INTERDISCIPLINARY MENTAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH LAW CLINIC

Villanova Law students working in the Interdisciplinary Mental and Physical Health Law Clinic (Health Law Clinic) serve low-income persons in their struggle to avoid exploitation, assert their legal rights, and obtain accessible, quality health care.

Working directly with their clients to help them understand and assert their rights, Villanova Law students provide life-changing legal services to their clients all while gaining valuable lawyering skills.

Each semester, students typically work individually with two or three unique cases. Representation often culminates in an appearance at administrative hearings or in court. Types of cases include proving their client’s eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, representation in surrogate decision-making matters, and appealing denial of payment by health insurers.

In the past, students have won services for clients that had previously been denied by their health insurers, including electric wheelchairs, skilled nursing care, medicines and therapies. They have successfully petitioned the court for guardians for persons unable to make decisions for themselves, challenged guardianship petitions on behalf of persons against whom they were wrongfully brought, and won disability benefits for adults and children with severe disabilities.