Over 200 law students met yesterday afternoon in Austin Hall in an attempt to design alternative ways for getting practical legal experience, following a large cutback last week in a major program which fulfilled a work-study function.

The Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services--which has previously handled 1500 cases per year for poor people in the area--decided last Tuesday to cut its caseload to 500, in the interests of "quality over quantity."

The program gives law students a chance to work with practicing attorneys in developing cases.

The change had been made in the hopes of attracting higher quality attorneys by reducing the number of students needing instruction, a CSLS spokesman said last night. CSLS's budget--which is funded by the OEO--has not been cut.

Yesterday's meeting discussed the desirability of creating a Harvard-funded program which would fulfill a function similar to CSLS's. A petition asking the Committee on Housing and Undergraduate Life to consider such a program drew 130 signatures during the meeting.

The petition stated that Harvard had a dual responsibility--to provide a practical education for its students and to alleviate the legal services shortage in the Cambridge community.

The petition was presented to Albert M. Sacks, dean of the Law School, immediately after the meeting.

Sacks did not indicate last night whether a Harvard-sponsored legal aid service program is economically possible.

Existing provisions for practical legal experience center in the two law school courses, which have a combined enrollment of 125. They are "Layering Process" and "Criminal Trial Advocacy," both taught by Gary Bellow, professor of Law. The number of positions available to students in these courses will be effected by the CSLS cutback.

An Obligation?

The discussion at yesterday's meeting concentrated on various forms the proposed alternative work program might take, whether the university had an obligation to provide legal services to the community, and whether Bellow's course could be expanded and established independent of the CSLS.

A number of speakers stated that the presence of Harvard University in Cambridge has helped bring about economic conditions creating a need for legal aid in the area.

There was little debate over the CSLS's decision to cut back services. The cutback was approved several days ago by the Cambridge Community Board, which helps coordinate the CSLS's services, apparently because of a feeling that resources could be better spent by fully developing a smaller number of cases.

Yesterday's meeting was called by various volunteer groups at the Law School, including Voluntary Defenders, the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, Student DA's, and Roxbury Defenders.