Posted by Patricia M. Flannery on Nov 21, 2013 11:30:00 AM
Andrea Marino Landry, a Thornton Law Firm partner and associated with the firm since 2005, was recently appointed an associate adjunct professor at New England Law | Boston, teaching public health law. Andrea has worked in the firm’s asbestos, tobacco, and birth defect practice areas during her time at the firm.
Teaching public health law is a natural extension of her background and experience. Public Health Law focuses on the use of legal tools to improve the public’s health. It surveys the legal framework in which the government may regulate for the public’s health, analyzing the constitutional, statutory, common law, and regulatory sources of government authority, as well as the limits imposed on the government’s power to address public health concerns. The course also focuses on current public health policy issues including obesity prevention, tobacco control, and public health emergencies, with special attention paid to the inherent tension between public health regulation and individual rights. Among the ongoing themes during the course will be what constitutes public health law and the implications of identifying this body of law as its own discipline.
Andrea’s specific experience as a litigator representing victims of exposure to asbestos, lead paint, tobacco, and victims of other toxic exposures, including children of workers born with birth defects, allows her to provide a unique perspective to her students. In the Public Health Law course, Andrea uses her litigation experience to educate her students about the tragic public health consequences that occur when companies and manufacturers disregard public health regulations and withhold knowledge about the hazardous nature of products from the public. These real life examples of public health law in action have helped her students to understand the unfortunate real life consequences of these actions and the important role that they as future lawyers can have in addressing these injustices.
The opportunity to teach public health law is rewarding for Andrea. The course is a valuable opportunity to educate law students on extremely important issues, and their passion and enthusiasm is incredible.
Much of Thornton Law Firm’s work over the last 40 years is directly related to fighting threats to public health. Whether that focus has been on workers exposed to asbestos, or children injured because their parents were exposed to chemicals at work, Thornton Law Firm has always fought on the front lines of health and law to protect our clients. If you have a question about public health law, exposure to harmful products or exposure to toxic chemicals, call 1-888-491-9726 and ask to speak with a lawyer at Thornton Law Firm.
