rotation, and the man III
charge is responsible for the dlsposi-
ton of all cases coming In during MS
Office hours. Thus, after the manner
of the right sort of college activity, the
law students of George washington
University sharing the somewhat ardu-
GUS duties Of their Legal ana seoh7t ~
are managing to combine pfoHt 10
others with a great deal of profit to
themselves.
The day book of the society shows
that 105 cases have been actively nan
died to date, while numerous others
have been rejected as not coming WITH
in the scope of the work of the society.
The Cases treated by the young Jaw
yers are written up in full, ana all pa
pers connected with the case are hleo
au,av in the private archives of the So
ciety. -;
seated in the office, the student in
charge on any particular night is SIT
uated just as any practiclng attornes
in the door, absolutely unknown to
the lawyer" in charge, of course,
and it is up to him to size up inc
applicant, hear his case, DECIDE i IL
society, and give him the proper ad-
vice. In addition to all this, the law
yer for the night has to ascertain as
best he may whether or not the ap-
plicant is really NEEDY ana eec deSerf free
legal advice when he is perhaps per
fectly well able to pay for the se".
ices of a practicing attorney. 1t is
job which would not prove 100 easy
it is splendid practice for the law STU
dents engaged.
Handle Cases Of Needy Folks.
A large number of the cases handled
bv the society are those of needy folks
who want to get wages which they
claim are due IL EN- from employers.
Other cases deal with disputes over
rent, mostly between boarders ana
"landladies" Still other cases have to
Edo with mix-ups over buying furniture
\ on the installment plan. Pract1caiiy
all these cases are settled out OF court,
each case by the student lawyer VINO
handled the original case. Associate
members Of the society, selected from
graduates Of the school in active prac-
tice in the city, direct the prosecution
or defense of such cases as are brought
! to court.
| One difficult problem of the society
! is that of accepting cases ana at the
same time not coming in connect with
the business of regular practicing at
torneys When property rights in cases
drought before the society amount to
any considerable sum it is the rule or
Ii the society to turn the case over 10
a regular attorney.
| Wages and rent cases, however, are
by no means all the problems with
which the members of the society have
Ito deal They are asked to do every
thing from prosecute Tor slander 70
tJustice Stafford. One applicant even
asked that the society take up case
with the President of the United
States.
| An Illuminating Entry.
| 26 is illuminating.
| "A well dressed lady, who refused to
give, her name. called and stated that
she wanted information. She refused
to state anything about her case. Hers
was an extraordinary case, she said,
and only the best lawyer in America
could hear It, I could not qualify"
| The work of the students for the
summer month just coming to close
proves q. fine sample of the general
work done by the society. Together
with brief records of cases the society's
day book shows now and then some en-
try as this: July 15-No clients" Or
| ''Notanibble."
Generally, however, the men in charge
of the office during July have had
| clients to attend to-. and recital of
She July cases gives an excellent idea
of what the Legal Aid Society men do.
The men in charge of the office this
summer are for the great part students
employed in the government service,
who must settle the cases which they
handle after office hours, going about
town trying to straighten out the prob
lens of wages due, etc.
| Obtains Wages for Man.
The very first day of July-or night,
rather-the lawyer-student in charge
of the Office listened to the case of an
applicant who claimed that a small
amount Of wages was due him from an
out of -town firm for which he had
worked. The man was told to return
| on a certain night. In the meanwhile
the student who had heard his case cor
responded with the firm, laid the mans
case before it and was soon in receipt
of a money order for the wages in
question.
| One night the student in charge was
faced with the question of law regard
ing realty and personally where a Mex
lean married an American woman, I'D
as long as they reside in the United
States, CD when they go to Mexico and
| (3) when they Cor she) returns to the
United States" The applicant was told
| that this was q case that did not come
within the scope of the work Of the So
ciety, land that we could not investigate
for her. She was advised to inquire at
the Mexican embassy and also at the
Pan-American building"
| Asked About Appeal.
What is q young lawyer to think. too,
when he IL confronted in his ONCE on
la hot night in July with an applicant