Debra Chopp is the asso­ciate dean for expe­ri­en­tial edu­ca­tion, clin­i­cal pro­fes­sor of law, and direc­tor of the Pedi­atric Advo­ca­cy Clin­ic at Michi­gan Law. Her research, teach­ing, and legal prac­tice focus pri­mar­i­ly on edu­ca­tion law, fam­i­ly law/​domestic vio­lence, and cross-cul­tur­al communication.

Chopp has presented on these and other topics at local, state, and national conferences. She also provides regular trainings to medical providers on patient advocacy, special education, and social determinants of health.

As the director of the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, Chopp works with medical providers and law students to provide free legal services that address the social determinants of health of families and improve child health. She is the Law School faculty representative to the Child Health Evaluation and Research Center at the University of Michigan.

Immediately before joining the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, Chopp was a staff attorney with the Pediatric Advocacy Initiative at the Law School. She has represented survivors of domestic violence as an attorney for Sanctuary for Families: Center for Battered Women’s Legal Services in New York. 

Relat­ed Information

Education
  • Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan, BA, with high hon­ors, polit­i­cal science 
  • Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia Law School, JD 

    • Recent Courses

    Fea­tured Scholarship

    "Preventing Child Maltreatment Through Medical-Legal Partnership"

    Preventing Child Abuse: Critical Roles and Multiple Perspectives
    MLaw Repository
    • Children and the Law

    "Ineffective Homeschooling in a Child with a Learning Disability"

    Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
    WWW
    • Children and the Law

    "Strengthening Medical-Legal Partnerships: The Advocacy Letter Project"

    Academic Pediatrics
    WWW
    • Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility

    "Addressing Cultural Bias in the Legal Profession"

    N.Y. U Review of Law & Social Change
    MLaw Repository HEIN
    • Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
    See All Scholarship
    Activ­i­ties
    July 2020

    Con­vened and co-led vir­tu­al con­fer­ence for pro­fes­sors in law school clin­ic Med­i­cal-Legal Part­ner­ships through­out the coun­try.
     

    March 2019

    Guest speak­er, ​“Rights of Chil­dren with Dis­abil­i­ties when Fac­ing School Dis­ci­pline,” Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan School of Education.

    Octo­ber 2018

    Pre­sent­ed ​“Inte­grat­ing Legal Advo­ca­cy into the Health­care Set­ting,” Michi­gan Med­i­cine Depart­ment of Pediatrics.

    June 2018

    Pre­sent­ed ​“Expe­ri­en­tial Health Law Oppor­tu­ni­ties through the Med­i­cal-Legal Part­ner­ship Mod­el,” Health Law Pro­fes­sors Con­fer­ence, Amer­i­can Soci­ety of Law, Med­i­cine, and Ethics, Cleve­land, Ohio.

    May 2018

    Facil­i­tat­ed the Med­i­cal-Legal Part­ner­ship Work­ing Group, Asso­ci­a­tion of Amer­i­can Law Schools Con­fer­ence on Clin­i­cal Legal Edu­ca­tion, Chicago.

    Feb­ru­ary 2018

    Tes­ti­fied before the Michi­gan Sen­ate Judi­cia­ry Com­mit­tee on Amend­ing the Michi­gan Do-Not-Resus­­ci­­tate Pro­ce­dure Act, Lansing.

    May 2017

    Pre­sent­ed ​“Address­ing Social Deter­mi­nants of Health: Fam­i­ly Sta­bil­i­ty,” St. John Prov­i­dence Children’s Hos­pi­tal, Detroit.

    March 2017

    Pre­sent­ed ​“Tak­ing Type 1 Dia­betes to Schools,” JDRF T1D Sum­mit, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

    Feb­ru­ary 2017

    Pre­sent­ed ​“The Impor­tance of Med­i­cal-Legal Part­ner­ships: Help­ing Chil­dren with Life-Lim­it­ing Ill­ness with DNR Orders in Schools,” Annu­al Assem­bly of Hos­pice and Pal­lia­tive Care, Phoenix.