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We are happy to announce that three of our Advisory Board members are renewing their terms this fall: Dr. Cheryl Clark, Vice-Chair of the Advisory Board and Chair of our HR & Governance Committee; Deborah O’Brien, member of our HR & Governance Committee, and Sandra Best Bailly, member of our Strategy Committee. Their contributions are mighty, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue this work together.

We also want to thank Carinel LeGrand for her service on our Advisory Board since 2023. Carinel brought an important perspective to our work and generously contributed her time and expertise as a member of our Strategy Committee. She will be stepping off this fall to pursue other opportunities — we will miss her!

We are thrilled that Legal Key will host Linda Fentiman through the Massachusetts Access to Justice Fellows Program for the coming year.

Linda is Professor Emerita at the Haub School of Law at Pace University in New York. For nearly four decades she has taught and written about criminal law and health law, focusing on issues of maternal and child health, mental disability, public health, and reproductive health care.

Linda began her teaching career at Suffolk University Law School. She has also taught at Columbia Law School, the University of Houston Law Center, and the University of Warsaw. She holds a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo and an L.L.M. from Harvard. Before entering academia, Linda practiced criminal law in California and environmental law in Washington, D.C.

We are grateful to the Lawyers Clearinghouse for connecting us to Linda, and we are looking forward to drawing on her vast expertise and fresh perspectives to help make our educational and policy work even stronger.

In March 2026, the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School submitted a letter of amicus curiae on Legal Key’s behalf in the appeal of PRI Glen Grove, LLC vs. Elaine Laffan. This case involved an eviction of a disabled tenant, and whether the trial court properly considered the reasonable accommodation defense that the tenant made. In September, the Appeals Court decided in favor of the tenant and sent the case back to the lower court for reconsideration.

The decision is an important affirmation of the core principles of disability law and reasonable accommodations as they apply to housing. Legal Key participated in the amicus letter because we consistently receive consult questions about both housing and disability law issues, and we know that these issues are critically important to our partner organizations and those they serve. We are grateful to Deena Zakim at the Legal Services Center for her excellent work on the letter.

Legal Key creates a range of educational tools that demystify common health-related legal needs, all available on our Unlocking Access^® Hub. We update them regularly to keep up with changes in law and practice.

One of our recently updated guides, Who’s Got the Power? Spotlight on Child Welfare Stakeholders in Rhode Island, provides an overview of critical information care teams need to navigate Rhode Island’s child welfare system.

Even though most of our Hub resources are only available to subscribers, this guide will be publicly available for a limited time. Check it out!

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key with an individual contribution or through a Donor Advised Fund today.

Donate

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored project of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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We are pleased to announce that we recently received renewed funding from both the Massachusetts Bar Foundation and the Boston Bar Foundation. We are grateful for the ongoing support from the legal community that will enable Legal Key to continue to serve our Massachusetts and Boston-area partners.

When an organization operates virtually, as Legal Key does, we can be nimble in our work and reach wider audiences. But there are occasions to gather in person, and meeting space can be an expensive proposition for small nonprofit projects like Legal Key.

Enter Nelson Mullins. Thanks to our Advisory Board Chair Melissa Nott Davis, her firm Nelson Mullins has generously provided Legal Key with meeting space for the past year. We are appreciative of their welcoming space, their fantastic staff, and honestly, their stellar views of downtown Boston.

We also want to give a shout out to Community Resources for Justice, where our Advisory Board member Deb O’Brien is the CEO, which has also hosted several of our meetings at their beautiful Boylston Street location. We are grateful for generous companies who donate their meeting spaces to us!

Legal Key was honored to receive the Community Partner of the Year award from Blackstone Valley Community Health Care at their annual meeting this summer. Legal Key first partnered with BVCHC through their DULCE program, and last year we transitioned to working with their larger social supports team.

In the past year, we answered 95 consult questions for BVCHC staff. Their team is incredibly dedicated to their patients! And we are honored to support them.

Legal Key’s Jeannine Casselman and Amy Copperman were thrilled to attend Rooted In Recovery: Rhode Island’s First Recovery Workforce Conference held in July. The event was hosted by RIPRPA, which is housed within RICARES, and it was a day of learning and meeting lots of new folks. It was a fantastic gathering! Legal Key has a new project brewing with RIPRPA—stay tuned for more details later this fall.

Legal Key’s Digital Digest is a space spotlighting changes to laws that impact health, and covers a wide range of categories including employment, housing, immigration, and more. Our goal is to translate complicated legal topics into easy to understand language, and offer steps that people, including care team members, can take to help address legal needs. Visit the Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and federal pages regularly to learn about updates in your area.

Federal
New public charge rules will take effect September 18, 2026. Most immigrants will NOT be impacted. Only those seeking green cards may be affected. Also, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Syrians ended. Care teams can help people review if they have other pending immigration applications, refer them to immigration attorneys, and check USCIS for further updates. To learn more about these changes, visit our Federal Digital Digest – Immigration page.

Rhode Island
Rhode Island recently passed a law that bars federal immigration agents from making civil arrests at state courthouses without a judicial warrant. Agents must identify themselves and state their purpose to court security before taking anyone into custody, and violations can lead to contempt of court and civil lawsuits. Visit our RI Digital Digest- Courts and Criminal Systems Involvement page for more information.

Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Attorney General has issued guidance for patients and healthcare providers regarding immigration enforcement and healthcare. Visit our MA Digital Digest-Health Access and Public Health Information page to learn more.

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key with an individual contribution or through a Donor Advised Fund today.

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A big congratulations to our Law & Policy Consultant, Sarah Yan, on her graduation from the Boston Bar Association’s Public Interest Leadership Program this month. This selective year-long program provides participants with intensive leadership and professional development training. Read more about the event on the BBA’s LinkedIn post.

We are lucky to have her on our team—way to go, Sarah!

Earlier this month Legal Key Law & Policy Consultant Stephanie Duggan-Lykes and Executive Director Amy Copperman attended The Children’s Trust Celebration Day. Celebration Day is an event dedicated to recognizing the family support workforce, celebrating strong partnerships, and creating the time to connect across programs and communities.

Legal Key has been a proud partner of The Children’s Trust for many years, and we love spending time with colleagues from across the state who are doing this work with us.

Also this month, Amy attended the Health Equity Trends Summit 2026. Hosted by the Health Equity Compact, this event brought leaders from government, health care, business, and community organizations together with the shared goal of achieving more equitable health outcomes for the Commonwealth.

Our Advisory Board Vice-Chair, Cheryl Clark, MD, ScD, is a Compact member and it was great to see her there!

The newly formed Massachusetts MLP Coalition convened its third meeting at Northeastern School of Law in early June. The first session of the meeting was devoted to a panel about funding opportunities for MLPs, moderated by Legal Key’s Amy Copperman.

Thanks to Griffin Jones of Collectively Determined and Annie Pham from C3 for an informative discussion!

Federal
Many states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, participate in SUN Bucks, which provides $120 per eligible school-age child during the summer. A list of participating states and information on enrolling is available on the USDA website. The USDA also offers summer nutritional programs that are often administered by schools

Rhode Island
Starting June 2026, the RI Department of Human Services will be offering Sun Bucks to eligible school-age kids. Also known as Summer EBT, households should expect letters to arrive informing them of the child’s eligibility. Visit our RI Digital Digest for information on Sun Bucks and other nutritional resources available in RI

Massachusetts
Most eligible families in MA do not need to apply to get SUN Bucks; DTA issues benefits automatically to most families. Families who are not automatically enrolled can apply online or through a paper application. The application is available in multiple languages.

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key today.

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Download the May Newsletter

Legal Key Presents at National MLP Conference

Last month, Legal Key’s ED Amy Copperman and Law & Policy Director Jeannine Casselman traveled to Fort Worth, TX for the Texas A&M Health Institute for Healthcare Access 2026 Medical-Legal Partnership Conference. They delivered a workshop entitled: “Beyond Patient Outcomes: How a medical-legal partnership impacts health care systems and workforce” and led a great discussion about how MLPs can evaluate and measure their impact on care teams’ knowledge and skills.

It felt like home to be among so many expert MLP practitioners!

Visit us on LinkedIn to see what else we’ve been up to. We’d love to connect!

This summer, Legal Key is thrilled to host Scarlett Xi, a rising junior at Wellesley College, as our summer intern. Here is more about Scarlett in her own words:

I am currently pursuing a BA in Economics and Psychology at Wellesley College, where my interests center on the intersections of law, policy, inequality, and social justice. I previously interned at Zhong Lun Law Firm where I conducted legal research, drafted bilingual documents, and supported litigation and transaction teams. I’m currently a Research Assistant at MIT, studying racially restrictive housing covenants, housing discrimination, and the economic effects of inequities. I’m excited to intern with Legal Key because of its commitment to addressing health-harming legal needs through community-centered lawyering and advocacy.

In 2026, hypothetical changes to federal law that were once only debated in national conversations have started to become increasingly real. Legal Key has signed on to 18 letters opposing changes in federal law and policy that would decrease funding to vital programs like WIC, and eliminate data privacy protections for taxpayers. We have also submitted four public comments on federal regulations proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Homeland Security.

Proposed regulations are threatening to undermine access to affordable housing, due process rights, and other procedural and substantive changes. We felt compelled to add our voice to the debate surrounding these proposed changes and to highlight their potential impact on health. We hope these federal agencies receive enough comments for them to reconsider the proposals.

Federal
After years of legal battles, the SAVE federal loan repayment plan has been shut down. The Department of Education has indicated that borrowers enrolled in the plan will receive notices in early July giving them 90 days to enroll in a new plan or to be put in one automatically. Visit our Federal Digital Digest for additional information on this and other education-related topics..

Rhode Island
Receiving text messages claiming to be from the DMV? The RI DMV is alerting the public following a recent surge in scam texts making false claims and payment demands. RI residents should not click on or respond to these texts. If someone has concerns about their DMV records, they can utilize the DMV Customer Portal. Visit our RI Digital Digest for information on government ID, DMV fees, and more.

Massachusetts
Massachusetts has announced expanded access to $25,000 in interest-free down payment assistance for qualified first-time homebuyers, available now through July 31. Visit our MA Digital Digest for additional information on this program and other housing-related topics.

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key today.

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Spotlighting a Rhode Island Partnership at NACHC’s P&I Forum

Earlier this month, Jeannine Casselman, Legal Key Law & Policy Director, traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the National Association of Community Health Centers Policy & Issues Forum 2026. She and Legal Key partner Blackstone Valley Community Health Care hosted a session called “Integrating Legal Supports in Multidisciplinary Care at Community Health Centers.” At the session, they explored some real world case examples illustrating how legal supports can reduce provider burden, enhance whole-person care, and advance health fairness.

(L-R) Jeannine Casselman, Legal Key Law and Policy Director; and BVCHC staff Manuela Andres, Integrated Health Clinician; Scott Hewitt, Associate Director of Integrated Care; Dr. Morgan Motia, Chief Medical Officer

Rapidly Changing Laws Require Updated and Accurate Legal Information

Legal Key’s interactive trainings provide education and resources about laws and legal rights that impact health and well-being, building the capacity of care teams to know and use the law confidently and appropriately to benefit families. Our most recent Unlocking Access® training was a 2026 Policy Preview, designed for both Rhode Island and Massachusetts care teams and covered recent and anticipated changes to federal and state law that impact health.

Reach out to our Partnership & Project Manager, Jeff Gilbert at jgilbert@legalkeypartnership.org, for more information about our training offerings.

Amy Copperman and Jeannine Casselman, Legal Key’s Executive Director and Law & Policy Director, will be speaking at the 2026 Medical-Legal Partnership Conference “Bridging Systems and Restoring Trust through Collaboration” this April. In a time when trust in health care, science and the rule of law is being tested, this conference brings together professionals who are leading the response. Amy and Jeannine will be hosting a workshop “Beyond Patient Outcomes: How a medical-legal partnership impacts health care systems and their workforce.”

The Annual Winter Utility Shut-Off Moratorium Continues to be in Effect

Massachusetts
Utility shut-off protections run through April 1. Low-income households that have filed for shut-off protection cannot be terminated from their utilities during the winter moratorium. Visit Legal Key’s MA Digital Digest-Utility Needs page for more information on local fuel assistance programs and applications.

Rhode Island
Utility disconnections are not permitted for customers (or their household members) if they are unemployed, elderly or disabled, receive LIHEAP, are seriously ill, or have an infant under age 2 and have a financial hardship. Visit Legal Key’s RI Digital Digest-Utilities page for information on other energy assistance programs and links to other support.

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key today.

Donate

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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In mid-December, more than 30 folks gathered to launch a Massachusetts MLP Network. Attendees came from 25 different organizations across a wide range of sectors, including legal services, law schools, hospitals, health organizations, law firms, social services organizations, and government. The meeting was full of connections and great conversations. It culminated in a brainstorm session full of ideas about how we can coordinate, collaborate and support each other to ensure a thriving MLP community in Massachusetts for years to come. We will next gather on February 26. Interested in joining the coalition? Email Amy at acopperman@legalkeypartnership.org.

Thanks to Northeastern University School of Law’s Center for Health Policy and Law
for hosting the event.

Key is thrilled to announce our newest Advisory Board member, Ellen Farwell. Ellen is an Associate Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law. Previously, Ellen was Associate General Counsel at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and worked as a tax associate at Nutter McClennen & Fish. She will join our Advisory Board’s Strategy and Impact Committee.

Welcome, Ellen!

The Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission wants to hear from you!

How do people in Massachusetts address their legal problems? Where do they turn for help those problems arise? And what kind of support are currently available across the Commonwealth?

The Massachusetts Access to Justice (A2J) Commission — created 20 years ago by Massachusetts’ highest state court – has released a brief survey to gather answers to these questions and understand the universe of legal helpers in Massachusetts beyond traditional legal organizations.

Legal Key’s partners are already expert legal problem-solvers who sit outside of the typical legal settings and bring legal considerations into many different conversations. This work is exactly what the A2J Commission needs to know about! Please consider completing or sharing the survey with others in your network.

Important Changes to SNAP Eligibility

Massachusetts
People should be on the lookout for notices from benefits programs, and follow instructions on how to respond as required. DTA decision notices are available in various languages. Visit Legal Key’s MA Digital Digest-Food and Income Security page for more information on General Work Rules and links to helpful resources.

Rhode Island
Impacted SNAP recipients in Rhode Island should have received a “Benefit Decision Notice” describing these changes. Visit Legal Key’s RI Digital Digest-Food Security page for more SNAP updates and links to DLT Community Outreach Support.

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key today.

Donate

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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w & Policy

Legal Key’s Law & Policy Director, Jeannine Casselman, and Law & Policy Consultant, Rebecca Kislak, recently attended the CTC-RI Annual Conference. Jeannine, along with our project partners RIDOH’s Office of Family Visiting and Children’s Friend, presented on “Adding Legal Problem-Solving to the Home Visiting Toolbox: Lessons Learned.” This session covered the connection between law and health and lessons on how legal education strengthens family support and the care workforce.

We are excited to welcome back Hasbro Children’s, the pediatric division of Rhode Island Hospital, as one of our partners. Hasbro was the medical partner for the original Rhode Island Medical Legal Partnership, and most recently we worked together when they participated in the DULCE pilot sponsored by CTC-RI in 2024. Our current partnership will focus on supporting the Pediatric Primary Care team to help staff detect and meet families’ health-related social needs.

Important Dates as the New Year Begins

Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, open enrollment for the Massachusetts Health Connector is November 1, 2025-January 23, 2026. Visit Legal Key’s MA Digital Digest-Health Access page for more information on health care coverage and related deadlines.

Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s current minimum wage of $15/hour is set to increase to $16/hour effective January 1, 2026. Visit Legal Key’s RI Digital Digest-Employment page for more information on the minimum wage, unemployment benefits, and other employment-related information.

Do you ever have the feeling that you’ve run out of vocabulary to describe 2025? It really has been a year like no other.

But in spite of the somber times we are living in, or maybe because of them, I remain optimistic. There have been efforts in every part of the country to resist, to persist, and to channel frustration into action in the face of some pretty daunting forces. And the Legal Key team has been engaged in all of it.

I am so grateful for each member of our team. The work has been hard this year. Really hard. And like so many others who do human-centered work, we have had moments of mental and emotional exhaustion. And yet. Legal Key has dug into the challenges, continued to engage, leaned into our communities, offered support, asked for support, and relentlessly sought answers to help move the needle on wellbeing. We have welcomed new partners, trained thousands of care team members, and answered hundreds of consult questions.

I’ve given up predicting the future, and so I won’t begin to ideate about what 2026 will hold for us. But I do know that whatever is coming, I am grateful to be in this work with Legal Key staff, our Advisory Board, our fiscal sponsor Third Sector New England, and all of our partners.

We at Legal Key wish you joy, community, resolve, and justice in 2026.

Amy Copperman
Executive Director

Legal Key’s team recently celebrated the season together.
(L to R, Legal Key Intern Meryam, and staff members Rebecca, Amy, Meg, Sarah, Jeff, Stephanie and Jeannine.)

Our democracy’s function depends on knowledge about how our legal systems work.
Consider donating to Legal Key today.

Donate

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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Never has the partnership between law, health care, and social care been more consequential.

Your donation to Legal Key this #GivingTuesday will help us support care teams by:

Developing and delivering trainings explaining laws and how to navigate legal systems.
Answering specific legal questions brought to them by patients.
Bringing legal problem-solving into care spaces as a strategy to improve health.

In recent months, Legal Key partners have used our support to stop evictions, navigate court, apply for identity documents, keep kids in school, preserve benefits, and more. And our partners tell us that they feel less anxious about their work because of the knowledge and skills learned from Legal Key.

Legal Key’s approach to legal education and support is something that care teams can’t get anywhere else. We explain complex and rapidly changing laws. We empower people to spot legal problems without needing to call a lawyer. And we create actionable tools that can help make all the difference.

The demand for Legal Key’s services, in the face of our turbulent political and legal landscape, will only grow in 2026. Your donation in any amount can help us continue to meet the moment.

Donate to Legal Key

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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Donate Today

Dear Friend of Legal Key,

In 2025, health and social services care teams have been confronted with their patients’ unimaginably challenging legal problems. They want to help, but are overwhelmed by complex laws and high-stakes situations.

It turns out you don’t have to be a lawyer to address many health-harming legal issues. Legal Key makes legal information available and understandable for care professionals — not just lawyers.

Since our founding in 1993 as the nation’s first medical-legal partnership, Legal Key’s work has helped to uplift that law and health are intrinsically connected. The evidence is clear: integrating legal problem-solving strategies into health care makes systems more efficient and patients healthier.

Never has the partnership between law, health care, and social care been more consequential. In recent months, Legal Key partners have used our support to stop evictions, navigate court, apply for identity documents, keep kids in school, preserve benefits, and more.

The demand for Legal Key’s services, in the face of our turbulent political and legal landscape, will only grow in 2026. Your donation in any amount can help us continue to meet the moment.

Donate to Legal Key

In solidarity,

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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Our Law & Policy

Our Law & Policy Consultant, Rebecca Kislak, recently attended Rhode Island’s Economic Progress Institute’s Annual Policy & Budget Conference.

Elsewhere in Rhode Island, Law & Policy Director, Jeannine Casselman, presented to a Health Law class at Roger Williams University School of Law. She talked about the medical-legal partnership model and the importance of the intersection between health and law.

Our Executive Director, Amy Copperman, attended the Camden Coalition’s Putting Care at the Center 2025 conference in Portland, OR. This annual conference brings together stakeholders in the complex care field. For the first time, the conference included a medical-legal partnership track and a visit from Prince the llama!

“The Lawyers Aren’t Coming”

While at Putting Care at the Center, Amy was invited to give a “Buzz,” a 2-minute TED Talk-like presentation. Amy’s topic was “The Lawyers Aren’t Coming,” and you can read more about the talk and her experience in our latest blog post.

Legal Key knows that laws are changing rapidly, and updated and accurate legal information is more important than ever. Our interactive trainings provide education and resources about laws and legal rights that impact health and well-being, building the capacity of care teams to know and use the law confidently and appropriately to benefit families. Recent trainings topics include: housing stability, evictions, identification documents, utility protections, nutrition benefits, and more. Legal Key offers single trainings, training series, or office hours on a number of health-harming legal issues. Reach out to our Partnership & Project Manager, Jeff Gilbert, for more information.

Important Dates for Health Insurance Enrollment

Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, open enrollment for the Massachusetts Health Connector is November 1, 2025-January 23, 2026. Medicare open enrollment is October 15-December 7, 2025.

Rhode Island
In Rhode Island, open enrollment for health coverage is November 1, 2025-January 31, 2026. Changes in federal law have impacted rates and coverage for 2026. Learn more about rates, and federal changes impacting premiums and coverage options.

At Legal Key, we believe in the legal system and its potential to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. Your contribution helps us to realize our vision of a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people thrive.

Donate to Legal Key

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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By Amy Copperman, Legal Key Executive Director

October 28, 2025

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It’s conference season, and Legal Key has been busy attending conferences, meetings and gatherings of all shapes and sizes recently. It’s been great to connect with others around the country who are thinking creatively and purposely about addressing health-harming legal needs.

Earlier this month I attended the Camden Coalition’s Putting Care at the Center 2025 conference in Portland, OR. This annual conference brings together a wide range of stakeholders in the complex care field, and this year it also included a medical-legal partnership track co-created with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership. It was a great chance to step out of the daily work and connect with hundreds of MLP practitioners.

In Portland I also had the opportunity to give a 2-minute “Buzz,” a short, TED talk-like presentation meant to share a novel idea and spark curiosity. Preparing for the Buzz challenged me to think hard about how Legal Key innovates.

One of the motivators for the Legal Key model is that, unlike the guarantee to an attorney in criminal cases, there aren’t nearly enough lawyers to help low-income Americans address their civil legal problems. Over 90% of identified civil legal needs do not get addressed adequately, which means we are far from a world where everyone has a lawyer to represent them. But I wonder whether the “gold standard” of having an attorney for every situation is what we should be striving for anyway? Attorneys are crisis responders, not preventative problem-solvers.

The crux of my talk was this: “We are all familiar with primary medical care. What if we create a primary legal care system?” As I said those words out loud, people responded with murmurs of recognition and nodding of heads. It was an “aha” moment for the audience, which reflected my own growing understanding that we have to stop centering lawyers as the solution for all legal needs.

What would primary legal care look like? It would change both WHO is doing the legal problem-solving and WHEN that problem-solving happens. For example:

There would be broad access to clear information about legal rights and remedies.
Lots of people would be empowered to spot legal problems without needing to call a lawyer.
People who are not attorneys could act on legal information.
Lawyers would be brought in only if a legal problem couldn’t be addressed preventatively.

Primary legal care may be a moonshot kind of idea, but we need bold action right now. With legal needs on the rise, and traditional systems of legal representation being threatened, there has never been a more critical time to activate people who are not attorneys to take action and tackle legal roadblocks in an integrated and preventative way.

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Legal Key Welcomes Our Fall Intern, Meryam!

In her own words, here are Meryam’s goals for her time with Legal Key: I’m a Senior at Brandeis University, and I am really excited to be interning with Legal Key this fall. I study Politics, Sociology, and Legal Studies, and I hope to one day go into the legal profession! In my free time, I enjoy traveling, reading, and crafting. I joined Legal Key with the hope of gaining a better understanding of how organizations across the state provide support and resources to care teams in order to better address and prevent legal concerns within the communities they serve.

Legal Key Law & Policy Consultant, Sarah Yan, has been accepted to the Boston Bar Association’s Public Interest Leadership Program for 2025-2026. Each year, this program welcomes a select group of talented and highly motivated lawyers to participate in a year-long program designed to provide intensive leadership and professional development training.

Congratulations, Sarah!

Our Executive Director, Amy Copperman, traveled to New York in late September to attend the International Access to Justice Forum sponsored by New York University and Fordham Law Schools. This forum brought together members of the A2J community across the globe. It was a packed two days of learning about research, policy developments, and innovative programs in the global movement for civil justice. And a great opportunity to catch up with some Massachusetts and Rhode Island A2Jers!

Amy will also be highlighting Legal Key’s work at a Buzz at this year’s Putting Care at the Center 2025. Camden Coalition’s annual conference brings together a wide range of stakeholders in the complex care field, and this year they are also hosting a medical-legal partnership track. If you’ll be at the conference, find Amy’s Buzz on October 16!

September is National Preparedness Month!

Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, the Disability Indicator Program alerts 9-1-1 personnel that an individual may have unique safety, communications or other special needs in case of an emergency. Legal Key’s Digital Digest Interpersonal Safety page for Massachusetts has more information on this program.

Rhode Island
RIDOH’s Special Needs Emergency Registry (RISNER) is a service that shares information with first responders about who may need extra help during an emergency. Legal Key’s Digital Digest Community and Interpersonal Safety page for Rhode Island has more information on the registry.

Donate to Legal Key

Legal Key Partnership for Health and Justice envisions a society where information about legal rights and systems is widely accessible and used to help people to thrive. To realize this vision, Legal Key’s mission is to create access to legal knowledge for health and social service sectors and empowers those communities to use legal problem-solving to improve wellbeing. Through legal education, workforce support and social care program design, Legal Key impacts systems, care professionals, and the individuals they serve.

Legal Key is a fiscally sponsored organization of Third Sector New England.

Information contained in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establish an attorney-client relationship.

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September 2026 Newsletter

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