On Thursday, November 20, the Center for Public Interest Law hosted the second session of its practice series focused on areas of disability and elder law.
Attorneys Deanne Medina from LAF (formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago) and Barry Taylor from Equip for Equality lead the discussion.
The practice series allows students in a small group setting to not only hear the attorneys discuss their career paths and dispense advice for students interested in pursuing work in this field, but also to ask questions and speak individually with the attorneys.
Both Medina and Taylor discussed the experiences they had in the private sector before starting their work in public interest and shared their personal reasons for going into disability and elder law. While working at a private firm, Taylor was dedicated to providing pro bono services, which eventually motivated him to change his career. Similarly, Medina volunteered at a help desk working with the underprivileged and, because her experience was so positive, decided to go into public interest. Taylor discussed two cases of his that he is working on regarding treatment of prisoners with disability and Medina shared new initiatives at LAF.