The CWLU Legal Clinic is in its fourth month of helping women with all kinds of legal problems. The Clinic workers — women lawyers, women law students, and other women interested in helping— have tried to relate to the women who come in an women first, not clients. This doesn’t mean women don’t get legal advice — it means we get it in a way we can understand and in the context of a human relationship, and for free.

Most of the cases have concerned women’s personal lives: divorce, child support, wife—beating, etc. There have also been some criminal cases and many creditor problems. The Legal Clinic is a legal advice operation. Cases are referred to lawyers rather than handled directly through the Clinic. So far all women who have needed lawyers have been referred to women lawyers throughout the city who take cases for reasonable rates and in some cases, for free.

An unexpectedly large number of women have come in complaining about lawyers they have already contacted (and often paid money to), who are doing nothing about their cases. The Legal Clinic staff is working out ways to deal with these situations, but to help prevent this oppressive situation from happening to more women, the Clinic has put out a few guidelines for women planning to contact lawyers in divorce cases:

The Legal Clinic, located at 852 W. Belmont (just a block east of the Belmont El stop), is open to all women who need help of any kind with legal problems every Wednesday evening from 7—9pm.