Elder Law Commons^™

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lawyers And The Secret Welfare State, Milan Markovic

Faculty Scholarship

This Article suggests that the United States maintains a secret welfare state. The secret welfare state exists because of lawyers’ ubiquitous use of questionable practices in representing clients before benefit-granting government agencies, which enable thousands of individual to collect public benefits who may not qualify for them. This Article focuses in particular on lawyers’ handling of evidence of nondisability in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) proceedings and participation in Medicaid planning. It may be possible that the legal profession’s central role in the distribution of public benefits is an obstacle to a fairer and more transparent social safety net.

Running Past Landmines--The Estate Attorney's Dilemma: Ethically Counseling The Client With Alzheimer's Disease, Joseph Karl Grant

Journal Publications

This Article examines the ethical dilemmas faced by attorneys who represent clients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. To do so, this Article raises three (3) hypothetical case studies,and applies the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel ("ACTEC") Commentaries, where appropriate, to those hypothetical case studies. Additionally, this Article proposes initiatives to ameliorate the lack of awareness and discussion of Alzheimer's disease in the law school curriculum, and finally, modest initiatives that the practicing bar can embrace to further a discussion and awareness among practicing attorneys about the ethical dilemma attorneys face in …

Ethical Challenges Of Using Law Student Interns/Externs To Expand Services To Low-Income Older Adults, Eleanor Lanier

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Said I, But You Have No Choice: Why A Lawyer Must Ethically Honor A Client's Decision About Mental Health Treatment Even If It Is Not What S/He Would Have Chosen, Michael L. Perlin, Naomi Weinstein

Articles & Chapters

This paper addresses a remarkably under-considered topic: the ethical standards for lawyers representing persons with mental disabilities. Although there is an extensive body of literature endorsing “zealous advocacy” as the standard for the criminal defense lawyer in “ordinary” cases, there is virtually no literature (or case law) on this question in this context.

Our thesis is simple. We reject the model of “paternalism/best interests” that is regularly substituted for a traditional legal advocacy position, and a substitution that is rarely questioned. We believe this presumption flies in the face of statutory law, constitutional law, and international human rights law, and …

Should Attorneys Have A Duty To Report Financial Abuse Of The Elderly?, Carolyn L. Dessin

Akron Law Review

This Article will therefore put the efficacy issue aside and focus on whether an attorney can and should report suspected abuse under a mandatory reporting statute. Part Two of this article will examine the various states’ approaches to mandatory reporting of abuse. Part Three will explore the various states’ rules governing attorney conduct. Part Four will analyze the interaction of the mandatory reporting provisions with the rules governing attorney conduct. Finally, Part Five will discuss whether requiring attorneys to report suspected elder abuse is desirable.

Special Populations: Mobilization For Change

Touro Law Review

This Article is based on a transcript of a break-out discussion which took place at An Obvious Truth: Creating an Action Blueprint for a Civil Right to Counsel in New York State, held at Touro Law Center, Central Islip, New York, in March 2008. The discussion was moderated by Karen L. Nicolson, Michael Williams, and Toby Golick.

This Article assesses the needs of various special populations and the possible strategies and solutions to create change through enacting a civil right to counsel. The Article is intended to capture information and viewpoints of the people who participated in the break-out discussion …

Attorney Responsibility And Client Incapacity, Raymond C. O'Brien

Scholarly Articles

This Article suggests what an attorney should consider when representing a client suspected by the attorney of having diminished capacity, anticipating diminished capacity, or a client anticipating a response to the legal dilemmas posed by aging. So too, this Article suggests what an attorney should consider when retained by the family members of an allegedly incapacitate person. After providing demographics regarding aging, this Article will specifically address the attorney-client relationship in the context of the Model Rules of the American Bar Association. Next, this Article will integrate the attorney's responsibility regarding the proper execution of a Last Will and Testament, …

Conflicts Of Interest In Medicine, Research, And Law: A Comparison, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

Several of the remarks and articles presented in this symposium have addressed conflicts of interest arising during the provision of legal counsel to individuals who are elderly, including specific conflicts of interest implicated by estate planning, retirement planning, and long-term care planning. Topics examined thus far include conflicts of interest with respect to the application of rules of confidentiality within state rules of professional conduct to elderly clients with impaired decision-making capacity; conflicts of interest involving representative payees for Social Security benefits; conflicts of interest in distributions when parents enter into marriages that are unprotected by law; and conflicts of …

Reform That Understands Our Seniors: How Interdisciplinary Services Can Help Solve The Capacity Riddle In Elder Law, Thomas Richard Stasi

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note suggests an interdisciplinary approach to assist in determinations of legal capacity. It also urges an amendment to the Model Rules and current law firm business models, so attorneys can better approach capacity challenges. While this Note does not presume to resolve the problems faced by capacity determinations, the purpose is to offer functional alternatives to the current working models. Part I reviews the Model Rules' treatment of capacity issues, detailing attorneys' conflicting ethical duties and the ambiguous methodology for capacity evaluations. Part II examines the customary processes that attorneys presently follow for seeking diagnostic evaluations and highlights their …

Integrating Catholic Social Thought In Elder Law And Estate Planning Courses: Reflections On Law, Age And Ethics, Lucia A. Silecchia

Scholarly Articles

A course in elder law or estate planning encompasses many of the most profound issues that arise in human life: the contemplation of mortality, ambivalent attitudes toward property and its proper distribution, complexities in family relationships, obligations to support loved ones, anticipation of physical or mental challenges, and reflections on one’s desired legacy to loved ones. Although there is much in the Catholic tradition and in the Scriptures themselves that speaks to these questions in an indirect way, this has not often been fully explored because this field may not, on its face, have an obvious connection to religious tradition. …

The Lesson Of The Irish Family Pub: The Elder Clinic Path To A More Thoughtful Practice, Katherine C. Pearson

Faculty Scholarship

In this article, the Director of the Elder Law Clinic at Pennsylvania State University provides insight into the development of Elder Law as a unique discipline by tracking the history and challenges faced by her program as it approaches ten years of operation. A core focus of the Elder Law clinic, beyond practical experience, is to expose its students to the ethical issues confronted in Elder Law practice. Students in the clinic combine classroom discussions with practical experience representing clients, thereby becoming better prepared for their professional futures, while also gaining appreciation for the special concerns of the elderly client. …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Lawyers' Ethical Dilemmas: A "Normal" Relationship When Representing Demented Clients And Their Families, Robert B. Fleming, Rebecca C. Morgan

Georgia Law Review

The Anglo-American legal system, based as it is on an adversary system of justice, assumes that two or more legal combatants, capably arguing their respective positions, can best ensure that the correct answer will become apparent to a neutral decisionmaker, the judge. The system assumes competent parties with adept legal representation, presenting their respective sides of the case with little involvement by the judge. This ideal can be difficult, even impossible, to reach when one party is demented.' Indeed, in such a case the problem with this traditional legal model is even deeper-there may be no clear adversarial distinction between …

Freedom Fading: On Dementia, Best Interests, And Public Safety, Bruce Jennings

Georgia Law Review

Having Alzheimer's Disease does not make a person evil, but it does sometimes cause behavior that poses a danger to the person with dementia or to others. On what grounds can we justify overriding and restricting the liberty of a person with dementia? How far should such restrictions go? Who should authorize them and who should carry them out, and under what theory? Given that all behavior carries some degree of risk, what level of risk is acceptable? What should society tolerate as a part of the back- ground conditions within which most people conduct their lives? To what level …

Predictive Genetic Testing For Alzheimer's Disease In Long-Term Care Insurance, Mark A. Rothstein

Georgia Law Review

The promise of new genetic research is the ability to prevent, treat, and cure a wide range of physical and mental disorders-both monogenic and complex disorders. While astonishing progress has been made in gene discovery and the development of genetic tests, progress has been much slower in developing medicalinterventions. Consequently, there is likely to be a gap of varying and indetermi- nate time-lasting years or decades-between the ability to identify and predict genetic risk and the ability to prevent, treat, or cure the condition. The gap between the ability to predict genetic risk and the ability to ameliorate the risk …

Foreword: Joint Conference On Legal/Ethical Issues In The Progression Of Dementia, Edward D. Spurgeon

Scholarly Works

The Joint Conference on Legal/Ethical Issues in the Progression of Dementia grew out of the pressing need to address the very real legal and ethical dilemmas that arise in situations like the one of Marie McDonough Larson and her family. Five groups joined forces to sponsor the Conference: the Borchard Foundation Center on Law and Aging; the Alzheimer's Association; the American Bar Association's Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly; the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; and the University of Georgia School of Law. Held at the Center for Continuing Education at the University of Georgia, the Conference spanned …

Dementia Research: Ethics And Policy For The Twenty-First Century, Rebecca Dresser

Georgia Law Review

People in developed countries rank dementia among the most feared threats to human health and life. With an increasing portion of the U.S. population living into the seventh, eighth, and ninth decades, the incidence of dementia is on the rise. So is the incidence of dementia research. In an effort to lighten the burdens on future patients and caregivers, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, and philanthropic organizations are devoting abundant resources to the study of dementia. Like most human endeavors, dementia research can yield both benefits and harms. On the positive side, research holds out the possibility of better medications and …

Thinking About Life-Sustaining Treatment Late In The Life Of A Demented Person, Thomas Finucane

Georgia Law Review

This paper will consider a specific clinical situation: an elderly patient with dementia who becomes seriously ill, where treatment would likely be burdensome but might prolong life. Generic questions are described and the lawyerly Standard Paradigm is developed. Questions are raised about every step of the Standard Paradigm. Finally, there is a discussion of two treatment decisions that are commonly faced late in the course of advanced dementia: tube feeding and attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Adapting Unitary Principles Of Professional Responsibility To Unique Practice Contexts: A Reflective Model For Resolving Ethical Dilemmas In Elder Law, Joseph A. Rosenberg

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Probate From The Ground Up, Oregon Law Institute, Shirley A. Bass, Stephen E. Kantor, Ron D. Bailey, Dean T. Sandow, Mark M. Williams, James R. Cartwright, Carolyn W. Miller, Richard A. Pagnano

Oregon Law Institute, 1998

Course Materials from the May 15, 1998 Program in Portland

Handling Claims For Minor And Disabled Plaintiffs: Coordinating All Aspects Of The Case, Oregon Law Institute, Elizabeth Welch, Robert P. Jones, Doug M. Fellows, Elden M. Rosenthal, Donna R. Meyer, Jack Meligan, Jane Paulson, Cynthia L. Barrett, Beth Gafur, Jude Mollgaard, Richard H. Mills, David Rollins

Oregon Law Institute, 1998

Course Materials from the April 10, 1998 Program in Portland

This Is Who Will Die When Doctors Are Allowed To Kill Their Patients, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 95 (1997), Michael Mcgonnigal

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Those Who Cannot Protect Themselves: Ethically Representing The Impaired Client, Oregon Law Institute, Stephen R. Moore, Jeffrey D. Shapiro, Steven Charles Smith, Susan M. Svetkey, Laurah Sebastian, Peter R. Jarvis

Oregon Law Institute, 1996

Course Materials from the December 6, 1996 Program in Portland

Protective Proceedings - New Realities: Changes To Guardianship And Conservatorship Law, Oregon Law Institute, Mark M. Williams, Jennifer L. Wright, Wesley D. Fitzwater, Carol J. Kyle, Penny L. Davis

Oregon Law Institute, 1995

Course Materials from the September 22, 1995 Program in Portland