September 20, 2007

Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic Awarded Grant

Sixty Plus, Inc., Elderlaw Clinic at Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., has been awarded an $11,000 grant by the Power of We organization to assess the legal needs of senior citizens in the tri-county area.

Sixty Plus has been providing free legal services for area seniors for over 25 years, but with the grant, said Bill Fleener, staff attorney for Sixty Plus, they can now do a comprehensive survey on both existing services and possible future ones. Sixty Plus is directed by Cooley Professor Kim O’Leary.

Fleener said Sixty Plus faculty and students will meet with community dialogue groups out in the neighborhoods to determine if there are unmet needs. Shortly, thereafter, they will meet with attorneys who work with the elderly and clinicians to disseminate what they’ve learned. In addition, Fleener said they have applied to do a presentation at the American Association of Law Schools annual national conference.

Although Sixty Plus is well known for its quality service, Fleener said the grant-funded study can help them learn how to do even better. “The services we provide are excellent. The education our students get is amazing.” With the dual mission of educating students and providing legal services, there hasn’t been a lot of time to step back and assess whether the services offered are the ones most needed, he explained, adding that “surveys can change the way you deliver services.”

Sixty Plus will work with two consultants to help design the dialogue groups and interpret information received from community members. The consultants are Doak Bloss, from the Ingham County Health Department and Garry Singen, a nationally know consultant who has many years of experience working with law school clinics and legal service programs.
Cooley is helping to make the grant stretch farther by underwriting the costs of the staff working on the project and copying costs.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is now the largest law school in the country. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan, in Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Rochester. In addition to the J.D. program, students at Cooley can also pursue an LL.M. in Tax or in Intellectual Property. Find out more about Cooley Law School by visiting the Cooley web site at www.cooley.edu.