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SKILL SHARPENER
Duke Law Students Dedicate Both Time and Skills to Helping HIV-Positive Clients [by Erica Winter] Each semester, the 10 students working in Duke Law School’s AIDS Legal Assistance Project in Durham, NC, must each commit to serving clients for 100 hours and attend a concurrent course. Even with those resources the clinic still sometimes turns clients away. Despite great advances in medical care over the clinic’s nine-year existence, there is still high demand among HIV-positive people for legal services.
Duke Law third-years Gretchen Bellamy and
tact his/her doctors for documentation. One
can be difficult, says Stein, because one must
Jo Stein and second-year Emily Smith all
of the clients Bellamy is working with has
find the level of discussion at which the client
work with the project this semester on the
memory loss—a common factor in AIDS—and
is comfortable. It is hard to talk about death,
same types of cases on behalf of low-income
had a hard time remembering all his physi-
especially with a terminally ill client. Some
HIV-positive clients. Their experience in-
cians. The SSA denied his application for lack
clients have thought about what they want to
cludes appeals of denials for Social Security
of documentation. Bellamy is working on his
happen after they are gone before coming to
disability benefits; setting up wills, health
appeal.
the Duke clinic, but some have not. It is im-
and living wills; and sometimes representing
The Duke project is showing Bellamy “the
you’re working with,” says Stein.
a client in a discrimination case.
importance of having your affairs in order,”
portant “to be sensitive to what kind of client
care powers of attorney, powers of attorney,
she says, as well as teaching her the ins and
Legally, however, there are no differences
For some of the students, this is the first
outs of the Social Security system and its
in drawing up a will for someone who is
time they have worked on AIDS-related
documents. She is also seeing again, as she
HIV-positive, nor does poverty make wills
issues, while for others, this clinic is a con-
did when managing the homeless shelter,
more complicated, says Stein, although the
tinuation of past experience.
the interconnections between AIDS, drug
settlement process can be more complicated
abuse, sexual abuse, and poverty.
if there is extensive debt.
in the Peace Corps, managed a homeless
After graduation, Bellamy will work with the
After graduation, Stein will clerk for one year
shelter for five years, and also worked for
private practice of a Duke professor.
for Judge Susan Black of the 11th Circuit
Before she came to law school, Bellamy was
Court of Appeals in Jacksonville, FL.
the Red Hot record label, which donates all profits to AIDS charities around the world.
For Duke Law student Stein, she came to the
While at Duke Law, Bellamy worked and
AIDS Legal Assistance Project as a “perfect
Working in the AIDS Legal Assistance Project
studied in Zimbabwe and Kenya for eight
follow-up” to her work with Duke’s children’s
makes students appreciate public service
months last year. She did an externship with
education law clinic. Seeing a variety of legal
legal work, says second-year Emily Smith,
the Children’s Rights Project and studied
work, she also wanted to maintain contact
and “see how important it is to do.” Smith is
comparative law. In Africa, Bellamy saw “HIV
with clients.
working on Social Security benefits appeals, wills, and one eviction case this semester.
devastating a whole continent,” she says. Stein’s current work involves “a smorgas-
“I’ve gotten to meet a lot of really great
In their work with the AIDS Legal Assistance
bord of cases,” including a disability appeals
clients,” says Smith.
Project at Duke, Bellamy and the other stu-
case, two “documents cases” (wills and living
dents see AIDS-related legal problems that
wills), and a standby guardianship case.
At the project, Smith has been able to see
are particular to the illness and also inter-
Some cases at the project are started by law
“how living in poverty and having an HIV
twined with the project’s clients’ poverty.
students the semester or summer before
diagnosis all comes together” to cause legal
and continued by the next group of students.
problems and unbalance life, she says. Her
To receive disability benefits under Social
Some can be completed in one semester—
goal for project clients is “to give them a
Security, the disability must be demonstrated
mostly documents cases. Stein’s documents
sense of security.”
in medical records. The applicant fills out a
cases, however, are more complicated.
form, Bellamy explains, and authorizes the Social Security Administration (SSA) to con-
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Drawing up a will for an HIV-positive client