Marilyn J. Schmidt, Esq.
Marilyn Schmidt represents individuals, hospitals and other non-profit health care corporations by providing legal advice and litigation services. Practicing primarily in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, she specializes in mental health law (guardianship and commitments), elder law, and clinically complex custody disputes. Representative clients include Baystate Medical Center, Chapin Center, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Franklin Medical Center, Holyoke Medical Center, Highland Valley Elder Services, and Wing Memorial Hospital. She also serves as a Guardian ad Litem for the probate and family courts by judicial appointment.

Responsive to client needs, Marilyn is creative in unraveling legal complexities and effective at overcoming obstacles to her clients’ success. Her familiarity with psychiatric terminology and clinical services facilitates her grasp of issues and plan of action in cases involving mental illness, mental retardation, substance abuse or sexual abuse. Delegating fact gathering and the drafting of routine documents to skilled paralegals enables her to provide the highest quality services efficiently and cost-effectively.

Marilyn founded Schmidt Law Offices in 2001. She was a partner in the firm Schmidt & Botter from 1994 to 2001, and an associate attorney at the Northampton, Massachusetts firm of Green, Miles, Lipton, White & Fitz-Gibbon from 1991 to 1994. From 1989 to 1991, she served as Chief Operating Officer of the Northampton State Hospital for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, managing a 145-bed, 485-employee inpatient psychiatric facility, where she achieved increased quality of care despite a shrinking budget and greater integration of the facility into the community service system. From 1982 to 1989, Marilyn served as Assistant General Counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, representing and advising the agency on a broad spectrum of legal issues, assisting managers in policy development, conducting legal workshops and managing two offices. Prior to that, Marilyn worked for Western Massachusetts Legal Services as a litigation attorney on a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship.

Publications
Schmidt, Geller, “Involuntary Administration of Medication in the Community-The Judicial Opportunity,” Bulletin of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Vol. XVII, No. 3, p. 283 (1984).

Schwartz, Fleischner, Schmidt, et al, “Protecting the Rights and Enhancing the Dignity of People with Mental Disabilities: Standards for Effective Legal Advocacy,” Rutgers Law Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3 (1983).

Crane, Howard, Schmidt and Schwartz, “The Massachusetts Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Handicap: Its Meaning and Implementation,” Suffolk University Law Review, Vol. XVI, No. 1 (1982).

Appeals
Marilyn has litigated a number of appeals on mental health law and custody issues, including In Re: Richard Roe III, 383 Mass. 415 (1981), and Hashimi v. Kalil, 388 Mass. 607 (1983).

Education
Juris Doctor, Boston University School of Law, 1979
Bachelor of Arts, University of Massachusetts, 1976

Membership
Massachusetts Bar Association
Franklin County Bar Association
Hampden County Bar Association
Hampshire County Bar Association