Carolyn Wolf ’86: Making a Mark in Mental Health Law

“We joke at our firm that cases start on Friday at 4:30 p.m.,” says Carolyn Reinach Wolf ’86, founding partner at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Greenberg, Formato & Einiger, LLP. Perhaps more than anyone else, Wolf knows that running the only known health law practice that specifically and exclusively concentrates on mental health law is no joke. “We deal with people,” she says, “whose lives are often in crisis and need of immediate action.”

Wolf’s practice represents institutions, families and individuals in clinical and legal issues affecting those with mental illness and related challenges. For more than 20 years, the firm has provided legal expertise that touches several areas, including family law and the health care and criminal justice systems. But beyond a traditional law firm, Wolf’s practice functions as both a teacher and creative problem-solver. For example, the firm trains and educates mental health professionals and laypersons on such matters as confidentiality issues, release of records, emergency situations and working with law enforcement. “There is a lot of misinformation,” says Wolf. “Much of our job is educating and coordinating community services like outpatient mental health care and housing.”

The more knowledge and information clients and providers have, the more Wolf’s practice is able to assist them effectively and resourcefully. Wolf explains, “We use the legal system to get individuals into treatment, but sometimes the law doesn’t cover [a family’s situation], and we must think out of the box.” One such creative solution involves working with a private agency, consisting of former FBI and other law enforcement officers, that provides detective services for clients who want to find a missing loved one and stage an intervention.

Wolf, who is also an adjunct professor of law at Hofstra, brings this same creativity to the classroom, where she has featured a number of guest speakers, including judges and lawyers who specialize in health law criminal cases. “I hope to instill in my students,” she says, “a full understanding and appreciation for what attorneys can do to relieve some of the suffering and stress that go hand in hand with mental illness.”

Once a student at Hofstra Law herself,  Wolf did not expect to build a career in mental health law. She gravitated to the field after having been a hospital administrator and receiving her law degree. After graduation, she was asked to work on some psychiatric hearings and soon realized it was important area to cover. Wolf adds, “The mental health, developmental disabilities and/or substance abuse systems are among the most difficult to navigate. Those unfamiliar with these systems can get caught in a maze of statutes, regulations, case law and situational barriers.”
Despite the emotion, challenges and unexpected calls on weekends and holidays, Wolf has no regrets about the path she has taken: “It is the most rewarding area of law, where you feel you are doing incredible good.”