Legal aid by the University of Georgia Law School students originated in 1957 when a small group of students, in cooperation with attorneys of the local bar, began to furnish legal aid to the poor. In the fall of 1965, through a grant from the Ford Foundation, the Defender Society was formed and opened its first office in downtown Athens. One of the purposes of creating the Society is to give law students at the University some practical experience in courtroom procedure. Second and third year law students are eligible for membership in the Society. In January, 1967 a practicing attorney joined the Law School faculty for the sole purpose of supervising members of the Society's courtroom activities. In 1967 the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation which allowed third year law students, who had not passed the Georgia Bar Examination, to appear in court in defense of indigents under the general supervision of a practicing attorney. In addition to courtroom appearances the Society interviews prisoners unable to post bond in the Clarke County Jail and recommends to the Superior Court whether or not to allow such persons to be released without posting bond. The Society also provides psychiatric testing services to indigents accused of a crime. Members of the Society administer the tests to prisoners at the Clarke County Jail.