Not every illness has a biological remedy. An asthmatic person will never breathe symptom-free — no matter how much medication is administered — if he or she returns from the doctor’s office to mold-infested housing, as many do.
All over the United States, health care providers who take care of low-income individuals and families are turning to a new specialist to help keep their patients healthy and safe: lawyers who are willing to intervene to eliminate the barriers to good health that are rooted in legal issues.
The Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership is one of about 100 partnerships nationwide. In the past two years, the reach of the NFMLP has increased dramatically because of the involvement of pro bono attorneys.
The goal for the NFMLP is to continue to create a more comprehensive collaborative relationship between local physicians and attorneys to benefit our low-income population by identifying socioeconomic and educational determinants affecting health and well-being.
When a doctor, nurse, social worker or other member of the medical team suspects that an environmental, economic, social or educational legal issue might exist, that person makes a referral to NFMLP for a legal diagnosis.
Trainings by NFMLP medical and legal staff and volunteers are provided to local health care providers on a regular basis. The goal of the trainings is to help the medical providers spot legal “red flags” that might be hindering or preventing a patient’s good health and well-being.
When a “red flag” is spotted, the medical provider refers the patient to the NFMLP for a more in-depth legal “diagnosis.” When the legal issue is defined, resolution of the matter may be resolved by a pro bono attorney or by a Jacksonville Area Legal Aid staff attorney.
Pro bono attorneys are supported by NFMLP with CLE webinars, meeting space, expert resource people and professional liability coverage when serving an NFMLP pro bono client.
Many private attorneys and law firms have agreed to assist NFMLP patients with their legal issues. Pro bono cases have been resolved by many solo practitioners as well as attorneys from firms such as Holland & Knight, Harrell & Harrell, McGuireWoods, Foley & Lardner, Boyd & Jenerette, Purcell Flanagan Hay & Greene, Dumas & Gaglione, Akerman Senterfitt, Farah & Farah and others.
Across the country and in Northeast Florida, there are several medical legal partnership service delivery models in existence. Some firms have developed areas of expertise such as education advocacy, temporary relative custody, Social Security disability appeals and guardian advocacy.
Other firms may serve patients with the adopt-a-clinic model in which the firm attorneys assist the low-income patients from a specific medical clinic addressing whatever legal issue with which the patient is faced.
Regardless of the model of service delivery employed, during the 20-plus years of growth of medical legal partnerships, a common denominator of success across the country has emerged.
National experts agree that the partnerships that have the greatest capacity to expand services to vulnerable and underserved patients are those that have a strong collaboration between the medical providers, the private bar and the local legal services organization.
The NFMLP has a very strong collaboration with a broad base of stakeholders serving on the NFMLP board referring patients for assistance and providing pro bono legal services. The board itself models the partnership of the two professions by holding two of its four yearly meetings in a medical provider location and two of its four yearly meetings in a legal location.
Because of grants from The Florida Bar Foundation in 2010 and 2011 to increase service through the involvement of pro bono attorneys, the number of patients served tripled in 2010 and then nearly doubled in 2011.
As referrals from more medical providers such as the Sulzbacher Medical Clinic, JaxHATS at Shands, Wolfson Children’s Hospital, We Care, Community Hospice and the Duval County Health Department are received, more pro bono attorneys are needed.
For information on how to serve patients of the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership and other pro bono opportunities throughout the Fourth Judicial Circuit, contact Kathy Para, chairperson, The JBA Pro Bono Committee, via email at [email protected].