Troy Elder


Troy Elder, a lawyer, law professor, and community- and faith-based activist, has long worked at the intersection of access to healthcare and human rights. After practicing for 5 years with major New York law firms, in 2000 he relocated to Miami to work on poverty, health, and immigration issues at Legal Services of Greater Miami and Catholic Charities Legal Services in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood.

He later founded and directed pioneering medical-legal partnerships at the University of Miami and Florida International University (FIU).   More recently, while teaching at Yale, Troy co-led a medical-legal group to Haiti to interview victims of that country's cholera crisis, laying the groundwork for subsequent litigation against the United Nations.  

His  academic writing, which includes the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics’ Poor Clients, Informed Consent, and the Ethics of Rejection (2007), has been cited by the Harvard Law Review.

Troy, who  speaks Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole. currently  works in Los Angeles' diverse interfaith community on immigrants’ rights issues, with a particular focus on unaccompanied Central American child migrants.   Having taught and practiced in the areas of health law, immigration law, poverty law, elder law, and international human rights, Troy is available to provide case reviews, supervision, and technical assistance to  Florida's legal aid and medical legal partnership staff attorneys.


Education

Yale Law School,  New Haven, CT, Juris Doctor, 1995, Chair, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Law Student Association

Yale University, Master of Arts (Ethics), 2013

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French, Summa Cum Laude, 1990, Phi Beta Kappa


Publications

Natural Law, Natural Rights, and Marriage Equality,  41. 3 THE  ANGLICAN  24 (2013)
 

Antagonizing Bogota,  39 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 42 (2008)

 
Poor Clients, Informed Consent, and The Ethics of Rejection,  20 GEO . J. LEGAL  ETHICS  989 (2007)

 
The Case Against Arbitral Awards of Specific Performance in Transnational Commercial Disputes, 13.1 ARB . INT ’ 1 (1997)
  • 1996 Gillis Wetter Memorial Prizewinner (awarded for excellence in scholarly legal writing on international litigation topics)

 
Seconding The Second Circuit? The Seventh’s Circuit’s Lander Decision,  12.8 MEALEY ’S  INT ’L  ARB . R. (1997)(co-author)


Select Academic Presentations and Media Interviews

Teaching Bilingual/Multilingual Students, AALS Clinical Conference, Baltimore, MD (May 2010)

 
Haiti Teach-In: Where Do We Go From Here? Florida International University, Miami, FL (January 2010)


Is Informed Consent Possible In Clinical Practice? AALS Clinical Conference, Cleveland, OH (May 2009)

 
Activating the Haitian Diaspora Through International , Inter-Institutional Collaboration, Haitian Studies Association Annual Conference, Montrouis, Haiti (November 2008)

 
Remote Control? Contingencies , Risks , and Rewards in Supervising Students Representing “Long Distance” Clients, AALS Clinical Conference, Tucson, AZ (May 2008)

 
Colombia: The Impact of Trade, War, and the Rule of Law – Seeking Justice for Internally Displaced Persons, Washington, DC (March 2008)

 
Immigration Reform, Wet Foot-Dry Foot, and Race Relations, Radio Kajou AM1580, Miami, FL (May 2007)

 
Políticas de inmigración de los EEUU y sus impactos urbanos en Miami, Universidad Comillas, Madrid, Spain (March 2007)

 
Selected Topics In Immigration Law,  Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and FIU College of Law, Miami, FL, December 2004

 
Health Care for Immigrants: Maximizing Current Coverage, Expanding Eligibility,  National Immigration Law Center, Washington, DC, May 2003

 
Poverty Immigration Issues in the Haitian Community.  Notre Dame d’Haiti Community Center, Miami, Florida, March 2003.

 
Health Services for the Uninsured.  Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center Annual Immigration Summit, Miami, Florida, June 2002.

 
Welfare-to-work supportive services.  Florida Legal Services, Statewide Training Conference, Tampa, Florida, April 2002.

 
Health Care Access Issues in the Haitian Community.  Toussaint L’Ouverture Community Center, Miami, Florida, March 2002.

 
Immigrant Access to Health Care.  National Legal Aid and Defender Association Annual Conference, Miami, Florida, November 2001

 
Los hispanos pagan más por la salud [Hispanics Pay More For Their Health Care],  EL  NUEVO  HERALD , July 2, 2001, at B1.

 
County-funded Health Services for the Uninsured.  Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center Annual Immigration Summit, Miami, Florida, June 2001.


Bar Admissions

Florida (State; SD Fla.; 11th  Circuit) 2001

Paris, France 1999

New York (State; SDNY; EDNY) 1996