Student Legal Service Advisory Board - Office of the Dean of Students

Student Legal Service Advisory Board
Minutes of the October 3, 2008 Meeting
Members Present:
Members Absent:
Kenneth Ballom, Ruth McCauley, Christina Brunka, Victoria Coats, Peter
Dahl, Christopher Forman, Scott Rice, J. Steven Beckett
Arthur Matlosz
Attorneys Present: Thomas Betz, Mary Ann Midden
The meeting came to order at 5:00 p.m.
Members were introduced to each other. Dean McCauley presented a history and
purpose of the SLS program at the University of Illinois, explaining the roles and responsibilities
of the members of the Advisory Board, collectively and individually. It was explained that the 3-
year SORF plan for funds and the Student Legal Service Plan, itself, will likely be revised this
year.
Election of officers was next. Nomination of Christina Brunka to serve a Chair was made
by Steven Beckett; seconded by Scott Rice, and passed unanimously. Nomination of Victoria
Coats to serve as Secretary was made by herself; seconded by Steven Beckett, and passed
unanimously. Ruth McCauley was selected Treasurer by unanimous consent. Christina Brunka
commented favorably on Beckee Bachman’s work on the materials for the Advisory Board and
periodical emails.
The minutes of the SLS Advisory Board meeting of April 18, 2008, were presented.
Steven Beckett moved for approval; Scott Rice seconded. Motion carried.
Ruth McCauley presented the Treasurer’s report, indicating that the budget had been
adjusted for raises given last year. She explained that the funds for Continuing Legal Education
had to be increased for the attorneys to attend the annual conference this year due to airfare
increases and to meet mandatory CLE requirements. Office upkeep also had to be increased to
allow for starting an annual routine maintenance plan. The SLS office needs painting and
plastering, so plans will have to be made for this expenditure. The Equipment line item must be
increased for new computers, for attorneys Betz and Hessee, and for Office Support (secretary).
An annual equipment replacement plan should be developed
Dean McCauley also complimented Thomas Betz for being a faithful steward of the
funds and seeking prior approval of use of funds for particular purposes. She indicated that more
discussion on the budget will occur this year.
Scott Rice moved to accept and place the Treasurer’s report on file; Steven Beckett
seconded; motion carried.
The 2008 SLS Annual Report was presented. It was noted that although there were only
two attorneys for most of the year, the numbers showed good usage of SLS. It was also noted

that the Board of Trustees has offered no feedback or criticism on the Annual report. It was
further noted that over the 30 years of SLS’s existence, the numbers of students using services in
person are within 2% to 3% yearly, despite timely educational advertising through media and
website usage resulting in some diminished use of the office, as their purpose is to avoid cases
rather than to get new clients. Steve Beckett moved to accept and place on file the report;
seconded by Christopher Forman; motion carried.
The Attorney’s Report was presented by Thomas Betz. The Board approved acceptance of the
Moonstruck Chocolates from a student-client, valued at $37.00, and the two $10.00 Starbuck’s
gift cards. Payment of bills from April through June, and July through September, totaling
$19,445.90, was approved.
There was discussion of the new look to the SLS website as a result of a class project and that
UCLA has complimented SLS on it, and has asked permission to use the brochures posted on the
website.
Ordering the video “Busted” to inform students about search and seizure laws was approved.
Scott Rice moved to approve printing1,000 copies of the new brochure “Illegal Downloading”
and posting it on the web; seconded by Steve Beckett; motion carried. There was also discussion
of a new brochure on gambling and several other topics.
Date for the next meeting was set for the first Friday of November at 8:00 a.m. Notification of
location will be determined. Future meetings will be planned for the first Friday of each month
at 8:00 a.m.
Steve Beckett moved to conclude the meeting at 6:15 p.m.; Scott Rice seconded; motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________
Mary Ann Midden, Secretary, Pro Tempore

Student Legal Service Advisory Board
Minutes of the December 5, 2008 Meeting
Members Present:
Members Absent:
Christina Brunka, Scott Rice, J. Steven Beckett
Ruth McCauley, Victoria Coats, Peter Dahl, Christopher Forman
Attorneys Present: Thomas Betz, Susan Hessee, Mary Ann Midden
The meeting came to order at 8:10 a.m.
Ruth McCauley and Christopher Forman had previously notified the Student Legal
Service office that they could not attend. Christina Brunka reported that the Student Senate has
approved a replacement member for Arthur Matlosz, who has never attended or responded to any
emails, pending approval by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.
Minutes from the October 3, 2008, meeting were deferred.
Thomas Betz presented the statistics from October and November. Steve Beckett noted
that the “Advice Only” statistics are down a little, but suggested that it may be due to increased
use of the website. Tom Betz noted higher presentations.
Scott Rice moved to approve expenditures for October totaling $5,994.93, and November
totalling $7,858.26. Steve Beckett seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Tom Betz presented the future planned advertisements for the Daily Illini. Steve Beckett
moved to approve them; Scott Rice seconded; motion carried unanimously.
Steve Beckett moved to accept gift of flowers sent to the SLS office by parents of a
client; Scott Rice seconded; motion carried unanimously.
Tom Betz noted that UC Santa Barbara is sending a person to spend half a day with
Student Legal Service and half a day with the Tenant Union because our outreach efforts are
considered a model, nationally.
Next Board meeting will be set after Beckee Bachman collects Spring semester schedules
and determines time/day available for all.
Steve Beckett moved to go into Executive session for consideration of personnel matters,
specifically, renewal of Tom Betz’s contract, which ends January 13, 2009, and Mary Ann
Midden’s contract, which ends January 31, 2009. Scott Rice seconded. Motion carried
unanimously.
Tom Betz spoke briefly for the record that we have one of the best Student Legal Service
programs in the U.S., if not the best. Steve Beckett asked ab out a process for receiving

complaints as well as the notes of appreciation. Discussion ensued. Susan Hessee stated she had
received one complaint after a presentation at a sorority, accusing her of cynicism about police
officers. Mary Ann Midden stated she had received one complaint since she has been with the
office about timeliness of action (due to the nature of the court system). Tom Betz explained that
most of the complaints come through the Office of the Dean of Students, which contacts him.
Most are from irate parents who want privileged information about their students’ cases. Beckee
Bachman fields most of these irate parents with excellent tact.
Motion to go into Executive session approved, again, by each person present.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________
Mary Ann Midden, Secretary, Pro Tempore

Student Legal Service Advisory Board
Minutes of the February 13, 2009, Meeting
Members Present:
Members Absent:
J. Steven Beckett, Christina Brunka, Victoria Coats, Peter Dahl,
Christopher Forman , Ruth McCauley, Scott Rice
None.
Attorneys Present: Thomas Betz, Susan Hessee, Mary Ann Midden
The meeting came to order at 9:04 a.m.
Minutes from the December 5, 2008, meeting were read; Scott Rice moved for approval;
and Steven Beckett seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Ruth McCauley presented the Treasurer’s Report. Budget numbers for current year todate
and not remarkable. Office painting will be done in July. Regarding the figures, Westlaw
has saved money; the travel costs have were on a conference trip due to weather delays. Steven
Beckett moved to approve the budget numbers; Christopher Forman seconded; motion passed
unanimously.
Tom Betz presented the Attorney’s Report. It was decided that statistics on the website
usage will be emailed to members in the future and will not be included in the packet. Scott Rice
moved to approve the expenditures; Peter Dahl seconded; motion passed unanimously. Steve
Beckett moved to approve the acceptance of the gift of the thermal cup which had been given to
Beckee; Scott Rice seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Proposed ads relating to “unofficial” St. Patrick’s Day, scheduled for March 6 th this year,
were reviewed. Ruth McCauley noted that St. Patrick’s Day won’t be during spring break this
year. Scott Rice moved that a round of ads be placed for both “unofficial” and St. Patrick’s Day;
Chris Forman seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Tom Betz reported on the conference in San Francisco. One half-day session was on the
topic of threat assessment on campus and its connection to the legal office on campus. A twohour
session was spent on juicycampus.com. Sessions were also attended on technology options
for law offices and marketing of law offices.
Ruth McCauley spoke about the proposed budget for 2010-2012 explaining that the
budget usually has footnotes for explaining unusual increases or decreases. Ruth McCauley
explained that we have to do a three year budget proposal, and that only Student Legal Service is
given the right to go to SORF with a three-year budget so that if, for some reason, SLS needs to
close, for example, due to a decrease or elimination of SORF fee, SLS would be able to finish
cases already open and honor multi-year contracts. Tom Betz added that the attorneys’ contracts
are on different year periods, and that expenditures such as Westlaw need to be for more than
one year. Ruth McCauley added that SORF is usually tremendously supportive of the program.

Minor bumps in benefits, etc., in the event the attorneys become employees, are included in this
three-year budget. Ruth said she hopes this change will occur within three years, that the system
causes awkward problems as is.
Tom Betz presented the dates of the remaining SORF Board meetings; preference is
April 2 nd for presentation to SORF Board due to schedules. It is desired to have as many SLS
Advisory Board members as possible present.
Ruth McCauley said she will give notice to the SORF Board that this will be coming
since it is a large three-year commitment. Many SORF Board members have not seen a threeyear
budget for SLS. She will then forward the date and time to the Board.
Tom Betz will put together a mock proposal based on marketing tip. One portion will be
a comparison of the Big Ten schools’ expenditures per pupil for their Student Legal Service
programs.
The next meeting will be held March 13, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. Ruth McCauley will arrange
for the meeting room.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________
Mary Ann Midden, Secretary, Pro Tempore

Student Legal Service Advisory Board
Minutes of the March 13, 2009, Meeting
Members Present:
Members Absent:
J. Steven Beckett, Christina Brunka, Victoria Coats, Peter Dahl, Ray Jilek,
Ruth McCauley, Scott Rice
Christopher Forman
Attorneys Present: Thomas Betz, Mary Ann Midden
The meeting came to order at 9:04 a.m.
Minutes from the February 13, 2009, meeting were read; Steve Beckett moved for
approval; and Ray Jilek seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Ruth McCauley presented the Treasurer’s Report. Dean McCauley noted that the office
is quite frugal, that there is nothing notable. Steven Beckett moved to approve the budget
numbers; Victoria Brunka seconded; motion passed unanimously.
Tom Betz presented the Attorney’s Report. It was noted that website statistics are up
significantly, though the number of office consultations is down.
Victoria Coats moved to approve expenditures, Steve Beckett seconded. Steve Beckett
asked about whether dollars for ads tracked source. Tom explained. One is not really able to see
the effects of ads. For example, a lot of ads placed were placed for “unofficial”, but tickets and
arrests increased dramatically over last year. Enforcement in private parties was used this year.
The response to ads seems to be noted by students but any impact in avoiding problems cannot
be measured. The motion to approve expenditures passed unanimously.
Future proposed ads were reviewed. Steve Beckett moved to approve them; Victoria
Coats seconded the motion. The motion to approve the future ads was unanimous.
The office received a gift of perishable food, valued at under $50.00, which was
consumed by SLS office personnel. Steve Beckett moved to approve accepting the gift; Victoria
Coats seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Toms Betz presented the SORF proposal to the Advisory Board. The content of the
proposal was pared down for this three-year presentation because of a complaint that SORF was
overwhelmed by the large amount of information last year. It emphasizes that SORF is the sole
source of funding for Student Legal Service.
The per-student figure for SLS will have to be changed to reflect the increased total being
requested at the SORF presentation. Someone will need to address the reasons for lower costs
than other universities, e.g., no benefits for attorneys, no cost of rent, not enough space for
attorneys and staff.

At the SORF meeting, Christina Brunka will do the introductions and call on Steve
Beckett about the benefits SLS has on the value of the services to the students and on Ruth
McCauley for the financial issues.
The SORF Board has already received copies of the SLS annual report. We will be
presenting at 4:30pm at the April 2 nd meeting; Chasity Bree will notify us of the exact room.
Scott Rice will not be available for the presentation. The SLS Advisory Board will meet in the
SLS offices before the presentation.
Ruth McCauley expressed doubt that the incremental increases had been applied to each
line item; she believes MCLE should be increased more each year. The exact budget proposal
will be reviewed prior to the SORF presentation.
It was noted that the ads placed in the Daily Illini and elsewhere cost more each year. It
was also noted that once the attorneys transition to employees, the amount of benefits will be
substantial. This will not be discussed in the presentation so as not to confuse the SORF Board.
Scott Rice expects a meeting soon to do the switch.
A special meeting was called for April 2 nd prior to the SORF presentation at 4:00 in the
Student Legal Service offices to approve the final numbers.
Ruth McCauley stated that the SORF Board is very proud and supportive of SLS and that
the questions should be supportive.
Tom Betz noted that the budget includes a 20-hour per week, 9 month work-study
position. The Board members suggested using a law student, and the attorneys agreed that they
would like this.
The next meeting was set for Friday, April 17, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., location to be
determined. Ruth McCauley suggested anew meeting room in ARC, and Scott Rice suggested a
new meeting room in Henry Admin.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
________________________________
Mary Ann Midden, Secretary, Pro Tempore