HIV/AIDS Law Clinic

Student Progress and Achievements

Several students in the HIV/AIDS Clinic are on their way to becoming experienced family law litigators. Jomeka Shaw, 3L, represented her client at a pendente lite trial for custody. Shaw had to prepare and take direct testimony from her client and cross-examine the opposing side's witnesses. She was enthusiastic about the experience and the judge's decision, but found preparing and participating in a trial to be "harder work than she expected." Dan Toto, 3L, appeared in court twice during the fall semester: once in an uncontested custody case, where he helped clients get joint custody of their granddaughter; and the second time at a hearing in a contested custody case. Jason Simpson, 3L, represented his client at a default joint custody hearing, achieving a joint custody arrangement between the child's mother and her niece.

Students working on Social Security Disability cases have also had their "day in court" in hearings before administrative law judges. Shala Zokaie, 3L, argued her client's disability case in a hearing before the judge, after preparing a brief and gathering medical records as evidence of the client's inability to work. Wagner Dantas, 3L, also had the opportunity to argue a client's disability case before an administrative law judge of the agency.

Other students spent many hours working on their clients' issues, whether custody or social security disability. Some students are preparing Last Will and Testaments for clients, durable powers of attorney and/or living wills. The clients are benefiting from the students' efforts to resolve matters and make their lives less stressful, whether financially or through future arrangements for children should anything happen to parents or other caregivers.

Kosiso Onyia, 3L, represented a client before a local Social Security Administration (SSA) who was wrongly accused of receiving an overpayment of Social Security benefits on behalf of the client's son. Onyia successfully argued that her client was not in receipt of the overpayment, that SSA had not followed their own regulations with regard to recovery of the overpayment, and that her client was due a reimbursement of monies, which were taken from previous benefit payments as recoupments. This victory came because of Onyia's tenacity and unwillingness to take "no" for an answer. She waited four hours with her client at the SSA office in order to have her client heard. The client was overjoyed -- imagine beating the bureaucrats!

Bar Prep

Professors Gellhorn, Wasserman and Batipps of the HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic recently administered an examination to clinic students modeled after the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) developed the MPT for participating jurisdictions. Some twenty-seven states have added this 90-minute test to their bar examinations, and Arkansas and Alabama are projected to adopt the MPT in their jurisdictions by July 2002 and July 2003, respectively. In the local metropolitan area, the District of Columbia is the only jurisdiction presently administering an MPT.

The NCBE tells students that "[t]he performance test is designed to evaluate your ability to handle a select number of legal authorities in the context of a factual problem involving a client." This examination format seemed uniquely appropriate to clinical teaching and for providing a venue for clinic students to have exposure to the MPT. The students were provided a File and a Library during the introductory phase to the examination. The File contained an Intake Memorandum that provided the factual information about the case and presented the legal issues raised. The fact pattern of the case covered many of the issues that are raised in the clinic regularly. The Library was designed to be self contained, i.e., it provided all the legal authorities which were needed to complete the task assigned to the students. Students were asked to write a Case Plan Memorandum to their clinic supervisor, addressing specific questions raised by the issues presented in the case.

The introduction of the students to this examination format was done over several class sessions. Initially, with the assistance of Professor Laurie Morin, the students were introduced to the concepts of and the approach to the examination. Prof. Morin instructed the students on the technique of "synthesis of cases" and its applicability to the MPT. In the second phase, students developed a fact statement, by extracting the relevant facts from the File. Thirdly, students developed their arguments, by applying the law to the facts of the case. Finally, students were given approximately 90 minutes to complete the written task in class in an examination setting.

While this is a "work-in-progress" for the HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic and adjustments will likely be made both in substance and procedure, the students were enthusiastic about and intrigued by exposure to the MPT under these controlled circumstances. Many voiced the opinion that they were grateful to have the opportunity to become familiar with and to practice this kind of examination. In developing the MPT, Professors Gellhorn, Wasserman and Batipps felt that the MPT could be easily adapted to the Clinic format, with its emphasis on client representation and problem-solving through legal analysis.

HIV/AIDS Clinic Receives Continued Ryan White Funding

The UDC-DCSL HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic is in compliance for services funded through the Clinic's Year 11 Ryan White Title I contract with the HIV/AIDS Administration, District of Columbia Health Department. Grant compliance for this review period (3/1/01 through 11/30/01) means that the Clinic has met at least 50% of its annual targeted client and service area goals, and has expended at least 50% of its program funding in each service area.

The Clinic also received notice that its grant will continue through Year 12 (March 1, 2002 through February 28, 2003) with level funding, which is awarded in three categories: legal services, permanency planning, and Metro Cares (the costs associated with preparing mandatory reports).

This successful outcome is due to the hard work of grant-funded staff attorneys Prof. Joyce Batipps, Prof. Gay Gelhorn, and paralegal Jacqueline Craig, working together with the attorneys and students in the Legal Clinic. Prof. Gay Gelhorn appreciates the assistance she received from Ana Reyes and others in preparing for the site visit.