Fast Facts

Mission

University Student Legal Services (USLS) provides legal education, advice, and representation for currently enrolled NC State students. We are committed to providing high quality legal services that equip students to make informed choices and resolve their legal problems with as little disruption as possible to their well-being and academic goals. USLS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation initially created by Student Government and funded by student fees, which provides affordability of legal services for the students.

History

University Student Legal Services began at NC State in 1986 as a part-time experimental service with a temporary student fee. In 1987, the service became permanent starting with one full-time attorney and quickly added a second.  The office became an incorporated non-profit (501 (c)(3)) in 1992.  A third attorney was added in 1992 and a fourth in 2015, who focuses on immigration matters. The support staff is provided by work-study students. To avoid conflicts of interest, the attorneys are not employed by the university. 

Services provided include advice on legal matters, settlement negotiations, document creation and review, court representation in certain civil matters, criminal expungements, resource referrals, educational materials, workshops, panel discussions, seminars, and advising registered student groups, Student Government, Student Media, and Union Activities Board. 

USLS provides representation in Wake and all the contiguous counties.  The office does not represent between two NC State students, disputes with NC State University, disputes against the State of North Carolina, or disputes outside the legal parameters of the prepaid legal plan.

Campus and community involvement include Harm Reduction Coalition, SART, Wake County Domestic Violence Task Force, National Legal Aid, and Defender Association, academic courses, New Student/Family Orientation, the annual Housing Fair, Open House, and various panels, seminars, and conferences. 

People

• Pamarah Gerace, Director and Staff Attorney
• Michael Avery, Staff Attorney
• Michael Ferrante, Staff Attorney
• Hoang Lam, Staff Attorney

Activities

•  Legal representation
•  Document creation and review
•  Educational and resource materials
•  Educational presentations
•  Notarization

Participation

• Our office serves approximately 3000 students annually with their individual legal cases.
• Over forty percent of our clients are graduate students.
• Our immigration services comprise the fastest growing area of legal issues for our students.
• We have outreach to hundreds of additional students through presentations to classes, student groups, seminars, panel discussions, orientations, etc.
• We hosted the LegalWerks podcast (WKNC) and were featured on the Pawcasts podcast (Veterinary School)
• We contribute to Student Media through articles in school publications.
• We are one of the only campuses in the country with a student legal services office that advises student groups.
• We are one of only a handful of student legal services offices in the country with a full-time immigration attorney and the only student legal services office in North Carolina with an immigration staff attorney.
• We notarize over a thousand documents a year for NC State students, faculty and staff.
• We have helped thousands of students expunge criminal records, enabling them to apply for jobs, graduate school and internships. 
• We provide court representation in stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault cases as well as other civil litigation.
• The top types of cases handled are:
  • Criminal
  • Landlord/Tenant
  • Immigration
  • Traffic
  • Consumer
  • Domestic

Facilities

We are located at 1107 Pullen Hall, NC State University

Director