The Student Association is trying to make Students’ Legal Assistance attorneys’ jobs more stable and competitive by asking NIU to pay for more benefits.

The status of attorneys Don Henderson and Lynn Richards would change from independent contractors to supportive professional staff if NIU President John La Tourette approves the proposal, SA President Huda Scheidelman said.

The change would allow the lawyers to receive disability, sick leave and retirement benefits in addition to their current health insurance.

Henderson’s $34,975 and Richards’ $29,215 annual salaries are paid from the student activity fee. Students also fund the attorneys’ health insurance, she said.

In return, the attorneys provide students with free legal advice. “Attorneys need something more substantial to live off of,” Scheidelman said.

The benefits were not offered before now because the SA was not sure of lawyers’ loyalty in representing the students, she said. “At this point, I don’t think there is any question that their loyalty is for the students,” she said.

Henderson said he thinks trust has been well established.

“The office has enjoyed a very close connection with the SA,” he said. “There has been a trust built up over the years.”

Henderson said the benefits are necessary because an independent employee has to pay twice as much for retirement security than a university employee. “The reason for making the proposal was to enhance the stability of the office,” he said.

Henderson said many schools now allow legal assistance lawyers to receive university benefits.

“When the office first started, people were being very careful because it was so new,” he said.

Scheidelman said the benefits were suggested to make the job more competitive. “If they were to leave for some reason, we want to make a package attractive to attorneys so they plan to stay more than a couple years,” she said.

Henderson has been at NIU for 10 years and Richards has served four years.

“The two lawyers we have are extremely competent. They could receive a lot higher salaries somewhere else if they wanted to,” said Galvin Kennedy, SA senator and a member of the Students’ Legal Assistance Advisory Committee.

Kennedy has not yet submitted the proposal to the president because La Tourette is gone for the week.