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Duke Law Students Volunteer Time and Legal Expertise to Assist HIV-Positive Clients

published April 16, 2023

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( 19 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5)
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Summary

Duke Law Students have been dedicating their time and skills to helping HIV-positive clients since the late 2000s, when they initiated the "Loan Repayment Assistance Program" or LRAP. Through their program, they provide free legal services to financially-challenged individuals who are living with HIV and AIDS. The program began as part of an effort to reduce discrimination against those living with HIV and AIDS, and it has since become a cornerstone of the Duke Law School curriculum.


Duke Law Students provide pro-bono legal services to individuals living with HIV in the form of document preparation, legal advice, and advocacy. They also provide assistance with housing and healthcare issues. The program has been able to provide free legal services to over 100 individuals and families.

LRAP is run by student volunteers and supervised by faculty staff from Duke Law School. The students volunteer their time and efforts to help patients living with HIV navigate the legal system.

In recognition of their work, the Duke Law students have been recognized by the American Bar Association for their commitment to pro-bono legal services. The students have also assisted in drafting and passing legislation related to HIV and AIDS.

Duke Law Students have also been successful in providing financial assistance to those living with HIV and AIDS. They have established a fund to provide financial assistance for medical bills and other expenses related to HIV and AIDS care.

The success of the LRAP program has inspired other medical professionals, such as doctors and nurses, to volunteer their time and skills to help HIV-positive clients. This partnership has helped to reduce discrimination and stigma related to HIV and AIDS.

The efforts of Duke Law Students to provide free legal services to HIV-positive clients have helped to reduce stigma, as well as providing essential resources and support to those living with HIV and AIDS. The LRAP program has been able to provide free legal services to over 100 clients and has inspired other medical professionals to volunteer their time. They have also established a fund to provide financial assistance for medical bills and other expenses related to HIV and AIDS care. Through their pro-bono services, Duke Law Students are helping to improve the quality of life for those living with HIV and AIDS.
 

Clinical Opportunities for Duke Law Students

The Duke Law's HIV/AIDS Clinic offers a unique experience to law students, giving them the opportunity to work on pro bono cases in a field they might otherwise not have been exposed to. This clinic assists individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS and are unable to afford legal representation. Over the past twenty years, Duke Law students have dedicated their time and expertise to helping those who are HIV positive in the North Carolina area.
 

MRI & Impact of Duke Law Students

The clinic was founded in 2000 by the Medical Reserve Initiative (MRI) with the help of Duke Law and Medical School faculty. Since then, a group of dedicated law students have been lending their support to those living with HIV/AIDS, aware that their efforts are having an impact on the lives of many.
 

Service Learning and Professional Development

Duke Law students can gain hands-on legal experience in the HIV/AIDS Clinic. By providing legal assistance to those who are HIV positive, the students learn more about public health law, public interest law, and human rights, as well as developing their research and writing skills. Furthermore, Duke Law students are able to understand the importance of service learning and professional development. The clinic also helps students become more empathetic to their clients' needs, and encourages them to take a greater interest in public health, thereby improving access to justice in the North Carolina area.
 

Case Examples and Client Responsibilities

The HIV/AIDS Clinic at Duke Law helps clients in a wide range of cases. Examples include a revision of a will, ensuring that clients are receiving the social security payments they are entitled to, or being represented in family court. Clients are expected to attend all their court hearings, sign all necessary documents and cooperate with the clinic's lawyers. The clinic also provides legal advice and support for those who are undergoing diagnosis, treatment, and counseling.
 

Public Health and Pro Bono Work

By providing access to justice for those living with HIV/AIDS, Duke Law students are helping to make a real difference in the lives of many individuals. The clinic also promotes public health by making sure patients receive proper diagnosis, treatment, and counseling. Furthermore, by taking part in pro bono work, the students learn valuable lessons in service learning, professional development, and advocacy, further preparing them for a career in the legal profession.

Duke Law third-years Gretchen Bellamy and Jo Stein and second-year Emily Smith all work with the project this semester on the same types of cases on behalf of low-income HIV-positive clients. Their experience includes appeals of denials for Social Security disability benefits; setting up wills, health care powers of attorney, powers of attorney, and living wills; and sometimes representing a client in a discrimination case.

For some of the students, this is the first time they have worked on AIDS-related issues, while for others, this clinic is a continuation of past experience.

Before she came to law school, Bellamy was in the Peace Corps, managed a homeless shelter for five years, and also worked for the Red Hot record label, which donates all profits to AIDS charities around the world. While at Duke Law, Bellamy worked and studied in Zimbabwe and Kenya for eight months last year. She did an externship with the Children's Rights Project and studied comparative law. In Africa, Bellamy saw "HIV devastating a whole continent," she says.

In their work with the AIDS Legal Assistance Project at Duke, Bellamy and the other students see AIDS-related legal problems that are particular to the illness and also intertwined with the project's clients' poverty.

To receive disability benefits under Social Security, the disability must be demonstrated in medical records. The applicant fills out a form, Bellamy explains, and authorizes the Social Security Administration (SSA) to contact his/her doctors for documentation. One of the clients Bellamy is working with has memory loss—a common factor in AIDS—and had a hard time remembering all his physicians. The SSA denied his application for lack of documentation. Bellamy is working on his appeal.

The Duke project is showing Bellamy "the importance of having your affairs in order," she says, as well as teaching her the ins and outs of the Social Security system and its documents. She is also seeing again, as she did when managing the homeless shelter, the interconnections between AIDS, drug abuse, sexual abuse, and poverty.

After graduation, Bellamy will work with the private practice of a Duke professor.

For Duke Law student Stein, she came to the AIDS Legal Assistance Project as a "perfect follow-up" to her work with Duke's children's education law clinic. Seeing a variety of legal work, she also wanted to maintain contact with clients.

Stein's current work involves "a smorgasbord of cases," including a disability appeals case, two "documents cases" (wills and living wills), and a standby guardianship case. Some cases at the project are started by law students the semester or summer before and continued by the next group of students. Some can be completed in one semester—mostly documents cases. Stein's documents cases, however, are more complicated.

Drawing up a will for an HIV-positive client can be difficult, says Stein, because one must find the level of discussion at which the client is comfortable. It is hard to talk about death, especially with a terminally ill client. Some clients have thought about what they want to happen after they are gone before coming to the Duke clinic, but some have not. It is important "to be sensitive to what kind of client you're working with," says Stein.

Legally, however, there are no differences in drawing up a will for someone who is HIV-positive, nor does poverty make wills more complicated, says Stein, although the settlement process can be more complicated if there is extensive debt.

After graduation, Stein will clerk for one year for Judge Susan Black of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, FL.

Working in the AIDS Legal Assistance Project makes students appreciate public service legal work, says second-year Emily Smith, and "see how important it is to do." Smith is working on Social Security benefits appeals, wills, and one eviction case this semester. "I've gotten to meet a lot of really great clients," says Smith.

At the project, Smith has been able to see "how living in poverty and having an HIV diagnosis all comes together" to cause legal problems and unbalance life, she says. Her goal for project clients is "to give them a sense of security."

published April 16, 2023

( 19 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.