2024 NLADA Annual Conference

We will discuss how NYLAG’s LegalHealth medical-legal partnership (MLP) improves the legal and health outcomes for NYC’s immigrant communities, including many recent arrivals. As the nation’s largest and one of the longest-standing medical-legal partnerships, we have historically rallied around immigrants who are forced to deal with complex legal and health issues. Through our extensive partnerships with various public safety net hospitals, private hospitals and outpatient community clinics, we unite legal care and health care, so the patient relies on one interdisciplinary team to collectively address their legal and health needs. Through LegalHealth’s MLP model, our attorneys and paralegals provide culturally competent and trauma-informed wrap around legal services for patients across a wide range of civil legal issues.

Our panel will highlight our successful pro bono clinics we have built over the past year to enhance outcomes for immigrants with cancer. Specifically, 96 immigrants with cancer and their families have received comprehensive pro bono assistance to legally extend the period of their authorized stay of their tourist visas due to medical necessity and were able to retain control of their decision making, should their illness progress, by assisting in the completion of advance directives. The need is significant and by collaborating with the private bar we have served more immigrant clients and removed social and economic barriers that traditionally have made it challenging for immigrant patients to receive these essential services.

Finally, we will share qualitative data from recent years, client narratives and case examples to illustrate how our medical-legal partnership model has positively impacted the legal and health outcomes for immigrant patients. We hope LegalHealth’s models for a medical-legal partnership and pro-bono firm collaboration can inspire public health and legal programming for people in different states with similar needs, heighten interest in multidisciplinary information exchange between healthcare and legal systems, and renew commitment to health and racial justice and a healthier society for all.