CLE Institute Addresses Issues Impacting Seniors During the Pandemic
August 28, 2020
On September 10 the D.C. Bar CLE Program will host the virtual Aging and the Law Institute, a must for conservators, guardians, and attorneys protecting the interests of the elderly. The daylong event will cover a wide range of topics affecting aging Americans, from estate planning and best financial practices to diminished capacity, with a timely focus on the impact of COVID-19.
Americans age 65 and older are projected to make up a fifth of the country’s population by 2030, and this program will look at the legal challenges facing the elderly as well as the resources available to attorneys working with the aging community.
Featuring a keynote speech by D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine, the event will open with a morning plenary session on the aging legal profession, where panelists will discuss cognitive and physical conditions, ethics pitfalls, and effective interventions and resources.
The session “Housing in the Age of COVID-19” will highlight efforts of the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly in the housing arena. Panelists will discuss eviction and foreclosure issues, strategies for protecting the elderly from exploitation by scammers and discriminatory landlords, and other challenges faced by seniors during the pandemic. Speakers include Jennifer Berger, who enforces much of the District’s recent COVID regulation in her role as chief supervisory attorney for the Social Justice Section of OAG’s Public Advocacy Division.
Berger says the session will help practitioners keep abreast of the issues that are likely to impact elderly clients in the coming months, including an anticipated surge in evictions and foreclosures. “We’re going to talk about the work that we have been doing to protect tenants and homeowners relating to the effects of COVID-19, and also about the work that we’re doing to protect against a potential onslaught as the courts reopen again,” Berger says.
Attendees will have an early look at these preparations and find out how they can ensure their clients are best positioned to access the protections available under the law. Berger also invites participants to share their experiences, which can impact the OAG’s policy efforts in this sphere.
“We want to get feedback from the community as far as what would be helpful legislatively. It’s very timely because on September 14, city council is holding a hearing at noon relating to the eviction issue and the moratorium,” Berger says,
Attendees can also play a valuable role in protecting the interests of the elderly. “The population that can most benefit from the information is the hardest to reach, and the [CLE Institute] audience is the key to accessing that population,” Berger says. “We’re really happy to have an opportunity to do something productive about a situation that feels very disempowering.”
Housing isn’t the only problem facing District seniors. The session “Adjusting Your Practice and Working With Older Clients During the Public Health Emergency” will cover best practices for law firms and practitioners seeking to overcome the new challenges and communication barriers raised by the pandemic, including access to technology. Panelists will provide strategies to improve representation and help reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on seniors.
In recent years, the local government has taken significant actions to ensure a greater degree of protection for the elderly, says Amy Mix, chief of the Elder Justice Section of OAG’s Public Interest Division and one of the planning committee members behind this year’s Aging and the Law Institute. Mix holds a position created just a year ago by OAG specifically to address the financial exploitation and abuse of seniors.
Among the highlights of this year’s institute is the presentation “Financial Capacity and Undue Influence in Civil Cases Involving Older Adults” by neuropsychologist Daniel Marson. Mix says Marson’s talk is particularly timely because the District only recently introduced a financial exploitation statute that includes an undue influence provision.
“It’s going to be a chance to hear an expert teach us all what financial exploitation and abuse means and what to look for as practitioners,” Mix says. The dissemination of information relating to financial exploitation is critical to the protection of our elders, she adds. “For every case of financial exploitation that’s reported, 43 never come to light.”
These efforts are particularly important during the current health crisis. “We have concerns that there is more abuse and exploitation that’s occurring because people aren’t coming into contact with the regular reporters like social workers, bankers, or doctors. We also know that isolation is a key component to exploitation,” Mix says. Attorneys armed with an awareness of signs of financial exploitation and knowledge of the available legal protections can better protect their elderly clients and wards.
Register now for the 2020 Aging and the Law Institute. Get a $20 discount when you register by August 31.
