PROGRAM OVERVIEW

In the Elder Law Clinic (ELC), interns represent clients and often their families, grappling with a variety of legal issues and problems related to aging and incapacity. We work primarily in the areas of adult guardianships, estate and incapacity planning, and government benefits. Interns examine the theory, doctrine and practice of elder law, and develop the skills necessary to provide high quality representation focused on understanding and responding to the client’s goals and wishes. Legal interns appear in court on adult guardianship and estate administration cases, develop expertise in planning and drafting, and work with community groups on legal education and advocacy activities related to law and aging issues.

Highlights of the Elder Law Clinic

• Serving as Court Evaluator and representing parties in Adult Guardianship proceedings in Supreme Court
• Representing clients by drafting wills, trusts, and advance directives
• Counseling clients about government benefits, including Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security
• Representing clients in Surrogate’s Court proceedings involving probate of wills and administration of estates
• Working together in a supportive and challenging atmosphere focused on creating a positive learning experience for each intern and developing the necessary legal skills and knowledge to enter practice

TYPICAL STUDENT PRACTICE

Our Adult Guardianship Court Evaluator cases usually begin with a telephone call or fax from the chambers of the appointing judge. These cases typically involve a person who is indigent and alleged to be incapacitated, so that the petitioner believes it is necessary to appoint a guardian. The Court Evaluator serves as the "eyes and ears" of the court, and plays a pivotal role in the proceeding. Interns conduct a thorough investigation, interview interested parties, communicate with the judge and attorneys for the parties, analyze legal and non-legal issues, write a report with recommendations, and testify at the hearing.

Interns who worked on recent Court Evaluator cases accomplished the following:

• Discovered that an elderly woman had been neglected by her closest relative, prevented him from being appointed her guardian, and facilitated her discharge back to her home community
• Demonstrated that a middle aged man with a substance abuse problem did not need a guardian, which caused the hospital in which he was confined to withdraw the petition
• Reconstructed the identity and history of an elderly man who had checked into a hospital with no memory, thus enabling the court to create a guardianship and plan of care responsive to his unique needs

Working with clients on estate planning is an example of preventive law practice which involves intensive counseling and drafting of documents designed to prevent litigation and future problems. An elderly couple called our office to say they wanted to provide for an adult child who was receiving government disability benefits. The couple’s circumstances made their case extremely complex, including such issues as major health problems, potential need for long term care, ownership of a small cooperative apartment, and their child’s special needs. The legal intern had numerous counseling sessions with the clients on the complex maze of laws governing estate planning, Medicaid eligibility and estate recovery, and supplemental needs trusts. Together, the intern and clients created an estate plan with wills, advance directives, supplemental needs trusts, and arrangements for future contingencies, which was so responsive to their needs that they told the intern that she had "saved their lives."

Interns also work on a variety of projects designed to have an impact on the problems of our clients beyond what may be possible through representing an individual client. The following are examples of current and past projects:

• Educating and counseling seniors about their options under the Medicare prescription drug benefits
• Working with Queens Legal Services for the Elderly on cases involving elder abuse, Medicaid home care, and consumer fraud
• Examining how ethnicity, race, and culture impacts attitudes about health care decisions
• Identifying areas for reform in adult guardianships under Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law
• Participating in legislative advocacy to enact a statute authorizing supplemental needs trusts which protect government benefits eligibility for people with disabilities
• Making community education presentations at senior centers on Medicaid, estate planning, and advance directives
• Advising and counseling Caregiver Support Groups at an Alzheimer’s Disease day care facility

EMERGING AREAS OF PRACTICE

Elder Law is a rapidly evolving area of practice. Although many of our clients are older adults, our case and project work is based on legal issues, rather than the chronological age of our clients. As a result, we do not limit representation to people over a certain age, but represent individuals and their families with legal issues related to aging, incapacity and mortality.

CLASSROOM COMPONENT

We integrate theory, doctrine, and practice by studying the nature of aging and incapacity, adult guardianships, wills, trusts, advance directives, estate planning, government benefits, and the interplay among these different areas. We examine the role of lawyers and the legal system in responding to legal issues facing older adults, people with decision making incapacity, and their families. Although interns learn lawyering skills and substantive law in the elder law practice context, most of the skills and knowledge they gain are transferable to other legal practice contexts.

CLINIC GRADUATES

Interns from the Elder Law Clinic are prepared for elder law practice, and often apply their clinic experience in family law and general community-based practices. Our graduates work in government and non-governmental organizations, solo practice, small firm practice and legal services. Click here for more information about the work of Elder Law Clinic graduates.

SOCIAL JUSTICE MISSION

Our clinic graduates lawyers with professional values and skills that encourage client autonomy, empowerment and dignity. We connect our case work and projects to a wider network of professionals and organizations in order to make a broader contribution and be culturally competent practitioners.