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  • Wisconsin Lawyer
    March 31, 2008

    Marquette Law School and Quarles & Brady open legal clinic in Spanish-speaking community

    On Feb. 13 the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, in partnership with Quarles & Brady LLP, opened its doors on Milwaukee's south side. While the clinic is located in the Spanish Center and is staffed with bilingual volunteer attorneys, law students, and interpreters, any person with a legal need and no financial means to pay for legal advice is welcome.

    Wisconsin LawyerWisconsin Lawyer
    Vol. 81, No. 3, March 2008

    Legal News & Trends

    Marquette Law School and Quarles & Brady open legal clinic in Spanish-speaking community

    On Feb. 13 the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic, in partnership with Quarles & Brady LLP, opened its doors on Milwaukee's south side. While the clinic is located in the Spanish Center and is staffed with bilingual volunteer attorneys, law students, and interpreters, any person with a legal need and no financial means to pay for legal advice is welcome.

    According to Quarles & Brady associate Katie Perhach, who coordinates the volunteer effort, "Word of mouth is spreading quickly. In our first three weeks we met with 25 people, and not just from the surrounding community. We have seen people from West Allis and New Berlin.

    "While we strive to have two translators available during clinic hours, I am amazed at the number of Marquette students who are bilingual and can help out when the translators are busy," says Perhach, a Marquette 2000 graduate. "My goal for now is to have three lawyers available during clinic hours, and I have 25 Quarles & Brady lawyers on my call list."

    In 2001 the Association for Women Lawyers began working with law students to develop the Marquette Volunteer Legal Clinic as a pro bono project. In January 2002 the clinic opened its doors at the House of Peace and has assisted more than 3,000 people in its first five years.

    According to Marquette adjunct law professor and clinic steering committee chair Julie Darnieder, "Law students meet people with real life issues, learn how to conduct interviews, and work with practicing attorneys as they determine the issue and develop a strategy for resolving the issue. Many of our lawyer volunteers started with the clinic as students. We are very grateful for this partnership with Quarles & Brady, which has allowed us to expand to a part of Milwaukee that has tremendous unmet legal needs, similar to our north side location. Working with a Spanish-speaking population further enhances the skills of our law students."

    The new clinic operates in the Spanish Center, 614 W. National Ave. on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m.



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