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Health Meets Justice: HVL’s Medical-Legal Partnership with AccessHealth
January 24 | 12:00 pm | .5 hour of ethics included.
Houston Volunteer Lawyers, in partnership with AccessHealth, has launched the first Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) in Fort Bend County, Texas. AccessHealth is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center that provides primary healthcare for the low-income population of Fort Bend and Waller Counties.
Legal needs are prevalent and often go unaddressed in income-restricted communities due to high cost, general distrust of the justice system, and lack of understanding of the legal system. Research has shown that unmet legal needs are health-harming; an MLP aims to address a patient’s health-harming legal needs to ensure a better quality of life, to improve access to justice, and to achieve better health outcomes.
This CLE presentation provides an overview of this innovative initiative where a legal professional is embedded in the healthcare setting, presents information about the groundbreaking partnership in Fort Bend County, and addresses the ethics involved in taking a pro bono case.
Presented by:
Susan H. Soto, M.Ed., J.D.
Staff Attorney
Houston Volunteer Lawyers/AccessHealth Medical-Legal Partnership
Susan Soto is a licensed attorney with more than a decade of experience in civil litigation. Prior to earning her law license, Susan was a teacher and principal in Texas public schools for almost 20 years. She has devoted her entire professional life to serving vulnerable communities and her current role as the Staff Attorney for the Houston Volunteer Lawyers/AccessHealth Medical-Legal Partnership demonstrates her commitment to underserved populations. Susan’s awards include being named one of Houston’s Top Lawyers by H Texas magazine in 2015-2017 and being included on Houstonia magazine’s Top Lawyers list in 2016-2018. She was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2021. Susan is a member of the Texas Bar College’s Society of Legal Scholars and she is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. The American Bar Foundation fellowship is an invitation-only membership limited to legal professionals who demonstrate outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities.
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Houston Volunteer Lawyers is the pro bono legal aid arm of the Houston Bar Association and largest provider of pro bono legal services in Harris County and the surrounding areas.
