DRCT Executive Director, Deborah Dorfman poses with students Julia Vassallo, Megan Phillips, and Kayla Sinko in the University of Connecticut School of Law library.
Date: 12/19/22
DRCT Wraps Up First Ever Disability Law Clinic!
By Mike Whilby, DRCT Strategic Partnerships Manager
On December 7, 2022, Disability Rights CT completed its first Disability Law Clinic semester in partnership with the Connecticut School of Law. The Disability Law Clinic was run by DRCT’s Executive Director, Debbie Dorfman and assisted by Strategic Partnerships Manager, Mike Whilby.
The Disability Law Clinic provided a unique opportunity for students to learn about substantive disability law and work at DRCT while providing legal advocacy, including individual and systemic reform advocacy, for people with disabilities throughout Connecticut on a broad range of substantive disability law issues. These issues included: disability discrimination in housing, employment, services, and activities provided by public entities, and public accommodations: access to healthcare: individual rights; civil and criminal mental health law; abuse and neglect; among many others.
In addition to learning substantive areas of disability law, students participated in the clinic and were able to learn important and specific advocacy skills needed to provide representation to people with disabilities. These skills included: interviewing; providing counsel and advice; legal research; legal writing; and litigation skills.
We would like to thank the three UConn Law Students Julia Vassallo, Megan Phillips, and Kayla Sinko who participated in the Disability Law Clinic this past Fall semester. Your enthusiasm, dedication, and passion for this work was quite remarkable and we wish you much success as you continue your amazing journey towards the legal profession!
Special thanks to our guest speakers from this past semester which included several DRCT staff members, such as Kasey Considine, Mike Whilby, Sheldon Toubman, Santina Sciaba-Douglas, and Jim Welsh, along with Connecticut Legal Rights Project’s (CLRP) Executive Director, Kathy Flaherty.
This was a very successful project taken on by DRCT and we look forward to its continuation in 2023 and beyond!
