2008 Woodie Awards
Attorney gives free legal advice to URI students
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: News
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Fleisig, who has been assisting Student Senate and URI students since 1972, offers free and confidential legal advice to all students.
He reserves Thursday afternoons to counsel students on anything and everything.
"In all the years I've been here, I've seen A to Z," he said. "You name it, I've seen it."
The most frequent situations Fleisig offers his expertise on are underage alcohol possession and landlord-tenant relations.
"I just tell them the way it is," he said. "I'm not here to preach morality. I'm here to give advice."
In the case where a minor is in possession of alcohol, Fleisig advised students to talk with police before their court date, and try to work out an arrangement. Fleisig recommends pleading nolo contendere, where the defendant does not admit to being guilty or not guilty.
Fleisig said police might be willing to make an arrangement if the student has no prior record. Taking each trial to court would be extensive, Fleisig said.
"It's overwhelming to the system," he said.
In many cases where it is a student's first time being arrested, if the student does not commit any other offenses for a year, the record can be erased.
Fleisig said to keep in mind that many job and graduate school applications ask if students have a criminal record.
"The important thing is you don't want the student to have a record," he said.
Pleading guilty and paying a fine automatically creates a criminal record. That record will stay with students long after their college days.
Another sticky situation Fleisig advises students about is avoiding having a minor in the car when purchasing alcohol.
"That's a felony, they don't realize it," he said. Fleisig explained that often times someone over 21 years old will go into a liquor store and leave a friend who is underage waiting in the car.
Police will assume that alcohol is being purchased for the minor. Fleisig said that though this doesn't happen as often as other alcohol issues, it happens "enough that it bothers me."
Another situation Fleisig often counsels on is students renting houses for the first time.