Financial Officer: Jacqueline Faulkner (lco@assu.stanford.edu)
Amount Approved: $103,370.00
Full Budget

What is the mission and purpose of your student group?

The Legal Counseling Office of the ASSU provides legal counseling
and advice to students and their spouses or domestic partners. 
Serving students since 1973, the LCO is staffed by attorneys from
the San Jose law firm of McManis, Faulkner & Morgan.  The firm
specializes in litigation and several of the attorneys are
Stanford graduates.  The service is funded solely by student fees
and is available to every student who does not request a fee
refund.

The LCO is envisioned as the first step for any student with a
legal question or problem.  A staff attorney meets with the
student to help the student understand the nature and scope of
the matter.  The attorney explains the law and gives practical
advice on how best to approach the problem.  Examples of typical
matters are landlord-tenant disputes, criminal and traffic
citations, employment disputes, questions on contracts, family
law issues, consumer problems and auto and bike accidents.

Why are you requesting Special Fees?

The ASSU/LCO exists solely because the students have chosen to
retain this service by funding us every year for the past 29
years.  We believe that we are a valuable resource to the
students at a reasonable cost.  Everything we do here is meant to
benefit Stanford students by helping them properly address issues
that frequently carry significant consequences for them here and
as they leave here to pursue their life goals.  

What are the three largest line item requests in your budget and why?

7870-Law Firm/Legal Fees

6110-Salaries

7900-Overhead Expenses

Similar to any business, the largest expenses are for staffing and facilities.

If you applied for Special Fees last year, is there an increase in the
amount you're seeking this year?  If so, why?

Yes.  2.97%  The increase we are requesting results from
increased costs for overhead expenses, and cost of living
increases in staffing.  We are maintaining the rest of the
categories at the same level or moving monies from one category
to another to make each more reflective of the actual costs we
incur.