Stanford Law School Launches New MLC Legal-Social Work Collaborative

Kathy Ho, PhD
Kiu “Kathy” Ho, Ph.D.

Stanford Law School is launching a new program that brings graduate social work students to the Mills Legal Clinic (MLC) for interdisciplinary work with law students. The clinic hired licensed social worker Kiu “Kathy” Ho this fall to launch the program. In her new role as clinical supervisor, Ho will recruit social work student interns and supervise them in their work with MLC attorneys, students, and staff to deliver services to many of the pro bono clients served by the clinic.

“Not only will our clients benefit from this collaboration, our students will learn how to work with other professionals toward better outcomes for our clients,” says Bill Koski (PhD ’03), Eric and Nancy Wright Professor of Clinical Education and director of the Youth and Education Law Project.

Professor William Koski
Professor William Koski

Ho, who started in October, has begun recruiting social work students, reaching out to clinical social work programs at schools including UC Berkeley, San Francisco State, Columbia University, and Fordham.

“The legal-social work collaborative at MLC is unique. We’re partnering with graduate social work programs outside of Stanford (which does not have a program) to provide valuable opportunities for students to learn and practice interdisciplinary collaboration to address the complex needs of clinic clients,” says Ho.

Juliet Brodie, Associate Dean of Clinical Education
Juliet Brodie, Associate Dean of Clinical Education

MLC clients—including people with disabilities and chronic illness, members of the LGBTQ community, undocumented immigrants and refugees, children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, and people involved with the criminal justice system—are often dealing with multiple life challenges in addition to their legal issues.

“We are excited to bring this innovative model of holistic representation into the clinic,” says Associate Dean of Clinical Education, Juliet Brodie. “Today’s legal practice demands that lawyers be able to analyze a client’s legal problems in the context of other social and economic factors; the social work collaboration will give SLS students a chance to practice that kind of analysis.”

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a new model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.

About the Mills Legal Clinic

Founded in 2005, the Mills Legal Clinic is a vital part of Stanford Law’s mission to prepare every student for the challenges, responsibilities and rewards of a career as a legal professional.  Providing individualized, hands-on learning opportunities, this intensive training ground shapes future lawyers of every career aspiration, whether they choose to work in a large firm, become entrepreneurs, make policy or engage in full-time public service. The work done in the Mills Legal Clinic ranges from high-impact litigation to direct-services representation, from broad-based policy initiatives to close work with individuals—locally, nationally, and abroad. We seek to expose students to the full array of services lawyers provide and the whole range of work they may do.