Yvonne Troya
Clinical Professor of Law | UC Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, CA, UNITED STATES
Contacts: troyay@uchastings.edu / 415-581-8918 / Office 300-100
Biography
Professor Yvonne Troya is the founding legal director of the Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors Clinic (MLPS), a project of the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science, & Health Policy. MLPS is a collaboration between UCSF and UC Hastings College of the Law whereby law students work closely with medical providers to provide holistic legal care for older adult patients. MLPS is one of very few geriatric medical-legal partnerships in the country and has been recognized in the New York Times for its innovative approach to legal services for older adults. In Fall 2015, MLPS expanded its services to represent geriatric veterans seen at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
Yvonne previously served as a Supervising Attorney in the Health Practice of the East Bay Community Law Center, a clinic of UC Berkeley Law School. While there, Yvonne worked in two medical-legal partnerships serving low-income adults with HIV/AIDS and families seen at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland. She was also involved in the planning of a law school-based medical-legal partnership in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Yvonne holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley Law and her B.A. in Biology and Latin American Studies from Bowdoin College. She is fluent in Spanish and French.
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Areas of Expertise (8)
Aging and Elderly
Healthcare Decision-Making
Children and Families
Medical-Legal Partnerships
Vulnerable Populations
Health Disparities
Poverty
Public Benefits
Education (2)
University of California, Berkeley - Boalt School of Law: J.D., Law
Bowdoin College: B.A., Biology and Latin Studies
Affiliations (5)
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys: Member
- National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
- California State Bar: Member
- UC Hastings College of Law: Clinical Professor of Law
- Community Justice Clinics, UC Hastings College of Law
Links (3)
Languages (1)
- Spanish, French
Media Appearances (3)
Homeward Bound: Caring for the Burgeoning Population of Older Adults
New America Media online
2014-07-14
Instead, Welty, who is medical director of the MPLS, and other physicians point their patients to participating law students from UC Hastings. Each semester, eight students spend 12 to 15 hours a week advising older patients, either at the center or in the patients’ homes. While some patients are wary of lawyers, they usually agree to the visits because “they trust their doctors,” says Yvonne Troya, JD, legal director of the MPLS and a UC Hastings clinical professor of law...
The Doctor's New Prescription: A Lawyer
The New York Times online
2013-03-21
Each semester, eight Hastings law students spend 12 to 15 hours a week at the clinic, the Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors. Supervised by both the law school and the U.C.S.F. faculty, the clinic “reduces so many barriers to getting legal help,” said the legal director, Yvonne Troya...
In Practice: Saying It to Seniors
The Recorder online
2013-07-11
Having a discussion with the elderly about legal issues can be challenging, but communication techniques make the hurdle easier to overcome, explains Yvonne Troya of UC-Hastings. Read more: http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202610185105/In-Practice-Saying-It-to-Seniors#ixzz3lOen8IGM
Courses (1)
Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors Seminar & Fieldwork
In the Medical-Legal Partnership for Seniors Clinic (MLPS), UC Hastings students develop key lawyering skills through representation of low-income elderly patients at a UCSF medical clinic. Students assist clients in legal issues affecting their health, including advance health care planning, estate planning, and public benefits. Over the course of the semester, students learn about the complex intersection of law and health, the implications for an aging population, and the role of lawyers in combating poverty and health disparities. Students develop skills in interviewing, critical thinking, document drafting, project management, and “whole person” lawyering. Students work closely not only with the clinical instructor, but with UCSF health care providers such as physicians, nurses, and social workers. Students gain experience in an interdisciplinary environment and will understand how the law impacts health care delivery on a day-to-day basis. Weekly seminar sessions enable students to reflect on their experiences representing low-income seniors, practice their lawyering skills, and deepen their understanding of socio-legal determinants of health.
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