Legal Services
The Graduate School (TGS) provides appointments with a consulting attorney, Vadim Shifrin, Esq. All currently enrolled, full-time TGS students and Kellogg MBA students are eligible to receive a legal consultation.
This service is funded by TGS and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. There is no cost to receive a legal consultation.
Schedule Appointment
To schedule your Legal Service appointment, please click the following link.
Contact
All Legal Services appointments are held by phone or via Zoom. If the dates listed do not align with your schedule, please email Rina Fernandes to inquire about additional scheduling options.
Please direct all initial and follow-up inquiries to Rina Fernandes in TGS; please do not contact Vadim directly.
Policies
- The consulting attorney cannot provide legal consultation on issues relating to Northwestern University— including faculty, staff, student groups, or other students—or any attorney conflicts.
- Intellectual property questions should be directed to the INVO office.
- Eligible students are entitled to one appointment per legal issue.
- Each appointment is up to one hour in length.
- If the matter requires further legal assistance, you will be advised to retain an attorney to handle the matter to completion.
Location
All Legal Service appointments are held by phone or via Zoom.
What to expect
- Please note that the consulting attorney is not an expert in every legal field. The consulting attorney can only provide a basic legal consultation.
- Appointments are set for one hour. Within this hour, the consulting attorney intends to explain and analyze the legal issue(s) presented and recommend an action plan for the student.
- For students needing additional intensive attorney representation, the consulting attorney will assist students’ understanding of the basic legal issues involved and help prepare them to best select outside (non- or for-profit) counsel.
Common issues
The following list is a non-exclusive list of legal issues addressed by the consulting attorney*:
- Lease and sublease review
- Municipal ordinance violations
- False identification matters
- Criminal issues
- Credit and debt problems
- Immigration
-
Please note the consulting attorney is not an immigration law specialist. Consultations will focus on providing basic information, addressing general concerns, and helping you understand the importance of seeking assistance from immigration specialists when necessary.
-
- Contract breach
- Domestic issues
- Dissolution of marriage
- Automobile accidents
- Medical billing issues
- Probate
- Employment contract review
- Personal injury
- Insurance concerns
- Business formation
- Parking/traffic violations
- To learn more about parking tickets and traffic violations in Evanston and Chicago, download this PDF from attorney Arthur Corbin.
- Landlord/tenant disputes
- If you wish to meet with the consulting attorney about an issue with your landlord, please familiarize yourself with your rights as a tenant by reading this landlord/tenant FAQ assembled by attorney Arthur Corbin, which details common lease provisions in Evanston and Chicago.
- Litigation matters
- Contract drafting/review
- Consumer rights issues
* Communications made between a student client and the consulting attorney will be protected under attorney-client confidentiality rules in accordance with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. If a student’s matter requires further legal assistance, upon request, the consulting attorney can assist the student in locating an attorney suitable to the student’s needs.
Notary public services
TGS and the consulting attorney do not provide notary services. There are several local and mobile notary options in Evanston and Chicago.