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SWPS University - Main page

Student Legal Services Education Center

Faculty of Law in Warsaw

Our Student Legal Services (SPP) are staffed with students of SWPS University’s Faculty of Law in Warsaw, who provide free legal counsel to persons unable to hire a legal professional. Students work under the supervision of legal professionals, specializing in various aspects of law. The services pertain to the Polish law and are provided in Polish.

Student Legal Services are now closed for the summer. We will resume operation in October, 2025.

Once again, our Student Legal Services have been ranked as a top Student Legal Aid Clinic in Poland, in the annual ranking by Rzeczpospolita. Read more   

Young professional man and woman sitting at a table shaking customer's hand

Scope
of activity

Among the best Student Legal Services in Poland

Our Student Legal Services have been ranked as top student legal aid clinic, together with a few legal clinics from other Polish universities, in the annual ranking of Student Legal Services conducted by Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish daily newspaper.

Free legal advice

If you need legal advice but you cannot afford services of an established legal firm, we are here to help you. Our Student Legal Services (SPP) are staffed with students of Faculty of Law in Warsaw, who provide free legal counsel to persons unable to hire a legal professional. Students work under the supervision of legal professionals and provide counsel in four different areas, including Labor Law, Civil Law, Business Law, and Family Law.

Online legal consultations

We have launched online legal counselling. Advice is provided by e-mail. If you require our services, please fill in a claim form provided below.

Code of conduct

All students advising clients at our Student Legal Services are bound by confidentiality on all matters pertaining to the submitted claim.
Review our Code of Conduct  

 

Centrum Dydaktyczne Studencka Poradnia Prawna logo

News

Awards & Recognition11-07-2022

Our Student Legal Services maintain the leading position in Poland

Learn more
News08-03-2022

Student Legal Services support people arriving from Ukraine

Learn more
Awards & Recognition26-02-2021

Faculty of Law in Warsaw Joins European Law Faculties Association

Learn more
Awards & Recognition10-12-2020

Our Law Students Win ICC Int’l. Commercial Mediation Competition in Hong Kong

Learn more
Awards & Recognition20-05-2020

Our Law Students Gain Lex Silver Plus Certificates

Learn more
Awards & Recognition08-01-2020

Our Alumnus and Law Students Awarded at INADR Tournament

Learn more
Awards & Recognition08-07-2019

Our Law Students in Finals of CDRC VIENNA Competition

Learn more

Our team

Katarzyna Antolak-Szymanski
Ph.D. / Associate Professor

Head of Student Legal Services

mediator, attorney-at-law

Full bio

Section supervisors

  • Antolak-Szymanski, Katarzyna supervisor of the Labor Law Section
    Bio
    Tak
    Specialization
    mediator, attorney-at-law
    Permanent employee
    Tak
    First and last name
    Katarzyna Antolak-Szymanski
    Academic degree or title
    Ph.D. / Associate Professor
    City
    warszawa
    Discipline
    law
    Position
    profesor uczelni
    Role in the Faculty
    {"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"Vice-Dean for Student Affairs","\u0141\u0105cznik":"at the","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Law in Warsaw"}}
    Role in the Department
    {"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"Head","\u0141\u0105cznik":"of the","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Student Legal Services Education Center"}}
    Role in the university
    Member of USWPS Committee for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination
    Role in the Institute
    {"funkcja-w-instytucie0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Institute of Law"}}
    Institute
    Institute of Law
    Faculty
    Array
    Role in the Research Center
    []
    Ph.D. / Associate Professor Katarzyna Antolak-Szymanskimediator, attorney-at-law
  • Horodyski, Dominik Supervisor of the Civil Law Section
    Bio
    Tak
    Permanent employee
    Tak
    Specialization
    attorney at law
    First and last name
    Dominik Horodyski
    Academic degree or title
    Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
    Role in the Faculty
    {"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Law in Warsaw"}}
    Role in the Department
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    City
    warszawa
    Discipline
    law
    Position
    adiunkt
    Faculty
    Array
    Role in the Institute
    []
    Role in the Research Center
    []
    Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Dominik Horodyskiattorney-at-law
  • Kowalski, Dariusz Supervisor of the Business Strat-up Support Section
    Bio
    Tak
    Specialization
    lawyer, economist, attorney-at-law
    Permanent employee
    Tak
    First and last name
    Dariusz Kowalski
    Academic degree or title
    Ph.D. / Associate Professor
    City
    warszawa
    Discipline
    law
    Position
    profesor uczelni
    Role in the Faculty
    {"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Law in Warsaw"}}
    Role in the Department
    {"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of Public and International Law"},"funkcja-w-katedrze1":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Student Legal Services Education Center"}}
    Faculty
    Array
    Role in the Institute
    []
    Role in the Research Center
    []
    Ph.D. / Associate Professor Dariusz Kowalskilawyer, economist, attorney-at-law
  • Pietrzak, Ewa Supervisor of the Family Law Section
    Bio
    Tak
    Permanent employee
    Tak
    Role in the Faculty
    {"funkcja-na-wydziale0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Faculty of Law in Warsaw"}}
    Role in the Department
    {"funkcja-w-katedrze0":{"Funkcja":"","\u0141\u0105cznik":"","Nazwa w mianowniku":"Department of Roman and Comparative Law"}}
    Specialization
    lawyer, specializing in labor law
    First and last name
    Ewa Pietrzak
    Academic degree or title
    Ph.D. / Assistant Professor
    City
    warszawa
    Discipline
    law
    Position
    adiunkt
    Faculty
    Array
    Role in the Institute
    []
    Role in the Research Center
    []
    Ph.D. / Assistant Professor Ewa Pietrzaklawyer, specializing in labor law

    • Sections

    Our Student Legal Services provide counsel in four different areas including Labor Law, Civil Law, Finance and Economics Law, and Family Law.

    Labor Law Section

    Supervisor: Katarzyna Antolak-Szymanski, Ph.D.

    • responsibilities of employees and employers
    • employment discrimination: inequality and harassment in the workplace
    • special work-related cases, such as work place accidents, occupational diseases, telecommuting and teleworking
    • employees’ parental rights
    • establishing employment relationship/type of contract, in cases other than permanent employment contracts
    • hiring, employment termination, and employment contracts (changes, work conditions, remuneration)

    Economics and Finance Law Section

    Supervisor: Dariusz Kowalski, Ph.D.

    • establishing a business and deciding on a type of business enterprise
    • fundamental rights and responsibilities of entrepreneurs, including: company registration, introducing services and goods to the market, suspending business activities, etc.
    • business restrictions, for example business sectors requiring special licenses, permissions, certificates, and entry in registers
    • regulations related to company audits conducted by public administration bodies
    • main issues related to fair competition and the prevention of unfair market practices
    • obtaining public funds for entrepreneurship
    • applying for funding for business development: available sources of financing and financial reporting related to the size of business
    • rules and regulations concerning receiving public funds
    • supporting consumers in disputes with financial institutions
    • basic counselling concerning personal bankruptcy.

    Family Law Section

    Supervisor: Ewa Pietrzak, Ph.D.

    • divorce/separation (including divorce/separation requisites, fault grounds for divorce, no-fault divorce, matters related to children in divorce cases, such as alimony, parental custody, and visitation rights
    • alimony, including spousal alimony and child support parental custody, including joint custody as well as limitation and revocation of parental custody
    • visitation rights
    • determination of paternity, including establishing and revocation of paternity
    • marital estate matters, including division of the estate, including community property, separate property, and prenuptial agreements.

    Civil Law Section

    Supervisor: Dominik Horodyski, Ph.D.

    • civil contracts: provision of services, sale, loan, contracts of commission, lending agreements, and consumer agreements
    • civil liability, e.g. compensation for damages and redress
    • real estate law, e.g. property rental or lease, acquisitive prescription, annulment of joint ownership
    • legal aid for start-ups, including establishing and running a business (in cooperation with the Start-up Section)

    How to obtain legal advice from SPP
    information for clients

    Student Legal Services are closed for the summer. We will reopen on November 4, 2024.

    Who can become a client of Student Legal Services?

    Our Student Legal Services provide legal aid to individuals and entrepreneurs, who cannot afford to pay for legal services of an advocate or an attorney at law, and who have not obtained any professional legal advice in a given case before.

    We also provide legal aid services to community organizations, which submit legal problems related to the scope of their statutory mandate, and which have not obtained any professional legal advice in a given case before.

    Application process and documents

    To apply for legal aid provided by our Student Legal Services, please follow these steps:

    1. Complete the submission form appropriate to your case
    2. Read the Rules and Regulations
    3. Read the information on providing legal advice:
    4. Sign a Statement of persons interested in obtaining legal services:
    5. Agree to the processing of personal data:

    Case acceptance

    Based on the statement, case file, and copies of documents submitted by a potential client, the supervisor of the appropriate section of Student Legal Services accepts or rejects a given case. If the case is accepted, the supervisor assigns a student advisor for the case, by entering their name in the case file.

    Legal support provided to a client consists of a proposed resolution of the legal problem and preparation of draft procedural documents. The legal advice should be easy to understand for the client, and include all possible options of the legal resolution.

     

    Student Legal Services are closed for the summer. We will reopen in October, 2025.

    How to join Student Legal Services
    information for students

    Advantages of joining Student Legal Services

    Students participate in the activities of the Student Legal Services, in the above-mentioned sections, as part of the SPP study module. Searching for solutions to actual legal problems helps them to improve their professional competencies and gain valuable practical experience, before they enter the job market.

    Who can join Student Legal Services

    Students can join Student Legal Services team if they study at SWPS University’s Faculty of Law in Warsaw, are at least in their fourth year of studies, and have completed subjects that are listed in the syllabus of the Student Legal Services module as prerequisites for working at one of the SPP’s sections. When appropriate, the Head of the Student Legal Services may allow third year law students to join the SPP, if the students demonstrate an appropriate level of knowledge for providing legal counsel.

    Graduates of SWPS University’s Faculty of Law in Warsaw may also join Student Legal Services if their application is approved by a supervisor of one of the Sections and the Dean of the Faculty of Law in Warsaw at SWPS University.

    Requirements for students wishing to join SPP

    To join Student Legal Services, you must:

    • submit an application to Student Legal Services and obtain approval of the Head of SPP
    • complete a mandatory training concerning the rules and regulations on providing legal consel on behalf of SPP
    • sign a student declaration and submit it to the Supervisor of a selected section of SPP

    If you are interested in joining the SPP team, please contact the Head of Student Legal Services.

    Contact us

    Student Legal Services Education Center

    Location

    SWPS University
    Faculty of Law in Warsaw
    Chodakowska 19/31, room 211
    03-815 Warsaw
    Poland

    +48 22 517 96 14

    Office hours:

    Tuesday and Thursday: 10:00-15:00

    Team

    Head of SPP, Supervisor of the Labor Law Section
    Katarzyna Antolak-Szymanski
    Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

    Supervisor of the Civil Law Section
    Dominik Horodyski
    Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

    Supervisor of the Business Start-up Support Section Sekcji
    Dariusz Kowalski
    Ph.D. | Assistant Professor

    Supervisor of the Family Law Section
    Ewa Pietrzak
    Ph.D. | Assistant Professor