A Guide to Elder Law Practice is designed to help the attorney—whether fresh from law school or a seasoned practitioner in another field—to understand what is involved in the practice of elder law: the wide range of legal disciplines, plus the unique client base. The author’s goal is to provide those attorneys who are contemplating entering elder law practice (or adding elder law to their existing practice) with a better idea of the situations they will encounter, the venues in which they will operate, and the sources of the law and regulations that will be pertinent to their practices.
A Guide to Elder Law Practice offers guidance in dealing with elderly clients and making accommodations for possible impediments to hearing, sight and comprehension. It describes the areas of law that can be encountered in an elder law practice, and discusses the ethical issues likely to arise. It includes a discussion of how to set up and maintain a law practice, with a focus on the elements that are unique to elder law. It concludes with advice on marketing the practice, getting new clients, and retaining the existing clients by providing excellent service and assuring a positive experience.
CHAPTER 1: THE FUTURE OF ELDER LAW PRACTICE
1.01 Demographic Trends: Challenges and Opportunities
1.02 Long-Term Care for the Elderly: Need and Cost Analysis
1.03 Why Specialize in Elder Law?
CHAPTER 2: REPRESENTING ELDERS
2.01 Physical and Mental Characteristics of the Elderly
2.02 Caregiving and Caregivers
2.03 Ethical Issues: Client Identification, Conflicts of Interest, Confidentiality, and Capacity
2.04 Practice Issues When Representing Elders
CHAPTER 3: BECOMING AN ELDER LAW ATTORNEY
3.01 What is Elder Law?
3.02 How To Become an Elder Law Attorney
3.03 How To Learn Elder Law
CHAPTER 4: WHAT DO ELDER LAW ATTORNEYS DO?
4.01 Helping the Elder to Plan
4.02 Meeting the Elder's Need for Surrogate
Decision-Making and Asset Management
4.03 Meeting the Elder's Need for Income
4.04 Meeting the Elder's Need for Health Care and Long-Term Care
4.05 Meeting the Elder's Need for Housing and Community Services
4.06 Planning for Wealth Transfer at Death
4.07 Models of Elder Law Practice
4.08 Medicaid Asset Protection Planning
4.09 Special Needs Trusts, Third-Party Trusts, and Trust Administration
4.10 Alternative Dispute Resolution
4.11 Guardianship/Conservatorship Litigation
4.12 Health Care Advocacy and Litigation
4.13 Elder Abuse Litigation
4.14 Nursing Home Litigation
4.15 Ancillary Services and Multidisciplinary Practice
4.16 Life Care Planning and Elder-Centered Law Practice
4.17 Insurance, Real Estate, and Financial Services
CHAPTER 5: SETTING UP AND MANAGING AN ELDER LAW PRACTICE
5.01 The New Elder Law Practice
5.02 Staffing the Office
5.03 Executing the Business Plan
5.04 Model for Improvement
5.05 Technology: Office Automation, Hardware, and Software
5.06 Setting and Collecting Fees
5.07 Office Systems
5.08 Files and File Retention
5.09 Death, Disability, and Disaster
CHAPTER 6: GETTING AND KEEPING CLIENTS
6.01 The Business of an Elder Law Practice
6.02 Public Relations and Marketing
6.03 Self-Assessment
6.04 Outside Factors
6.05 Marketing Oneself
6.06 Advertising
6.07 Internet
6.08 Presentations and Seminars
6.09 Newsletters
6.10 Referrals and Other Sources
6.11 Community Activities
6.12 Keeping Clients: Great Client Service
APPENDIX I RECOMMENDED READING
APPENDIX II ELDER LAW RESOURCES
INDEX
Takacs, Timothy L.
Timothy L. Takacs is certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation and as a Certified Elder Law Specialist by the Tennessee Commission on CLE and Specialization. He has been in private law practice in Hendersonville, Tennessee, since 1980.
Mr. Takacs has been a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the nation's preeminent professional organization for elder law attorneys, since 1991, and serves on NAELA's board of directors. He is a charter member of the Special Needs Alliance, LLC, a network of the country's leading disability lawyers. In 2000, he founded The Tennessee Pooled Trust, which is Tennessee's first ¿pooled trust.¿ Mr. Takacs is a charter member and the first chairperson of the Tennessee Bar Association's Elder Law Section.
Mr. Takacs writes for and gives presentations regularly to attorneys and other professionals about elder law. He is the founder of The NAELA eBulletin, a weekly newsletter of current news and cases that is published by the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys as a benefit exclusively for NAELA members. He is the author of Elder Law Practice in Tennessee, a treatise for Tennessee attorneys, published by LexisNexis.
He also speaks frequently to support groups, seniors' organizations, and health care professionals. He makes frequent appearances in local media and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger's magazine.
Mr. Takacs is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Vanderbilt University School of Law.
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