Class recorded June 5, 2024

This session will explore the intersection between legal services and racial justice. It will begin with a discussion of the role of racial justice in legal aid work historically and the evolution of that role, particularly during this recent period of racial reckoning. A panel of experts will then discuss how legal aid attorneys, law students, and pro bono attorneys can use the civil legal system to continue fighting to dismantle systemic racism.

Presented by:

Tyler Press Sutherland (https://www.publiclawcenter.org/about/staff/#tyler-press-sutherland), Director of Legal Services, Public Law Center (Moderator)

Sheyda Joolharzadeh, Staff Attorney, Medical-Legal Partnerships, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) (https://lafla.org/)

Jessica Mark, Supervising Attorney, Bay Area Legal Aid (https://baylegal.org/)

Jeanne Nishimoto (https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/jeanne-nishimoto), Executive Director, UCLA Veterans Justice Clinic 

Kee Tobar, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, Community Legal Services (CLS) of Philadelphia (https://clsphila.org/) 

Registration Fee: FREE

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice: LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Friday, July 28, 2023: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

In this class, learn how to state your (or your loved one’s) preferences for future mental health treatment in a legal document, so that if an incident results in arrest or psychiatric inpatient treatment, those preferences are provided to medical professionals, service providers, law enforcement and family and friends.  Advance planning for mental health care can protect and benefit a person who lives with mental illness, as well as their family members and loved ones.

Through a Psychiatric Advance Directive (PAD), a person can express their wishes regarding psychiatric and medical treatment.   PADs may be drafted when a person is well enough to make choices and consider preferences for future mental health treatment.  PADs are then used when a person becomes unable to make decisions during a mental health crisis.  The instructor will discuss the purpose of a PAD, and how to prepare and finalize this important document.

Class covers:

• The Psychiatric Advance Directive (PAD): what it does and what a person needs to know in order to create one
• What can a PAD do for a person with a mental health condition
• What can be addressed in a PAD
• When does a PAD go into effect
• Naming someone to make mental health care decisions in the event of a crisis
• Information on California laws that support the use PADs

Presented by:  Erik Nickels, Skadden Fellow, Mental Health Advocacy Services (http://mhas-la.org/)

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:
LA Law Library does not provide legal advice.  LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service.  The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons.  For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.

Monday, August 14, 2023: 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

APPOINTMENT REQUIRED - Call or email to register (213) 262-9750, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A Psychiatric Advance Directive (PAD) is a legal document that states a person’s preferences for future mental health treatment, and allows them to select someone to make health care decisions when they are unable to do so.  This session provides help in preparing and finalizing a PAD.

Eligible applicants will be seen by appointment only.

Presented by: Erik Nickels, Skadden Fellow, Mental Health Advocacy Services (http://mhas-la.org/) 

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice: LA Law Library does not provide legal advice.  LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service.  The Law Library is pleased to offer our patrons the opportunity to obtain assistance from third party legal service providers at this and other events within the Library.  However, the Library does not control and is not responsible for the content or scope of any assistance given by those providers.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023: 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (PST) via Zoom

Join the LA Law Library book discussion group via Zoom as we continue our year-long exploration of environmental justice and climate related issues as we discuss Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial, by Corban Addison.

Farm waste mismanagement is the subject of this nonfiction environmental thriller.  The book reports on a series of court cases filed against Smithfield Foods by neighbors of its industrial hog operations.  In the process of relating the legal battles, Addison reveals the many examples of environmental pollution and racial inequality embedded in our industrialized food system.

About the Author:

• BS Mechanical Engineering, Cal Poly
• JD University of Virginia School of Law
• Author of 4 novels: A Walk Across the Sun (2012), The Garden of Burning Sand (2014), The Tears of Dark Water (2016 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Award), A  Harvest of Thorns (2017)
• Attorney, activist and world traveler, Addison is a supporter of humanitarian and social justice causes around the world.

Presented by: Katie O’Laughlin, Managing Librarian, Reference & Research

Registration fee: FREE.  This discussion will be hosted via Zoom.

Zoom information and link will be emailed to registrants prior to discussion.

LA Law Library does not provide legal advice:  LA Law Library does not provide legal advice. LA Law Library provides legal resources and assistance with legal research as an educational service. The information presented in this program is not legal advice and is provided solely as an educational service to our patrons. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.