Law students from Canterbury University are pitching in to help Christchurch residents take court action against the Earthquake Commission.
About 150 residents have joined the action being taken by the law firm Anthony Harper on their behalf.
They're seeking a declaratory judgement that the EQC is not repairing homes to the standard it is required to.
Dean of the law school Chris Gallavin says for the students, it's a way of getting the kind of real-world experience they can't get in the classroom.
Mr Gallavin says the volunteer work will contribute to the students' credits for their clinical legal studies programme.