PBI's 11th Annual "Elder Law Institute"

On Thursday & Friday, July 24-25, 2008, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute will present its 11th Annual Elder Law Institute at the Hilton Hotel & Towers, in Harrisburg, PA.

An email message sent by PBI on June 9, 2008, promoted the 2008 Elder Law Institute:

After more than a decade in the making, the Elder Law Institute has distinguished itself as the best elder law conference around the country. The hundreds and hundreds who attend it each year give it rave reviews. * * *

The backbone of the Institute is the wide-reaching choice of workshops on the most timely and important elder law topics of 2008. You select the sessions that appeal to you most and that will help you to represent your clients better.

Recognizing the complexity of elder law practice, our curriculum helps to prepare you to handle all kinds of challenging elder law issues. In short, it's all covered! * * *

Our impressive faculty is drawn from both inside Pennsylvania as well as around the country. You won't find a better, more informed faculty anywhere.

The Pennsylvania elder law bar is known around the country for having some of the most forward-thinking and informed elder lawyers in the country. It is truly a faculty beyond compare! * * *

PBI's webpage regarding the 2008 Elder Law Institute lists faculty for the sessions:

Dana M. Breslin, Esq., CELA, Pappano & Breslin, Brookhaven

Prof. Lawrence A. Frolik, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh

Sally L. Schoffstall, Esq., Schoffstall & Focht, Orefield

Linda M. Anderson, Esq., CELA, Anderson Elder Law, Media

Mary Jane Barrett, Esq., CELA, Harkins and Harkins, Philadelphia

Thomas D. Begley, Jr., Esq., CELA, Begley & Bookbinder, PC, Moorestown, NJ

Steven G. Blum, Esq., Steven G. Blum & Associates, Swarthmore

Robert J. Breslin, Jr., Esq., Pappano & Breslin, Brookhaven

Henry A. Carpenter, II, Esq., CELA, Bucks County Elder Law LLC, Yardley

M. Francesca Chervenak, Esq., Managing Attorney, Pennsylvania Health Law Project, PIttsburgh

Robert Clofine, Esq., CELA, Law Office of Robert Clofine, York

Andrew A. Coates, Esq., Office of Legal Counsel, PA Department of Public Welfare, Philadelphia

Trisha E. Cowart, Esq., Elder Law/Consumer Protection, Carlisle

L. Christian DeDiana, Esq., CELA, DeBernardo, Antoniono, McCabe, Davis & DeDiana, P.C., Greensburg

Thomas J. Dempsey, Jr., Esq., Pittsburgh

J. Paul Dibert, Division Chief, Inheritance Tax Division, PA Dept. of Revenue, Harrisburg

Robert C. Gerhard, III, Esq., CELA, Gerhard & Gerhard Law Offices, Glenside

H. Amos Goodall, Jr., Esq., CELA, Goodall & Yurchak, PC, State College

Vicki Gottlich, JD, LLM, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Washington, DC

Julian E. Gray, Esq., CELA, Springer Bush & Perry, PC, Coraopolis

Carol Sikov Gross, Esq., CELA, Sikov & Love, PA, Pittsburgh

Martin J. Hagan, Esq., Law Firm of Martin J. Hagan LLC, Pittsburgh

Alissa Eden Halperin, Esq., Managing Attorney, Pennsylvania Health Law Project, Philadelphia

Marielle F. Hazen, Esq., CELA, Hazen Elder Law, Harrisburg

Kathleen D. Hendrickson, Esq., President, Achieva Family Trust, Pittsburgh

Thomas M. Lilly, J.D., CLU, Futurecare Associates Inc., Pittsburgh

Jeffrey A. Marshall, Esq., CELA, Marshall, Parker & Associates, LLC, Williamsport

Guy F. Matthews, Esq., Eckell Sparks Levy Auerbach Monte Rainer & Sloane, PC, Media

Dionysios C. Pappas, Esq., Vasiliadis & Associates, Bethlehem

Professor Katherine C. Pearson, Dickinson School of Law of the PA State University, Carlisle

Rene Reixach, Jr., Esq., Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP, Rochester, NY

Kemp C. Scales, Esq., CELA, Titusville

Jacqueline J. Shafer , Esq., High Swartz LLP, Norristown

Elizabeth W. Shapiro, Esq., Community Legal Services, Philadelphia

Thomas M. Snedden, Director, PACE & PACENET, Pennsylvania Department of Aging, Harrisburg

Julieanne Steinbacher, Steinbacher Law, P.C.

Steven L. Sugarman, Esq., Steven L. Sugarman & Associates, Berwyn

Andrew G. Sykes, Esq., Sykes Elder Law, LLC, Pittsburgh

Scott E. Townsley, Esq., Third Age, Inc., Exton

Vicky Ann Trimmer, Esq., Mette, Evans & Woodside, Harrisburg

Stanley M. Vasiliadis, Esq., CELA, Vasiliadis & Associates, Bethlehem

Bruce Vignery, Esq., AARP, Washington, DC

Pamela Walz, Esq., Elderly Law Project Community Legal Services, Philaldephia

Ellen R. Wase, Esq., Wase & Wase, Philadelphia

Richard P. Weishaupt, Esq., Community Legal Services, Philadelphia

Leslie Wizelman, Esq., CELA, Law Offices of Leslie Wizelman, Wyalusing

These astute, experienced presenters will teach on a variety of elder law topics:

• Year in Review
• Medicaid – The Basics
• Family Care Agreements – Basics & Tax Issues
• Medicare Parts A, B, C & Medigap
• Ins and Outs of "Over 55" Housing (in Community Associations)
• Medicare Appeals & New Hospital Discharge Rules
• Using Real Estate as a Planning Technique
• Nuts & Bolts of Administering Supplemental and Special Needs Trusts
• Medicaid – The Basics
• Pennsylvania’s New Assisted Living Law & Proposed Regulations
• Avoiding Medicaid Mistakes
• Long Term Care Insurance – Advising Your Clients on the Pros and Cons of the New Partnership Program
• CCRCs: Growth, Financial Stability & Accountability
• Stretching Income for Seniors
• Marital Medicaid Planning
• Ethical Dilemmas in Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity (ETHICS)
• Defending Nursing Home Claims
• Ethical Dilemmas in Representing Clients with Diminished Capacity (ETHICS)
• Tax-Smart Long Term Care Planning
• Clinical Eligibility for Home & Community Based Care
• Marital Medicaid Planning
• Medicaid – Calculating for Annuities, Monthly Income and Spend Down
• Paths to Prescription Coverage: Medicare Part D & PACE
• Victims & Abusers: Protecting Older Adults from Financial Exploitation, Including Abuse of Powers of Attorney (ETHICS)
• What Is Pennsylvania Doing Under the DRA? 2008 Update
• How to Obtain a Guardianship in Pennsylvania
• Getting a Handle on Variable Annuities
• Finding the Federal Courthouse & Staying There Once You Find It: Federal Court Litigation for the Elder Law Attorney
• Pharmacology 101 for Lawyers: Is Your Client Getting Quality Institutional Care?
• Utilizing Public Benefits in Special Needs Planning
• Common Substantive and Procedural Pitfalls in Elder Law Practice (ETHICS)
• Get a Fair Hearing at the Fair Hearing
• Orphans’ Court Update
• Social Security & SSI Basics
• Medicaid – Calculating for Annuities, Monthly Income and Spend Down
• Trimmer on Taxes: A 2008 Update on Taxes Affecting the Elderly
• Planning for Distribution of Special Needs Trusts Beyond the Life Care Plan
• Common Substantive and Procedural Pitfalls in Elder Law Practice (ETHICS)
• Nursing Home or Personal Care Home Admissions Contracts: Basic Information for Your Clients
• Tips for Preparing Error-Free Inheritance Tax Returns
• Deciding What to Do with IRAs: The Choices, Tax Consequences & Timing
• Gray(ing) Areas of Elder Law
• Veterans Benefits: An Introduction and Practical Guide to the Veterans Pension Program
• Life Insurance & Life Settlements

For the first time, the course materials prepared for the 2008 Elder Law Institute will be available on a fully-searchable CD-ROM, as an alternative to the standard printed books.

During the 2008 Elder Law Institute, supportive exhibitors or vendors will offer displays:

• Achieva Family Trust
• Comfort Keepers
• George T. Bisel Company
• Interactive Legal
• Keystone Guardianship Services
• Merrill Lynch
• Pennsylvania Care Management

PBI's 2008 Elder Law Institute is co-sponsored by the Elder Law Section, of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

That Section is dedicated -- as stated in one of its five mission strategies -- to "[p]romote the improvement of the practice of Elder Law through legal education and ethical guidelines." See: PA EE&F Law Blog posting PA Elder Law Section's "Strategic Plan" (04/28/08).

"Another triumph, my dear."
-- Bob Cratchit, commenting on his wife's plum pudding,
in the movie adaption of Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol" (1984)