At UH’s People’s Law School, complicated legal questions from 14 different areas of law get answers 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday at the center for consumer law in the UH Law Center.
Law professor Richard Alderman, the ‘People’s Lawyer’, will be on hand with more than 40 volunteer lawyers, judges and law professors all sponsored by the Houston Bar association.
‘We just want to give information that will help people become familiar with the laws,’ Alderman said.
The program has been going strong for 25 years and has helped more than 30,000 people enhance their legal literacy.
The program has also expanded to Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Dallas and Laredo.
‘It was phenomenally successful from the beginning and now it’s one of the oldest, most successful programs,’ Alderman said.
Attendees choose three courses with topics ranging from business law, bankruptcy, employment and insurance, to consumer law, credit and debit collection, wills and estates, family law, health insurance law, landlord tenant law and small claims court law.
They will receive instruction on finding laws online.
Each course in the People’s Law School is taught by a different instructor, so attendees interested in revisiting a course can do so.
Alderman said people who attend the event leave with a good sense of knowledge in the legal areas of the courses they attend and said satisfied participants finish the day saying ‘I wish I knew that before,’ or ‘This is really valuable information I’m going to be able to use this.’
Alderman is the Dwight Olds chair at the UH Law Center and has been a Cougar for 37 years. He said he started the program strictly to help people know their rights.
Robert Johnson, the associate director at the Center for Consumer Law said working with Alderman is a dream come true for him.
Alderman has been his mentor since before he graduated law school in 2007, Johnson said, and getting a chance to work with him means even more.
‘It means a lot to me to be involved. A lot of the people that come to us are people that might not be able to get help anywhere else,’ Johnson said.
Close to 900 people have already pre-registered for the 1,000 spots at the People’s Law School. Registration ends at noon Friday. Register at http://www.peopleslawyer.net or call (877) 839-8422.
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