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Prior to joining NYLAG, Ms. Retkin served as Director of Legal Services for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the nation’s oldest and largest organization serving people with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Retkin served as a staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) where she established the VOLS Immigrants’ Rights Project. She is a founder of the New York Immigration Coalition and the National Cancer Legal Services Network. She is a co-author of New York States’ Standby Guardianship law and helped spearhead the recent expansion of the law to assist immigrant families. She is also an author of New York’s Health-Related Legal Services law. Ms. Retkin is a member of the OneCityHealth Executive Committee and serves on the New York City Bar Association Ethics Committee.
Julie Brandfield establishes new clinics, supervises LegalHealth’s staff attorneys, and oversees the training curriculum for hospital partners. She engages in policy initiatives led by LegalHealth on medically homeless and immigrant access to Medicaid. Ms. Brandfield has extensive litigation experience, including employment and insurance law. In 2013, she was a recipient of the New York City Bar Association’s Legal Services Award. Ms. Brandfield has spoken at numerous conferences on partnering with healthcare professionals. Before joining LegalHealth in 2002, Ms. Brandfield was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York. She clerked for the Honorable Alfred J. Lechner of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She graduated from the University of Chicago and Fordham University School of Law.