In November 2002, Professors Wasserman and Batipps presented a program on Social Security disability and permanency planning to the case workers at Family and Medical Counseling Services, a full-support medical and counseling center which provides treatment and care to many of the indigent residents infected and affected by HIV/AIDS who live in the southeast quadrant of the city. The session was well attended and generated a number of thoughtful questions about disability and custody issues. Many of the case managers continue to call with questions and have referred clients to UDC-DCSL for further legal assistance.

The first quarter of 2002 was difficult for clients and students alike. Several clients were very ill and some died before the semester was over. Clinic students wrote a number of Last Wills and Testaments for their clients, often in hospital or hospice settings. Included in a client package were Living Wills, Durable Power of Attorney for Health, and General Durable Power of Attorney (Finance). These documents help clients plan for the future if they should become too sick to handle their own affairs.

Students also represented several clients in D.C. Superior Court in custody hearings. Earlene Rosenberg, ’03, obtained joint custody for a grandmother and the father of a child following the death of the child’s mother. In the same family, she represented the grandmother in two other cases in which the grandmother was granted custody of two more grandchildren.

Jude Iweanoge, ’03, successfully represented a mother and grandmother in a joint custody case involving the mother’s daughter.

Tihesha Trower, ’03, who represented eight clients during the fall semester, completed a number of wills, durable powers of attorney for health and finance, and living wills for her clients. Tihesha obtained presumptive SSI for one of her clients, and followed up with a letter brief submitted to SSA to make the presumptive grant permanent.

Sean Riley, ’03, drafted and filed a motion to dismiss for his client, a defendant in a custody case, which was granted by the judge in the Family Court of D.C. Superior Court.

Nicole Blancato, ’03, represented a grandmother in a case involving the transfer of custody of her grandsons. The children’s mother died last summer and the grandmother wanted sole legal and physical custody of her young grandsons. The children have different fathers and Ms. Blancato was successful in getting the parties to work through their differences, with one father consenting to the custody arrangement and the other agreeing to give mediation a try. (Part of the purpose of our representation is to assist terminally ill parents in permanency planning for their children. The idea is that sometimes these choices can be made before the parent reaches a stage of critical infirmity and can find peace in knowing that their children’s future placement is in settled.)

Sarah Bullard, ’03, assisted her client in arranging for visitations with the client’s young son, who is in foster care, and drafted motions to the court, advocating for the mother.

The past fall, many of our students represented clients with claims for Social Security disability benefits. Students filed claims and provided advocacy for their clients before claims examiners at the local Social Security offices. The students gathered the medical, educational, and other evidence to support the disability claims and wrote briefs on behalf of their clients. In their briefs, the students argued that the clients met the strict disability standard set by the Social Security Administration and that the clients’ medical evidence supported their disability claims. Our students showed mastery in their knowledge of the Social Security disability regulations, which have been compared in complexity to the I.R.S. code. Dwayne Berry, ’03, Nicole Blancato, ’03, and Aaron Price, ’03, all submitted strong advocacy briefs to Social Security on behalf of their clients. Along with our clients, we are now awaiting favorable decisions on those claims.