Kerlann L. Flowers ’07 is the legal director and senior attorney for the Hofstra Law’s medical-legal partnership (MLP) with Northwell Health, and a senior fellow for the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy. She also obtained both her undergraduate degree (2003) and her law degree (2007) from Hofstra.
After earning her undergraduate degree, Flowers worked at a law firm that did wills, trusts and estates work, and it was that work that convinced her to go to law school. While at Hofstra Law, Flowers participated in clinical programs and was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Business and Law. “I loved being in school and academics,” Flowers says. “I always like learning new things.”
A Deep Interest in Social Needs
Flowers has always had an interest in social needs. She was part of the unemployment action center while in law school, where she took a course, met with clients, and helped with unemployment appeals before an administrative law judge. She also participated in the community and economic development clinic, where she helped assist small businesses in low-income communities.
After graduation, Flowers worked for a short time doing insurance risk management and then started her own firm. She also was a Prosecutor for the Village of Hempstead, but, she says, “I always felt like I wanted to be on the other side of the table helping people.” The people she prosecuted “were stressed out and lost. I wanted to help them to avoid or get out of these situations.” When she saw a position as a housing attorney with Hofstra Law’s medical-legal partnership and the Gitenstein Institute, she jumped at the opportunity, seeing it as a “way to help people and give them guidance. And I was especially excited because I am a Hofstra graduate.”
Last year, Flowers became the MLP program’s director when her predecessor moved out of the area and offered her the position. “That got me really excited,” she says, “because it gave me the opportunity to do more than just housing – I could help more people and broaden the areas I could help in.”
“This position is everything I thought it would be and more. I like the administrative aspect of the job, but I still get to be a lawyer. I didn’t have to make a tradeoff. I have a good balance now – I do the administrative work, but I can also do enough lawyering to keep me in the game. It’s a really fun position to have. I can take any kind of case I want.”
Serving the Underserved in Our Community
The MLP embeds lawyers into care settings to identify and address legal needs that affect patient health using the “I HELP” framework, which stands for Income, Housing, Employment, Legal Status, and Personal/Family. Within that framework, the MLP can help patients and clients with needs ranging from public benefits, social security, health insurance, elder law, mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence issues to employment discrimination, special education for children, evictions, foreclosures, and immigration matters.
The MLP has “helped a woman and her three children to regain possession of their apartment after an illegal eviction, obtained money through state assistance for another to pay their back rent,” says Flowers. “This is not something you will ever see in a class. And all of the help we provide is free of charge to the client.”
Patients are screened during their regular medical appointments at Northwell clinics. Patients answer questions from doctors and residents, who identify those who might have an underlying legal need that affects their health care. Those patients are then referred to the MLP.
To give an example of the kinds of issues the MLP can help with, Flowers says, “If a patient does not have legal status, that patient’s use of public benefits may affect their road to citizenship under the public charge rule. We can help that patient determine what benefits they can use without being penalized. And if a patient does not have health insurance and Medicare or Medicaid denies a claim, the MLP can potentially help that individual appeal that denial and obtain benefits.”
The MLP helps many clients with housing issues that could affect their health – after all, “if a client does not have a home, it is much more difficult for them to follow a doctor’s instructions or to maintain their health properly,” Flowers says. The MLP has “helped a woman and her three children to regain possession of their apartment after an illegal eviction, obtained money through state assistance for another to pay their back rent,” says Flowers. “This is not something you will ever see in a class. And all of the help we provide is free of charge to the client.”
How the MLP is Responding to the Coronavirus
“In March, we worked with the Gitenstein institute to hold a virtual conference on COVID-19, which included a discussion of legal issues arising as a result of the pandemic. We are also collaborating with a team to follow up with all Northwell COVID-19 patients (so far over 700) to see if they have any needs with which we can assist. We are looking forward to being of further assistance during this time,” says Flowers.
Before the pandemic, patients referred to the MLP were met at the clinic, usually on the same day they had a scheduled medical appointment and interviewed by students and lawyers involved in the program. That made access to legal help much easier since many of these individuals do not have a means of transportation to a legal appointment elsewhere. But that has changed as a result of the virus.
“The MLP is very busy trying to help our patients/clients through the current epidemic.”
“The MLP is very busy trying to help our patients/clients through the current epidemic,” Flowers says. Doctors are still referring patients to the MLP, but now MLP participants meet with clients virtually or over the phone to provide them with legal services, including helping clients with benefits issues, Medicaid, and insurance, as well as issues involving immigration status and unemployment “We have created a resource book for clients to access possible programs that may assist them financially, mentally, and physically,” she says.
When Hofstra Law switched over the virtual classes, the students in the MLP kept working. They participated in Zoom meetings with the attorneys to work on client cases. Students in the law and medicine together class were unable to go to the clinics to observe once the virus hit, so the curriculum for the class was expanded to cover additional areas of the law that the MLP encounters, including employment law and adolescent and young adult rights. They also discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic affects patients and what the MLP can do to help.
The Future of the Medical-Legal Partnership
Over the summer, one graduate from the program will continue working with the MLP scheduling calls with clients to discuss the MLP’s services, and, beginning in August, one practicum student will help work through cases. The MLP will also begin training new Northwell medical residents on how law and medicine work together and how they can help refer patients to the MLP using the I HELP framework.
In the spring semester of 2021, there will be ten students in the practicum class. “I am excited about the possibilities and what we may be able to accomplish for the community in the future,” says Flowers. “We are hoping to get more involved in the legal community by partnering with law firms to provide pro bono legal services using the same I HELP framework. The law firms will be providing the legal services with the assistance of our MLP students, which will allow us to not only help more clients, but also to provide an outstanding opportunity for our students to learn alongside lawyers in private practice.”
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