Carolina Health Advocacy Medicolegal Partnership (CHAMPS) Clinic
The CHAMPS Clinic is a collaboration of the School of Law, the USC School of Medicine,
Prisma Health Medical Group, and South Carolina Legal Services. CHAMPS offers law
students the opportunity to work on legal cases that impact children’s health. Students
work in collaboration with doctors, social workers, and other health professionals
on their cases.
The CHAMPS Clinic provides students with the opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary
learning in the context of live-client legal cases. Students take legal cases on
behalf of low-income children and families referred from Prisma Health Medical Group.
These cases address the social determinants of clients’ health and include SSI, Medicaid,
housing conditions, SNAP, and end of life planning matters. Law students work collaboratively
on their legal cases with doctors, social workers, and other health professionals.
Students also have opportunities to go to Prisma Children’s Hospital to learn from
doctors how to understand clients’ patient records, attend patient rounds, discharge
planning, and ethics conferences. In addition to case work, the course includes seminar
component during which students will learn the doctrine, theory, lawyering skills,
and policy relevant to their case work.

Student Testimonial: Kelsey Abbey, Class of ’22
"Through the clinic, I was able to interview and advocate for client’s needs by engaging
in interdisciplinary work alongside doctors, teachers, and social work students, researching
resources applicable to my client’s issues, problem solving with my peers, and ultimately
corroborating facts to best support my client’s argument and achieve their goals.
CHAMPs was an incredibly rewarding experience allowing me to practice advocacy skills,
while providing valuable services to the community and impacting the lives of underrepresented
individuals."

Student Testimonial: Will Arnold, Class of '22
"It would be difficult to overstate the impact the CHAMPS clinic had on both my professional
and personal development. This program offered me and my classmates the opportunity
to learn both substantive law and practical skills in an interactive environment.
Additionally, I was able to meaningfully serve the community and feel that my work
was helping to affect positive change in our clients’ lives. Such an impact cannot
be found elsewhere in the curriculum. My only regret is that I wish more of law school
was like my experience with the CHAMPS clinic."