Jim Gottstein
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Jim Gottstein grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, graduating from West High School in 1971, the University of Oregon in 1974 and Harvard Law School  in 1978.  He has practiced law in Anchorage since then, including representation of Alaskans with mental illness in the Mental Health Trust Land Litigation from 1986 through its conclusion in 1997, resulting in a settlement valued at approximately $1 Billion..  Mr. Gottstein  is a co-founder of Touch N' Go Systems, a software developer and home to the AlaskaCam and the Alaska Legal Resource Center on the World Wide Web.  He co-founded Mental Health Consumers of Alaska with Andrea Schmook and Barbara Greene in 1986, and the Alaska Mental Health Consumer Web with Katsumi Kenaston in 1998.  In December of 1998, Mr. Gottstein was appointed to the Alaska Mental Health Board, largely, he believes on the strength of his views on the mental health system as described in his article, The Mental Health System; Recovery Should be the Goal.  Most recently, Jim has co-founded a new non-profit, named the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights whose mission is to bring fairness into the legal aspects of the mental health system, particularly forced medication.    Mr. Gottstein has published a number of other articles on the Internet, including his own personal recovery story:

• Recovery: Responsibilities and Roadblocks, published in the Winter 2003/2004 ICSPP Newsletter.
• How the Legal System Can Help Create a Recovery Culture in Mental Health Systems
• Report on Multi-Faceted Grass-Roots Efforts To Bring About Meaningful Change To Alaska's Mental Health Program
• CHOICES - Consumers Having Ownership In Creating Effective Services.

Last modified 3/27/2006