Case Example

Guest columnist and attorney Karen G. Luther describes the important work of the Legal Aid for Children and Families program in the Oakland County Bar Association journal, LACHES.

This flier for families, available in English and Spanish, explains the Texas Education Agency codes for excused absences for health care appointments, including medical, dental, psychological and special education services and the process for working with school attendance personnel. Families use the information with school personnel who, for example, erroneously tell the family that their child's dental appointment is unexcused. The information is also helpful to care providers who have families miss appointments due to misinformed school personnel. Adaptable to other medical-legal partnerships.

This flier for families, available in English and Spanish, explains the Texas Education Agency codes for excused absences for health care appointments, including medical, dental, psychological and special education services and the process for working with school attendance personnel. Families use the information with school personnel who, for example, erroneously tell the family that their child's dental appointment is unexcused. The information is also helpful to care providers who have families miss appointments due to misinformed school personnel. Adaptable to other medical-legal partnerships.

ABSTRACT:

In this Article, the authors, two clinical law teachers and a social worker teaching in the clinic, wrestle with some persistent questions that arise in cross professional, interdisciplinary law practice. In the past decade much writing has praised the benefits of interdisciplinary legal practice, but many sympathetic skeptics have worried about the ethical implications of lawyers working with nonlawyers, such as social workers and mental health professionals. Those worries include the difference in advocacy stances between lawyers and other helping professionals, and the mandated reporting requirements that apply to helping professionals but usually not to lawyers. This Article addresses those concerns in a direct way, using social work as an exemplar for many kinds of interdisciplinary practices.

Referral form medical providers can use to refer patient-clients to the legal team of a medical-legal partnership. This form was developed by the Legal Assistance to Medical Patients Project in Newark, NJ.