Dorothea A. Constas

Dorothea Constas is a Principal Attorney with Mental Hygiene Legal Service (MHLS). MHLS is an agency within the Office of Court Administration that provides a broad spectrum of legal services to individuals who suffer from mental illness, persons alleged to be incapacitated, insanity acquitees and those persons in need of a guardian.

Teaching

Fordham University School of Law
September 2005-Present
Adjunct Professor
Fundamental Lawyering Skills

New York Law School
2001-2006
Adjunct Professor
Applied Analysis Program
Academic Support for First Year Students - Worked with students to enhance their writing, time management and exam taking skills

Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Hofstra University
Guest Speaker
Law & Psychiatry 2018, 2017

Practicing Law Institute
Panel Member/Guest Speaker
June 2016
Seminar entitled: "Coercion, Treatment and Procedural Justice for the Mentally Ill"

Experience

Mental Hygiene Legal Service, First Department September 1990 – May 2021
Principal Attorney/Supervising Attorney
Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center & Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital, Wards Island, NY
Chief supervising attorney managing a team of senior trial attorneys advocating on behalf of forensic and civil patients in negotiations with corporate hospital administrations, city and state agencies including the New York State Office of Mental Health, District Attorney Offices and the office of the New York State Attorney General. Represented individual clients in proceedings involving release and retention, petitions to treat over objection, clients subject to the Sex Offender Civil Commitment laws passed in 2016, end-of-life decisions for
those persons falling under the auspices of the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, and representation of clients under the Criminal Procedure Law.

NYC Department of Probation 1989 - 1990
Associate General Counsel

Hill, Betts & Nash – 1980-1986
World Trade Center, NY, NY
Associate Attorney, Maritime and International Law Practice

Seafarers International Union – AFL-CIO 1976- 1979
Brooklyn, NY
Associate Counsel
Labor Law/Maritime Law Practice

Education

New York University, NY, NY PhD. Candidate, Counseling Psychology, 1985-1988
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, JD 1976
Emerson College, Boston, MA BA 1972

Distinguishing Dementia from Mental Illness and Other Causes of Decline, The Dementia Crisis, New York State Bar Association Journal (January 2017)

Mental Health Issues and the New York State Courts 2016: Coercion, Treatment and Procedural Justice, Practicing Law Institute (June 2016)