Staff Attorney - Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP)

About the role

The Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) team works onsite with health care clinicians to promote physical, mental, and emotional health through integrated legal services with a primary focus on working directly with patient-clients to help solve a wide range of legal issues. Texas Legal Services Center (TLSC) MLPs are based on the national MLP model of increasing access to justice while mitigating socio-legal determinants of health—such as lack of access to care, financial and food insecurity, housing instability, and personal uncertainty.

This position will be involved in all aspects of the MLP program while addressing the health-harming legal needs of patient-clients at a Federally Qualified Health Center with locations in Austin, Texas and the surrounding area. This is a grant funded position.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality legal advice, assistance, referrals, and representation, where applicable, to eligible clients in a compassionate, culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed manner.
• Execute intake interviews with potential clients, confirm eligibility for services, and check for conflicts of interest according to TLSC policy.
• Perform high-level legal research and factual investigation.
• Write complaints, petitions, motions, memos, and briefs on behalf of clients.
• Communicate with third parties, the media, and the public to advocate on behalf of clients and the MLP mission.
• Prepare for, attend, assist, argue, and conduct depositions, hearings, trials, and appeals.
• Analyze legal and social problems and devise strategic plans to address health-harming legal needs through creative means and interprofessional collaboration.
• Seek and act on opportunities for healthcare transformation by bringing structural competency to bear on relevant clinical committees, workgroups, and taskforces.
• Cultivate working relationships and partnerships, both internally at partner clinics and externally with health care professionals, students, and other social services agencies in the community and statewide, to advance program and organizational goals.
• Present complex, relevant legal topics to lay members of the community and health professionals.
• Lead or assist with promoting health and legal education efforts statewide and in local programs.
• Travel to locations outside of Austin, Texas, occasionally to neighboring towns and counties and potentially further once or twice annually for outreach, continuing legal education, or other opportunities.
• Assist with funding for, reporting on, and evaluation of the MLP.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Attorneys are expected to work in-person both at the TLSC office and on-site at the clinic with the health care team to detect, address, and prevent health-harming legal issues for patients and communities. The Attorney in this position is expected to maintain the highest ethical and professional standards as a member of the State Bar; adhere to the American Bar Association Standards for the Provision of Civil Legal Aid; embrace and support TLSC’s overall mission; and comply with all grant requirements, regulations, standards, policies, and confidentiality requirements.