Bringing Law to Life Clinical Education
Bet Tzedek
Civil Litigation Clinic cardozo.yu.edu/civillitigationclinic
One of the first Cardozo Law clinics, Bet Tzedek takes its name from the Hebrew word meaning “House of Justice.” Each year, students promote equal access to justice by representing low-income elderly and disabled individuals in health, disability, housing and discrimination cases. The clinic ensures that clients obtain the benefits and accommodations they need to live independently in the community. Students in the Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic have worked on cases such as these: • •
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S tudents filed a federal court case challenging New York State Medicaid policy that denied severely disabled children who were unable to speak access to necessary communication devices. Thousands of elderly and disabled New York City residents had their rent benefits restored after a clinic class action challenged the city’s failure to accommodate recipients whose disabilities interfered with their filing of renewal paperwork. The clinic prevented an 85-year-old woman from being forced to go to a nursing home by preserving her home-care services that Medicaid attempted to cut.
565,000 New York City residents with disabilities under the age of 65*
80% of low-income households with someone with a disability experienced a civil legal problem in the past year**
1.8 million Number of unrepresented litigants in New York State Court civil matters***
*U.S. Census Bureau **Legal Services Corporation ***New York State Unified Court System
In their cases, students in the Bet Tzedek Civil Litigation Clinic protect the interests and preserve the health benefits, homes and independence of their clients. When students identify systemic problems that affect more than their one client, they look for ways of addressing the problem more globally, often by bringing impact litigation. For example, as a result of Bet Tzedek class actions, thousands of New Yorkers have been protected from arbitrary reductions in their home-care services; the U.S. Social Security Administration has changed its restrictive policies for determining when individuals living with HIV are eligible for benefits; and hundreds of disabled applicants for public housing have been protected from the public housing authority’s intrusion into their confidential medical records. The clinic operates with 14-16 students and two full-time faculty members. Together, students interview and counsel clients, write and argue motions, engage in discovery, represent clients in federal mediation, and conduct hearings and trials. Students also take a yearlong seminar on civil litigation theory and practice, where they learn the skills and substantive law that they use in representing clinic clients and addressing the ethical issues they are likely to face as advocates.
For more information about the Bet Tzedek Legal Services Clinic, contact Professor Leslie Salzman at salzman@yu.edu or Professor Rebekah Diller at rebekah.diller@yu.edu.
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law • Yeshiva University 55 Fifth Avenue • New York, NY 10003
cardozo.yu.edu /cardozolaw /cardozolawschool