Welcome to the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee (MHLAC)

For 35 years, children and adults with mental disabilities have looked to MHLAC for vindication of their rights against discrimination and to appropriate services. An independent state agency of the Supreme Judicial Court, MHLAC provides advice and direct legal representation on a wide range of legal issues. These include: access to services, treatment rights, equitable treatment in custody and visitation matters, guardianship abuse, insurance discrimination, educational rights, housing bias, and mistreatment in institutional and community settings. In addition to providing direct legal representation and advice, MHLAC lawyers also train judges, attorneys, and advocates; interpret and analyze legislation; and produce brochures and longer publications on pertinent legal matters.

This website is intended to inform individuals and families about the work of MHLAC, including special projects devoted to children confined in DYS facilities and to protecting parents’ rights to fair treatment in custody and visitation actions (the Clubhouse Family Legal Support Project). This site is also intended to be a resource to advocates, lawyers, mental health professionals and others interested in assisting individuals with mental disabilities to assert their rights and advocate for themselves.

MHLAC welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions about our site via email mhlac@mhlac.org.

MHLAC has a new Executive Director

He is longtime poverty law advocate, Phillip Kassel. Before coming to MHLAC, Phil worked for more than 30 years on behalf of the most vulnerable segments of the poor person populations of the states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington, serving in a host of capacities and specialties. He has litigated, lobbied, and negotiated key reforms for a wide variety of clients, including the mentally ill, e.g. Haverty v. Commissioner of Corrections, 437 Mass. 737 (2002), which established a right to due process under the Massachusetts constitution prior to the imposition on prisoners of indefinite solitary confinement. Phil is also an accomplished singer with 11 cabaret shows to his credit.

Important News and Information

• Fond farewell: While MHLAC welcomes Phil Kassel with enthusiasm and promise for the future, staff and board members are also very sad to say goodbye to Frank Laski, who retired on January 20, 2012 after serving for nearly 14 years as MHLAC’s leader. We thank him for all his hard work and for his extreme dedication to MHLAC mission and its clients. We will miss Frank greatly and we wish him the best of luck.


• Register now for MHLAC's Next Conference on June 1, 2012 at MCLE.


• In January 2012, MHLAC submitted testimony supporting H.1177, An Act relative to the continuity of care of mental health treatment and testimony supporting H.1174, An Act requiring mental health parity for disability policies.


• MHLAC has been awarded another contract with CPCS's Mental Health Litigation Division to serve as Regional Coordinator for Suffolk and Norfolk County mental health attorneys. The term of the new contract is March 1, 2012 - February 28, 2013. Please contact Kate Dulit (kdulit@mhlac.org) with questions about training under the terms of the contract and Miriam Ruttenberg (mruttenberg@mhlac.org) with all other questions.


• MHLAC's February 3, 2012 conference at MCLE was a big success. We thank all of the faculty and staff who made it possible.


• MHLAC has updated its online library with new pamphlets on services available through the Department of Mental Health (DMH) Community Based Flexible Support (CBFS) program, Chapter 688, the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI), and the Mass. Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), and on rights regarding service and emotional support animals. Spanish translations of pamphlets on the Five Fundamental Rights, the DMH complaint process, admission to and discharge from a psychiatric hospital, and medication rights are also posted. The Department of Youth Services (DYS) Project Checklists for Families are also now available in Spanish on our DYS Project Resources page.