SLMS is a full service law firm available to serve eligible Portland State University students.  The goal of SLMS is to encourage students to fully participate in and complete their academic endeavors by helping to alleviate legal obstacles to degree or program completion. 

To this end, SLMS provides advocacy and assistance, including legal advice and representation in some instances to eligible credit carrying students.

To this end, SLMS pursues the following objectives in support of this goal:

Objective 1)  To provide direct legal advice and representation, when appropriate, to students by experienced and qualified attorneys and legal staff.

Objective 2)  To resolve legal disputes as efficiently and satisfactorily as possible without the need for formal and costly litigation. 

Objective 3)  To maintain a current referral network for students whose legal needs to beyond SLMS’s resources. 

Objective 4)  To inform and educate students on pertinent legal topics and help students develop personal dispute resolution skills when possible. 

Objective 6)  To interact with and make effective use of the valuable resources available in the University, legal, and Portland Metropolitan Communities. 

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Our Staff

Name: Fenuinui Bruce Leomiti
Position: Office Assistant
Contact info: fbleomi@pdx.edu
Bruce is currently an undergraduate senior, majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice. He went to high school in Portland, OR: Marshall High School, GO MINUTEMEN!!! At PSU, he is currently a receptionist at the Multicultural Center, member of the Pacific Islanders Club and Kaibigan, and also a recipient of the Diversity Recognition Scholarship. One of his big hobbies is dancing, from hip-hop to Polynesian style. It's one of his favorite ways to keep active. He also loves to play volleyball and video games. His favorite TV shows are of course, America's Best Dance Crew, American Idol, Charm School, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. His favorite ice cream will have to be any kind of fruity sherbert. He is the oldest child of 4 in his Samoan family. One of his goals in life would be to one day visit the place where his ancestors are from: Samoa and Western Samoa.

Name: Bobi Jo Ousnamer
Position: Office Assistant
Contact info: bobo@pdx.edu
Bobi Jo is a current PSU student, majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice. She is taking French classes and hopes to study abroad in Paris. She moved to Portland from Idaho after graduating from high school in 2007. She works at Student Legal and Mediation Services because of the great exposure to the legal world and plans to go to law school with this experience. She has never killed moose with her bare hands and has left the country only once, to go to Canada. Her hobbies include skiing, horseback riding, shopping, traveling, and 4-wheeling.

 

Name: Andrea Nichole Ogston
Position: Staff Attorney
Contact info: ogston@pdx.edu
Andrea Nichole Ogston is a general practitioner with a focus on family law issues.  She is a native of the Pacific Northwest and graduated from University of Washington (B.S. Conservation Biology, with high honors) and Lewis and Clark School of Law in Portland, Oregon. Prior to coming to PSU in 2008, she was a staff attorney at St. Andrew Legal Clinic in northeast Portland, advocating for low to middle income residents with family law needs. Andrea has traveled extensively throughout Mexico and Central America and has visited almost every continent.  In her free time she enjoys running, reading and attempting to train her lab mix puppy, Jackson, to not jump up on people. She is a member of the Multnomah County Bar Association, the Family Law Section of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Women Lawyers and the Oregon Gay and Lesbian Lawyer Association.

Name: Emily Persico
Position: Office Manager
Contact: epersico@pdx.edu
Emily Persico is an alumna of Portland State University, graduating with her BA in Sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies in June of 2007. Realizing that she could not bear to leave PSU she sought employment there, and has been the office manager for Student Legal and Mediation Services since July of 2007. She is the proud mother of one brilliant and whimsical son, and in her free time enjoys fitness, feminism, fashion, friendship and fun!

Name: J.R. Tarabocchia
Position: Paralegal
Contact: tarabocc@pdx.edu 
J.R. earned his JD and Masters in Intellectual Property from Pierce Law in Concord, NH, and has been at PSU since October, 2007.  After graduating from law school, J.R. worked for a year at a plaintiff’s employment law firm before moving to Portland to be with his one true love.  J.R. enjoys cooking, playing the piano, and traveling. 

Name: Lissa Kaufman
Position: Coordinator, Attorney
Contact: 503-725-4556
After graduating from the University of Washington School of Law in 1996, Lissa moved to Portland, Oregon where she worked as a staff attorney in the Oregon Legal Services Farmworker Unit in Woodburn, Oregon, representing migrant farmworkers in employment and housing cases.  From 1998 to 2006 she worked at the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland and Hillsboro, Oregon where she continued to represent indigent clients in criminal and juvenile cases.  She also served as the chair of the Oregon State Bar Juvenile Law section. Today, Lissa coordinates the Student Legal and Mediation Services department at Portland State University.  She is mother to two rambunctious boys and originally hails from Jersey.

Name: Cameron Levine
Position: Law Clerk
Contact: clevine@pdx.edu

Cameron Levine is a graduate of University of Oregon where he majored in psychology. After years of post undergraduate wandering, Cameron settled down and enrolled at Lewis and Clark Law School, where he is currently in his third year. He is particularly interested in Employment Law. In his spare time, Cameron likes to play disc golf, table tennis, kickball, and spend time with his German shepherd.

Name: Ashlee Benson
Position: Office Assistant
Contact: 503-725-4556
Ashlee Benson was born on Bastille Day! She hails from Plano, Texas and is currently a senior at PSU, majoring in Psychology. She is an avid animal enthusiast and enjoys traveling to new places.  Ashlee plans to pursue a graduate degree following her graduation.