Penn State law students trying to get practical experience in the field are now offering free services such as sports and entertainment contract advice to students.

The Arts, Sports, and Entertainment (ASE) Law Clinic aims to offer law students an opportunity to gain real world experience as well as provide free legal advice to students, said David Hoover, representative of the ASE Law Clinic and law student.

"We're happy to do what we can, especially with what you pay for a lawyer per hour," said Hoover, who made the move from Harrisburg to State College last fall when the law school began offering classes at University Park.

Looking to offer potential clients a comfortable environment to discuss their legal questions and issues, the ASE law clinic provides two types of information.

"There's the educational information, where we sit down and educate people about particular legal matters such as trademark law or copyrights," said law professor Geoffrey Scott, who founded the clinic. "We can also represent them by providing legal services."

Those legal services include assisting clients file records for sole-proprietorship, start record labels and also help negotiate contracts with individual artists, Scott said.

"A lot of the people who come to us are young and just entering their respective industries," Scott said. "We do have some well established clients who have been in the business much longer."

The ASE clinic was established by Scott at the Carlisle campus in 1980. The motivation to start the clinic came from his experience with entertainment law, Scott said.

"Much of what you learn in the entertainment law business is learned from colleagues," Scott said. "It's handed down and is important for the law students involved in the clinic to know."

At the Carlisle campus, the clinic worked with clients of all ages, said law student Brad Caldwell, another member of the law clinic.

"We helped an 80-year-old woman who was having a contract problem with someone who was writing her biography," Caldwell said. "She was concerned that the writer was trying to write the story of her life and wasn't paying her fully."

Now that the ASE also includes the State College area, Hoover said he hopes more students will seek legal advice or representation.

Assisting student athletes if they prepare to go pro is another area where the clinic plans on offering assistance, Caldwell said.

"Any of the athletes can come to us if they have questions about contracting an agent," Caldwell said. "We want to help them as they prepare for their futures."

For the time being, the ASE clinic hopes to establish a solid base for student representation, but as the clinic grows, Hoover wants to get to the point where panel discussions involving large groups of students with legal questions can be held.

"We're focused right now on getting the word out that we're here," Scott said. "We haven't advertised in any newspapers because we don't want to look like we're soliciting clients. We're not trying to compete with or steal clients from any of the law firms in State College."

Scott also added that the ASE clinic would be willing to do free research for lawyers at their request.

Students or residents of the State College area who are interested in contacting the ASE Law clinic can call 867-0392 to schedule an appointment or visit the clinic's Web site online.