CCHR: Is Hosting a Baker Act Webinar for Private Practice Attorneys on the Mental Health Law

The complimentary continuing education event is designed for lawyers and will cover changes to the mental health law – known as the Baker Act.

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES, March 31, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- This workshop is the 9th such event hosted by the Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). CCHR is an award-winning nonprofit in the area of mental health human rights and the continuing legal education course is for private practice attorneys.

CCHR began hosting these events as part of a campaign to protect individuals from human rights violations committed through the abusive use of the Florida mental health law, commonly called the Baker Act – involuntary psychiatric examination and commitment.

The webinar titled, Baker Act Defense Attorney Symposium and Summit (BADASS), is being offered to attorneys who wish to gain a greater understanding of the Baker Act, the laws relating to it, and its history of abuse and detrimental outcomes.

During the Zoom event, Tampa Bay attorney Paul Figueroa will cover a review of Baker Act Basics, the consequences of filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and keeping it confidential plus more. As a 2008 graduate of the Florida Coastal School of Law, Mr. Figueroa spent the next 8 years in the 13th Judicial Circuit Office of the Public Defender before joining the Tison Law Group in 2017. After gaining valuable additional experience as a private practice attorney, Figueroa decided to open his own firm citing a desire to be able to focus on the areas of law that are important to him.

Also speaking will be attorney Kendra Parris on unlawful activities relating to examination and treatment under the mental health law and attorney Justin Drach on how to integrate Florida Administrative Codes into a practice.

Known nationwide for her work to protect rights when Florida’s Risk Protection Orders are called into play, Ms. Parris is a graduate of the Florida State University College of Law and prior to opening her own firm she was in-house counsel for a mental health and substance abuse treatment provider, focusing on Medicare, Medicaid, and health care law.

Mr. Drach, a graduate of the Regent University School of Law, is a former Naval Aviator with more than ten years of military service. Following the opening of a private practice with partner, Amanda Theole, Drach rapidly developed a name for himself as a tenacious fighter for justice in Baker Act cases.

Diane Stein the president of CCHR in Florida points out that, as reported by the Baker Act Reporting Center, between the years of 2021 and 2022, over 38,000 Baker Acts were initiated involving children alone and that it is imperative for attorneys to know and understand not just the laws but the best way to protect their clients. For more information on the Baker Act, mental health human rights or how to sign up for the next BADASS webinar, please call 800-782-2878.

About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health. The Florida chapter of CCHR is an award-winning nonprofit in the area of mental health human rights and government relations. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health,’” he wrote in March 1969.

Diane Stein
Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
+1 727-422-8820
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