The University of Hawaii Elder Law Clinic students were excited and proud, yet humbled. Seeing a picture of one of their clients on the front page of the Sunday edition of Hawaii’s largest newspaper made them realize that what they were doing in class was “real.” The headline accompanying the picture read: “Financial Abuse ‘Huge’ Issue for Isles’ Elderly.” The article summarized the tribulations of eighty-two-year-old “Mr. H,” with whom three of the students had spent several hours just days before. Earlier in the week, three other students did their best to assist ninety-four-year-old “Mrs. T,” who was the subject of a guardianship proceeding designed to protect her from potential abuse. Mrs. T clearly had diminished capacity, but she was nonetheless more than willing to sign “papers” for her son, who was suspected of neglecting her. The following week, all of the Elder Law Clinic students met with healthcare providers at a community health center that serves a clientele consisting largely of immigrant Pacific Islanders. Many of these patients’ cultural values clash with the traditional “Western” approach, which champions the use of both advance healthcare directives and selecting surrogate decisionmakers once determining a patient is mentally incapacitated.