their entire security deposit. She also positioned
the family to bring a tort claim against the landlord.
Cynthia Herrera and Mary Kennelly assisted
a client applying for Social Security benefits.
Due to his schizophrenia, the client was unable
to work and found it difficult to complete the
complex documents required by the Social
Security Administration. Herrera and Kennelly
helped the client understand and complete
the documents, resulting in an award of $675
a month.
New Rodin Fellow is
magnifying HJP’s impact
The HJP also welcomed a new supervising
attorney, Allyson Gold, this past fall, as the first
Rodin Fellow. Curt (JD ’75) and Linda Rodin
generously supported Gold’s fellowship through a
recent gift to the law school (see story, page 19).
Gold has focused her time, energies, and
career on the effect of housing and environment
on individuals’ health and quality of life. She was a
tenant advocate at Housing Counseling Services in
Washington, DC, before attending Emory University
School of Law. Gold also has worked for the
Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing in Chicago
and for a medical-legal partnership in Atlanta.
At Loyola, she’s the first point of contact on
all patient referrals from Erie and supervises the
student client advocates, as well as coteaching a
course on housing policy and helping to expand
the project’s policy work.
“Allyson has helped us expand our reach
in even more ways than expected,” says Benfer.
“Originally, we expected her role to be limited to
administering the referral and intake program,
overseeing initial contact with patients,
communicating with contacts at partner sites,
and maintaining the case management and data
collection systems. We also envisioned that our new
fellow would have the opportunity to represent
clients and supervise students on a limited basis.
“But Allyson far exceeded our expectations,
allowing HJP to refine and develop the clinic
model and delve more deeply into policy work.
She’s a gifted attorney with a creative legal
mind who draws upon her unique experiences to
provide excellent client representation and
student supervision.”
Emphasis on advocacy
Already, the partners in HJP have had direct
involvement in several systemic advocacy
projects. HJP law students Lindsey Johnson, Mary
Kennelly, Lauren Filippi, Shannon Flaherty, and
Betsy Piekarz recently collaborated with the
New
York Times
to highlight an Erie patient in a series
about homelessness, which resulted in permanent
housing for the family. Several HJP students
and residents are currently developing a policy
strategy on behalf of the Washington, DC-based
National Coalition for the Homeless. The HJP
presents policy proposals to the Chicago Board of
Education and informed federal legislators; submits
editorial letters on issues relevant to client health;
and is supporting a health impact assessment of
ComEd’s SmartGrid program, which has resulted in
higher bills and unwarranted shutoffs for clients.
Larry Singer, director of the Beazley Institute,
says the institute at large is strategically planning
for a larger role in health care policy—and the
HJP’s early efforts in that area are serving as a
model on which to expand. “The HJP’s work in
direct client service as it relates to access to care
is the base upon which the Beazley Institute
intends to get further involved in health care
policy,” he says, “particularly in the state of Illinois.
It’s a great stepping stone for elevating our work
to a broader scale and hitting health policy from a
broader perspective.”
■
There’s always been an
attitude in the U.S. that low-
income people don’t need lawyers,”
says litigator Curt Rodin (JD ’75).
“When there are budget cuts to social
services, legal aid is the first thing
to go. There’s no public legal safety
net, so it’s important that private
organizations step up to ensure that
low-income people have access
to justice.”
Rodin’s dedication to expanding
legal services for the underserved is
reflected in the longtime support he
and his wife, Linda, have shown the
law school. The couple has previously
funded the Curt Rodin Fellowship
in Tort Litigation, Harold and Shirley
Rodin Scholarship, and Curt and Linda
Rodin Scholarship. Now, the Rodins
have generously donated $60,000
to fund the Curt and Linda Rodin
Fellowship for a junior attorney at the
Health Justice Project (HJP), a medical-
legal partnership at the Beazley
Institute for Health Law and Policy.
The Rodin Fellowship will provide
leadership development, experience
working in interdisciplinary
collaboration, and career growth
for an attorney eager to embark on
a public interest health law career,
while directly increasing the HJP’s
ability to respond to patient referrals.
The Rodins’ gift addresses several
of their goals, says Curt Rodin. “It will
help low-income people gain legal
representation, it gives students
important real-world experience and
gets them more interested in helping
people, and it’s a meaningful job for a
junior attorney.”
“Curt was particularly impressed
and taken with the HJP, which really
appealed to his sense of justice and
the obligation of lawyers to help
people in need,” says Dean David
Yellen. “Curt and Linda feel this work
is so important that they graciously
provided this gift to expand the
HJP’s reach.”
Adds Larry Singer, director of the
Beazley Institute for Health Law and
Policy, “The Rodins’ gift is wonderfully
generous and will be put to great
use in expanding access to legal
assistance to people who truly need
that representation.”
For more than 30 years, Curt
Rodin’s casework on behalf of victims
of construction injury, product
defects, and medical malpractice has
set legal precedents and won record-
setting verdicts for his clients.
He started as a law student
clerking at Anesi, Ozmon, Rodin,
Novak & Kohen Ltd. in 1975. The
late Nat Ozmon, another Loyola
supporter, “gave me a great outlook
on life and taking care of the less
fortunate,” says Rodin, who served
as the firm’s managing partner and
president from 1996-2006. Rodin also
has taught Torts and Advanced Torts
at Loyola in conjunction with Dean
Emerita Nina Appel.
He believes there’s a direct line
between the type of work he’s done
and his determination to lend a
hand to others. “When you’re used to
working with people who generally
are not wealthy, and you see how
tremendously they’re helped by
having good legal representation, it
ingrains in you a desire to give back,”
he says. “The most generous people
I’ve ever met are plaintiffs’ personal
injury lawyers—just look at how
many are strong supporters of Loyola.”
Now mostly retired, the Rodins
divide their time between the Chicago
area and Fort Myers, Florida. They stay
busy with the families of their two
grown children, including Loyola law
alum Joshua Rodin (JD ’03), and are
active in charity work. Says Linda,“It’s
an honor and a pleasure for us to have
the opportunity to help people who
really need that assistance.”
Emily Benfer, director of the
Health Justice Project, says, “To have
an alum of such stature believe in the
program we’ve created is among the
highest accolades, indicating we’re on
the right path. It inspires us to work
even harder to find solutions to our
clients’ problems, so that our work will
be the Rodins’ legacy.”
■
Building a legal safety net
for those who need it
Curt (JD ’75) and Linda Rodin are supporting a fellowship for a junior attorney in
Loyola’s Health Justice Project.
Emily Benfer (right), Health Justice Project director, with HJP students
HEALTH JUSTICE PROJECT:
A GRACIOUS GIFT
»
700
+
$1,379,778
19
$26,529
PATIENT REFERRALS
HAVE BEEN
RECEIVED BY THE HEALTH JUSTICE
PROJECT (HJP) SINCE DECEMBER 2010.
WOULD HAVE BEEN THE APPROXIMATE TOTAL
ATTORNEY FEES FOR
SERVICES PROVIDED
PRO BONO
BY HJP STUDENTS, VOLUNTEERS,
AND STAFF DURING SPRING 2011.
LAW, SOCIAL WORK, AND PUBLIC
HEALTH
STUDENTS PARTICIPATED
IN THE HJP DURING FALL 2011.
IN
MEDICAL EXPENSES WERE
REIMBURSED
TO THE ERIE FAMILY
HEALTH CENTER AFTER HJP WON A
CLIENT’S MEDICAID DENIAL APPEAL.
HEALTH JUSTICE PROJECT EXPANDS ITS REACH
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17)
HEALTH JUSTICE BY THE NUMBERS
“
For more information on the Health Justice Project,
visit
LUC.edu/healthjustice.
SPRING 2012
19
18
LOYOLA LAW
