Combating Substandard Housing Through Medical-Legal Partnership

Abstract

The traditional legal service model assumes that clients know when they need legal assistance. This assumption is problematic, particularly for vulnerable clients. For example, a low-income client living in a mold infested apartment is at risk for developing a bronchial condition. However, unless the client is particularly litigious, he is more likely to discuss mold exposure with this doctor than with this lawyer. This is because clients generally don't realize they require the assistance of an attorney until they are in a legal crisis. For the client living in the mold-infested apartment, this is typically an eviction proceeding for non-payment of rent. Therefore, our profession's challenge is to develop a model that allows us to prevent these crises, rather than merely respond to them. A model that develop to prevent crises is the medical-legal partnership (MLP). This article discusses how MLP can be used to combat substandard housing conditions.

Keywords: medical-legal partnership, substandard housing, contract law, tort law, health law