Baltimore Hosts 2011 Medical-Legal Partnership Summit, March 23-25March 16, 2011 Baltimore MD - March 16, 2011 The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership will hold its 2011 Summit, “Medical-Legal Partnership: A New Standard of Care,” at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel on March 23-25. Nearly 400 physicians, attorneys, nurses, social workers, paralegals, government and public health officials are expected to attend the Summit, which features two days of educational sessions and workshops along with a “Capitol Hill Day.” Keynote speakers include Reed Tuckson, MD, FACP, Executive Vice President and Chief of Medical Affairs, UnitedHealth Group, and Joshua Sharfstein, MD, Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene for the state of Maryland. A medical-legal partnership (MLP) is a healthcare delivery model that integrates legal assistance into health settings to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable individuals. MLPs address the nexus of poverty, poor health, and lack of legal advocacy in three ways: (1) treating patients’ underlying health issues; (2) resolving their immediate legal problem; and (3) helping health care professionals become more effective advocates for their patients. This is a true paradigm shift in providing health and legal services within a community. Through direct legal assistance, transforming health and legal institutions and practices, and local and national policy change, MLPs provide high-quality, comprehensive care to thousands of patients nationwide. Currently, there are MLPs in more than 225 hospitals and health centers in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Maryland’s only MLP is Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law), which is a collaboration between the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute, The Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS). In March 2010, the law firm of Ober|Kaler became the first law firm to partner with Project HEAL, providing pro bono legal assistance to children and their families on a variety of issues, including special education, housing-landlord/tenant, Supplemental Security Income benefits, guardianship and estate planning. Ober|Kaler’s Project HEAL work is coordinated by firm associate Victoria Z. Sulerzyski in collaboration with principal Paul S. Sugar, the firm’s pro bono coordinator. The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership supports the expansion, advancement and integration of the MLP model by providing technical assistance to partnership sites, facilitating the MLP Network and coordinating national research and policy activities related to preventive law, health disparities and the social determinants of health. Ober|Kaler is a national law firm providing integrated regulatory, transactional and litigation services to financial, health care, construction and other business organizations. The firm has 130 attorneys, with offices in Baltimore MD, Washington DC and Falls Church VA. In 2009, the firm was recognized as "Law Firm of the Year" by MVLS. For information on the MLP Summit in Baltimore, please feel free to call any of the following contacts:
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