HOFSTRA LAW
Where Law and Health Work Together
Our mission is to provide much-needed legal and medical care to community members across Long Island and New York City, regardless of their ability to pay. We seek to deliver holistic care to underserved patients in our community by uniting social, medical, legal, and academic resources.
Northwell Health
New York State Bar Association
Participating Firms
Mintz Levin
Littler Mendelson
Jackson Lewis
What We Do
The MLP focuses on three critical areas:
- Providing legal services to underserved patients in our community
- Educating current students and future generations of lawyers and healthcare professionals and cross-training medical and legal providers so they gain an understanding of each other’s discipline
- Forming relationships with our community-based organizations and local law firms to expand MLP initiatives
We identify and address health-harming legal needs such as the following:
Income
- Public Benefits
- WIC/SNAP
- Social Security
- Health Insurance
- Utilities
- Medicare/Medicaid
Employment/Education
- Discrimination
- Special Education for Children
Housing
- Evictions
- Foreclosures
- Repairs
Legal Status
- Refugees
- Asylees
- Parolees
Personal/Family
- Substance Abuse
- Elder Law
- Mental Health
See your Northwell provider for more information or email mlp@hofstra.edu.
Get Involved
For all volunteer opportunities and questions, please contact Kerlann L. Flowers, Esq., legal director, at kerlann.l.flowers@hofstra.edu or (516) 463-7360.
Pro Bono Projects
Law firms and attorneys can collaborate with Hofstra to provide legal assistance to clients in the following areas:
- Income: Social Security, public benefits, Medicare and Medicaid appeals
- Housing: evictions, foreclosures, repairs
- Employment/Education: discrimination, special education for children
- Legal Status: refugees, asylees, parolees
Personal/Family: mental health, elder law, domestic violence, guardianships
Join Our Mission
- Provide high-quality representation for clients facing health-harming legal needs
- Create partnerships to provide pro bono services to clients
- Expand relationships with community-based organizations
- Facilitate working relationships between law students and licensed attorneys
Academic Offerings
Law and Medicine Together Class and Practicum
Students are exposed to the core practice areas covered by the Medical Legal Partnership, including immigration law, education law, disability discrimination law, housing law, and other areas of law. The course includes a combination of lectures and skills labs, with each week being a different module. Students are required to perform fieldwork with the Medical Legal Partnership.
- Social Determinants of Health I: Why Are We Here?
- The Medical Legal Partnership
- Information Sharing Ethics, HIPAA, and Informed Consent
- Social Determinants of Health II: Income Inequality and Health Care
- Social Determinants of Health II: Racism as a Public Health Issue
- Social Determinants of Health II: Introduction to Housing Issues
- Social Determinants of Health II: Elders and Their Caregivers
- Social Determinants of Health II: Immigration Issues
Hofstra/Northwell Medical Legal Partnership Externship
The externship is a 3-credit course for students placed in Northwell Health’s legal departments. The placements involve rotations between two of the following legal departments: Office of Legal Affairs, Feinstein Department (Intellectual Property), Managed Care Contracting Team, Compliance, Procurement, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Risk. The externship exposes students to the legal practice of in-house attorneys in a hospital system. Students perform legal tasks under the supervision of a practicing attorney.
Contact Us
Kerlann Flowers
Legal Director and Senior Attorney for the Northwell/Hofstra Medical Legal Partnership and Senior Fellow for the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy and Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Janet L. Dolgin
Jack and Freda Dicker Distinguished Professor of Health Care Law and Director of the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy; Professor of Science Education, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Carlos Mulles
Public Assistance Attorney for the Hofstra/Northwell Medical-Legal Partnership and Visiting Assistant Professor of Law
Michelle C. Wallace
Assistant Director of the Gitenstein Institute and Bioethics Center Coordinator