The program will serve low-income elderly residents of Guilford County, N.C. free of charge.
Elon University School of Law announced plans today to open an Elder Law Clinic that will begin serving clients in the school’s fall 2012 semester. Law students participating in the Elder Law Clinic will provide free legal counsel and services, under the supervision of law faculty, to low- and moderate-income residents of Guilford County, ages 60 and above.
“The clinic will meet a significant need among low-income elderly residents in our region, while providing law students with important experience in the practice of law,” said George R. Johnson, Jr., dean and professor of law at Elon University School of Law.
The clinic will focus on the civil legal issues of older adults, such as power of attorney, end of life planning, contract and consumer issues, housing, grandparent rights, Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security benefits, and Veterans benefits.
“The clinic will provide excellent educational opportunities for our law students by exposing them to a broad range of law and client circumstances,” said Associate Professor of Law Margaret Kantlehner, who will direct the clinic.
The Elder Law Clinic will serve those with a monthly household income of $1,700 or less, if single, and $2,200 or less, if married. In Guilford County, low-income elders unable to afford private legal representation are served by the Legal Aid of North Carolina-Greensboro Office, which serves a six county area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that one in five Guilford County residents will be over age 60 by the year 2030. The Elder Law Clinic at Elon Law will help to meet a growing need for legal services within this demographic.
The Elder Law Clinic will begin considering new cases on August 15, 2012. Beginning August 15, please contact Clinic Practitioner-in-Residence, Hannah Vaughan, at (336) 279-9314 or elderlaw@elon.edu for more information.
Elon Law students also serve clients free of charge, under the supervision of faculty, through the law school’s Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic and Wills Drafting Clinic. Students have additional opportunities to engage in experiential learning through the law school’s leadership program and externship program, which recently expanded through a partnership with The Washington Center to offer full-semester and summer legal externship opportunities in Washington, D.C.