Seeking to help navigate the gap between law, health care and community services for low-income patients and their hospitals, a consortium of area schools and nonprofit agencies will bring the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) to Buffalo. The first local conference is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m., June 9 at Hospice Buffalo, 225 Como Park Blvd., Cheektowaga.

Attorneys who attend will receive two free Continuing Legal Education credits.

The MLP planning committee is comprised of representatives of the University at Buffalo Law School, Neighborhood Legal Services, the UB School of Social Work, the UB Civic Engagement and Public Policy Strategic Strength Office, Hospice Buffalo, the Evans-Devereux Memorial Fund and others.

MLPs are credited with helping to improve access to health care and health-care outcomes for underserved populations around the country. For example, a family forced by poverty or other circumstances to choose between food and heat in the winter months is unlikely to be successfully treated with a prescription or vaccination, says UB law professor Kim Diana Connolly.

She is director of clinical legal education and moderator for the conference.

"Medical-legal partnerships integrate lawyers as a vital component of the health-care team," she said.

"The concept is to transform institutions and influence policy change to positively influence non-medical determinants of health. A lack of food, utilities, child support, mold removal and other basic life needs can prevent optimum health.

Added Connolly: "Lawyers and other legal professionals can support those in the health-care profession to change lives."

In addition to Connolly, presenters will include:

• Barry Zuckerman, M.D., founder of the National Center for Medical Legal Partnerships. He is chairman of the department of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and the Joel and Barbara Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine.

• Steven Blatt, M.D., of the department of pediatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical Center

• Randye Retkin, Esq., director of LegalHealth and the New York Legal Assistance Group

• Kathleen Grimm, M.D., University Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Adolescent Division of Women & Children's Hospital

Registration information for the conference is available at www.nls.org.

According to UB Law, there will be 2.0 non-transitional CLE credits in the skills area for this event. The law school has been certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as an accredited provider of continuing legal education through March 10, 2014.

For more information on UB's CLE policy,  contact Lisa Mueller at 645-3176.

A program titled "Are You Up With the New Employment Laws?" will be presented by Randolph Oppenheimer, a partner in Damon Morey's labor and employment department, at 8:30 a.m., June 10 by at Erie 1 BOCES in West Seneca.

Andy Cahill of the New York State Department of Labor is co-presenter of the program, which is part of the annual Buffalo Job Service Employer Committee Seminar.

For more information or to register, call 851-2753 or email: carolyn.bright@labor.ny.gov.

Topics will include best practices with respect to social media, the Wage Theft Prevention Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), audits by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), Employer Information Reports (EEO-1); developments under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); and discrimination issues associated with credit reports.

Oppenheimer has represented clients before state and federal agencies and courts for more than 30 years. A frequent lecturer, he has conducted training on litigation avoidance and labor law issues for bar associations, Western New York employers, community groups, trade associations and schools. He also has authored dozens of articles on a variety of topics related to litigation and labor and employment.