KU News Release

Grant to law school’s medical-legal clinic supports advocacy for indigent Kansans

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Law has received a $300,000 grant from the Topeka-based Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans to help support its Family Health Care Legal Services Clinic.

The medical-legal partnership, which began in January, is the law school’s newest clinical offering. Students assist clients referred to them through Southwest Boulevard Family Health Care in Kansas City, Kan. The health clinic serves some of the state’s poorest residents and is staffed, in part, by student volunteers from the KU School of Medicine’s JayDoc Free Clinic.

“We are delighted to have received the Sunflower grant, which will allow us to continue and expand our innovative program,” said David Gottlieb, associate dean of clinical programs and professor of law. “The clinic provides a unique collaboration between the medical and law schools and a needed resource to hundreds of indigent citizens in the greater Kansas City area. We look forward to continuing this unique educational experience.”

Under the supervision of staff attorney Patricia Thomas of Kansas Legal Services, law students have helped clients resolve past-due medical bills; apply for disability and general financial assistance; research safe, clean housing; navigate divorce and custody disputes; and more. From January through May, the clinic served 74 clients, with students logging approximately 500 hours outside of class time.

Students who worked in the clinic during its inaugural semester said they learned time and again how seemingly minor legal issues can quickly exacerbate health problems for indigent clients. Many cases resulted in positive outcomes. The restoration of a driver’s license allowed one client to drive to the gym for exercise to control diabetes. The successful resolution of two divorces involving abuse enabled individuals to move to a healthy environment.

The precedent for the relationship between the health and law clinics originated in Boston, home of the 15-year-old Medical-Legal Partnership for Children. There are about 60 places in the country where similar partnerships exist, Gottlieb said, but only about 10 of those involve law schools.

This fall, the clinic will expand its intake area to an office at the KU Medical Center, continuing to assist only indigent patients who do not otherwise have access to legal help.

The Sunflower Foundation, created in 2000, is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to serve as a catalyst for improving the health of Kansans, which it supports through a program of grants, awards and related activities. The law school’s clinic also has received funding from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas Health Foundation in Wichita.

The funds are managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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