Medical-Legal Partnership Field Placement Program
Overview
The KU School of Law Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) is a collaboration between the KU School of Law and two health systems: The University of Kansas Health System at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, and LMH Health in Lawrence. Under the supervision of experienced MLP attorneys, students assist in providing free transactional legal assistance to low-income patients and their families.
MLP interns gain extensive transactional experience conducting intake interviews; developing case strategies; conducting legal research; and preparing legal pleadings, briefs, and memoranda of support. They can represent clients in administrative hearings and district court if the student is eligible for a student license pursuant to Kansas Supreme Court Rule 715.
Learn more about the medical-legal partnership model in this New York Times article:
When poverty makes you sick, a lawyer can be the cure.
Medical-Legal Partnership Field Placement Resources
Applications for field placements at the two Medical-Legal Partnership sites are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Students can participate during the fall, spring or summer semesters for up to 6 credit hours.
The MLP is a collaboration between the KU School of Law and two health systems: The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City, Kansas, and LMH Health in Lawrence, Kansas. Student interns select a single site and work there over the course of their semester enrollment. Students who have completed at least 28 hours of coursework at the time of placement are eligible to apply for a placement with the MLP.
Students must attend both a mandatory field placement orientation class and a mandatory professionalism seminar in person. Dates and times for the current semester's orientation sessions will be shared with students in KU Law's Weekly Updates email.
Interested students should visit the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership to gain a better understanding of the medical-legal partnership model.
Medical-Legal Partnership Field Placement student application (.pdf)
Lindsey L. Collins joined the KU School of Law Medical-Legal Partnership at KU Medical Center in 2015 as the Elizabeth Gallup Mental Health Law Fellow. In 2017, she took over as managing attorney at the KU Medical Center Campus. Before she began her second career as an attorney, she spent over a decade serving her community as a nonprofit organization manager and fundraising professional.
Juliann Morland DaVee joined the KU School of Law in 2016 as the managing attorney of the Medical-Legal Partnership at LMH Health. She previously served as the 2015-2016 SIH/SIU Medical-Legal Partnership LLM Fellow and as a staff attorney for Kansas Legal Services, where she helped implement the Southwest Kansas Medical-Legal Partnership.
Student Testimonial: Advocating for health
Richard Weber, L'24
The Medical-Legal Partnership Field Placement allowed me to get out of the books and apply what I’ve learned to help real people in real situations. I was exposed to a variety of different legal areas and people, giving me a healthy dose of what I might expect upon graduation.
In my time at The University of Kansas Health System at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, I talked to clients about legal issues they were facing, tried to suss out any potential problems or critical details, drafted petitions, proposed judgments, conducted research, and observed in court.
I’ve always been decent at ‘customer service,’ but this experience sharpened my ability to not only listen and let others feel heard but not let the emotions of the situation cloud my judgment and job. There may be an urge to tell them, ‘everything will be fine’ or ‘we can help you with this’ but in reality, you need to be aware that might not be the case and learn how to navigate and set expectations.
This experience has stressed what a difference two letters at the end of my name can make (J.D.). There is a great opportunity to take that title and help navigate someone through what can be a painfully unfair, biased system. I should never take for granted what I’m learning and that I get the opportunity to practice law.
My advice to someone coming into the Medical-Legal Partnership Field Placement is that you owe the highest duty and responsibilities to your clients. Your supervising attorneys have your back, but these are real stakes and start to let you experience the pressures and triumphs to come in your law career.
Questions?
Director, Field Placement Program
Glenn Jewell
gjewell@ku.edu
KU Medical Center Location
Lindsey Collins | Managing Attorney
lindsey.collins@ku.edu
913-588-3731
Lawrence Memorial Hospital Location
Juliann Morland DaVee | Managing Attorney
jmorlanddavee@ku.edu
785-505-5985