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August 01, 2018

Former Commission Intern Awarded Borchard Fellowship

Teresa Yao, who was an intern at The Commission on Law & Aging during the summer of 2016, has been awarded a prestigious Borchard fellowship.

Each year, Borchard fellowships are awarded to three promising students interested in an academic and/or professional career in law and aging.

For her Borchard fellowship, Teresa will establish a Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) between her sponsoring organization, the Legal Assistance Foundation, and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. Her goal is to create a free legal clinic that will provide low-income older adults with holistic client-centered care that addresses both their legal and social needs. Teresa will be involved in direct representation for clients that come through the clinic and she will draft research papers exploring hurdles faced by vulnerable older adult populations, including Limited-English Proficiency (LEP) and isolated seniors. The clinic will serve communities on the West Side of Chicago. Teresa is especially interested in developing programs and services for LEP older adults.

Teresa says that her work experience with the Commission was invaluable because it exposed her to the breadth of issues in the field of law and aging through involvement in projects on health care decision-making, guardianship, and elder abuse.

Teresa is a May 2018 graduate from Washington University School of Law and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, where she received her joint JD/MSW degree with a concentration on Older Adults and Aging Society. She has served as an Executive Editor of the Washington University Law Review and Co-Chair of the Public Service Committee of the Public Service Advisory Board.