SCHILLER DUCANTO & FLECK FAMILY LAW CENTER
ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: THE CURRENT STATE OF ELDER LAW OCTOBER 12, 2020
THE CURRENT STATE OF ELDER LAW AGENDA
9:00-10:00: Fundamentals of Elder Law and its Intersection with Family Law • Professor Rebecca C. Morgan, Stetson University College of Law • Anita Ventrelli, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, LLP Learn the fundamentals of elder law from two leading experts, including how elder and family law intersect, in order to best counsel clients and family members facing legal issues. 10:00-11:00: Advance Directives & Guardianships • Brandon E. Peck, Peck Ritchey, LLC • Kerry R. Peck, Peck Ritchey, LLC Learn the difference between advance directives and guardianships; how to know if either choice is right under certain circumstances; what to look out for when working with clients who are seeking advance directives and guardianships; and the questions to ask clients when discussing advance directives and guardianships. 11:00-11:15: Break 11:15-12:15: Societal and Family Transformations as a Result of Caregiving • Wendy Shparago Cappelletto, Office of the Cook County Public Guardian • Professor Richard L. Kaplan, University of Illinois College of Law How caregiving is implemented impacts society and families with respect to time, finances and social status. This panel will provide practical tools to help parents age at home, specifically with respect to funding caregivers for seniors with or without assets through public benefits such as Medicaid or Social Security. 12:15-1:15: Physician Aid-in-Dying: The Legal Landscape and Ethical Considerations • Amy Sherman, Compassion & Choices • Eric Parker, Stotis & Baird Chartered Panelists will discuss the legal, ethical and practical issues in end-of-life choices, as well as the current landscape on this controversial issue in Illinois and nationwide.
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1:15-1:30:
Break
1:30-2:30: Case Law Updates • Professor Rebecca C. Morgan, Stetson University College of Law Professor Morgan will highlight important recent elder law cases nationwide, as well as new and pending statutory or regulatory changes. 2:30-3:30: Proud to Thrive - LGBT Seniors • Elisabeth Hieber, Center for Disability & Elder Law LGBT seniors face the same issues faced by every other senior. This session will discuss how to assist LGBT elders with culturally responsive spaces to access and discuss information about common legal issues. It will also cover LGBT elder cultural responsiveness and The Proud to Thrive Project, which includes mobile legal clinics for LGBT elders at LGBT-affirming organizations. 3:30-3:45: Break 3:45-4:45: Protecting Against Financial Exploitation • Charles P. Golbert, Office of the Cook County Public Guardian Mr. Golbert will discuss how to protect vulnerable seniors from financial exploitation using state and federal law--including common scams, red flags that a senior is being abused, financial industry responsiveness to financial abuse, and effective ways to assist seniors who are being financially exploited. DePaul University College of Law is an accredited Illinois MCLE provider. This program has been approved for 7 hours of CLE credit, which includes 1 hour of diversity and inclusion credit for the 2:30 p.m. panel discussion.
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SPEAKERS Wendy Shparago Cappelletto Office of the Cook County Public Guardian
Wendy Shparago Cappelletto is the director of policy and benefits at the Office of the Public Guardian of Cook County, Adult Guardianship Division. Prior to joining the Public Guardian in 1998, she was a staff attorney at Prairie State Legal Services, Inc. Cappelletto is the current president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) and a member of NAELA’s Guardianship/Conservatorship Section Steering Committee and the Council of Advance Practitioners. She currently serves as a NAELA representative to the National Guardianship Network and previously served as a NAELA delegate at the Third National Guardianship Summit. Cappelletto also served as the NAELA observer on the Uniform Law Commission Drafting Committee for the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Other Protective Arrangements Act. She is a two-time, past president of the Illinois Chapter of NAELA and currently serves on the Illinois Chapter Legislative Committee.
Charles P. Golbert
Office of the Cook County Public Guardian
Charles P. Golbert is the Cook County Public Guardian. His office serves as guardian for 700, mostly elderly individuals with disabilities, and manages $100 million of estate assets. A 28-year veteran of the office, Golbert has litigated and supervised complex and high-profile cases in every area of the Office. Before his appointment as Public Guardian, Golbert served as a trial attorney in the Juvenile Division, as a supervising attorney in the Special Litigation Division, as the head of the Appeals Division, and as the Deputy Public Guardian and director of the Adult Guardianship Division. In the state and federal courts and appellate courts, he has represented thousands of children and people with disabilities in a wide variety of matters including juvenile court abuse and neglect proceedings; diverse issues in probate and domestic relations proceedings; federal civil rights actions; institutional reform class action litigation;
policy and legislative matters; money damages lawsuits on behalf of children harmed in foster care; and complex financial exploitation recovery litigation. Prior to joining the Public Guardian’s Office, Golbert was a litigation attorney at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. A prolific writer, Golbert has authored or coauthored 15 published law journal articles, a book chapter, and dozens of essays, op-eds and book reviews. One of his articles won a national award for writing in elder law. He has served as articles editor, executive editor, and editor-in-chief of the of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) journal. He has received many awards for his advocacy on behalf of children and people with disabilities and has held leadership positions in numerous local and national bar and professional organizations such as the Chicago Bar Association, NAELA and the National Guardianship Association.
Elisabeth Hieber
Center for Disability & Elder Law
Elisabeth Hieber is an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by PepsiCo, Inc. Hieber established Proud to Thrive, a program that provides legal services and outreach for LGBT elders in a variety of civil legal issue areas. Hieber also implements Proud to Thrive’s mobile legal clinics and power of attorney workshops for LGBT elders at LGBT-affirming locations, and provides LGBT elder cultural responsiveness training to legal professionals. Hieber attended the University of Cincinnati and received their undergraduate degree in Political Science with Honors in 2014. Hieber received their JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law with a certificate in Public Interest Law and the Dean’s Distinguished Public Service Award.
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Professor Richard L. Kaplan University of Illinois College of Law
Richard L. Kaplan is the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, specializing in federal income taxation and policy and elder law. In addition to numerous books and articles involving taxation and tax policy, Professor Kaplan is the co-author of Elder L aw in a Nutshell (7th ed., Thomas/West 2019), as well as articles on various elder law topics, including Social Security, Medicare, long-term care financing and retirement funding. He has served as the faculty advisor to The Elder Law Journal, the oldest scholarly publication devoted to this subject, since the publication’s creation in 1992. Professor Kaplan was a congressionally designated delegate to the National Summit on Retirement Savings and is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Professor Rebecca C. Morgan Stetson University College of Law
Rebecca C. Morgan is the Boston Asset Management Chair in Elder Law at Stetson University College of Law where she teaches a variety of elder law courses. Professor Morgan is a member of the elder law editorial board for Matthew Bender and the successor co-author of Matthew Bender’s Tax, Estate and Financial Planning for the Elderly (Lexis). She also is a co-author of Representing the Elderly in Florida (Lexis); The Fundamentals of Special Needs Trusts (Lexis); Ethics in an Elder L aw Practice (ABA); Planning for Disability (Bloomberg BNA Portfolio); Elder L aw in Context (Aspen); and Bankruptcy in Context (forthcoming Aspen). Professor Morgan also has authored a number of articles on a variety of elder law issues and has spoken a number of times on elder law subjects. She is the co-editor of the Elder Law Prof Blog (with Katherine Pearson, Penn State).
Professor Morgan is a past president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), past president of the board of directors of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, past chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Aging and the Law and of the Florida Bar Elder Law Section, and on the faculty of the National Judicial College. She served as the reporter for the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act, and she served on the Florida Attorney General’s Task Force on Elder Abuse and the Florida Legislative Guardianship Study Commission. She is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), academic advisory board for the Borchard Center for Law and Aging, an academic fellow of the American College of Trusts & Estates Counsel, a NAELA fellow and a member of NAELA’s Council of Advanced Practitioners (chair 2012-2014). After a term on the board of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, she became a special advisor to the ABA Commission on Law and Aging. She also is a member of the board of directors for the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
Eric Parker
Stotis & Baird Chartered
Eric Parker is a partner at the law firm of Stotis & Baird Chartered, where he has practiced for the past 20 years. Parker focuses on representing individuals in elder law, litigation and probate matters and enjoys helping seniors maintain their independence and protecting their rights. He helps aging clients with preparing wills, trusts and powers of attorney. He also works with families on guardianship and estate administration matters in Cook County. Parker regularly publishes and speaks to lawyers and the public on issues facing the elderly. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Parker has been named to the list of Illinois Super Lawyers each year since 2014. In recent years, Parker has volunteered with Compassion & Choices, advocating for the passage of a medical aid in dying law in the State of Illinois.
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Brandon E. Peck Peck Ritchey, LLC
Brandon E. Peck is a partner with Peck Ritchey, LLC, where he represents individuals, families, financial and medical institutions. Peck’s practice concentrates in the areas of trusts, estates, and guardianship litigation and administration. He advises fiduciaries charged with the administration of estates and trusts and guides them through the probate process. Peck routinely represents parties in contested guardianships including minors and disabled adults. He also lectures frequently in the areas of trust and estate litigation, guardianships, special needs and estate planning, including at the Chicago Bar Association and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, as well as at numerous hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and community organizations. For five consecutive years, Peck has been selected by his peers in multiple statewide surveys of Illinois attorneys as a “Super Lawyer,” an attorney to whom other attorneys would refer their family. From 20152018, he also has been selected by Leading Lawyers Magazine as a top emerging lawyer in elder law, trust, will and estate planning. He also was a contributor to the book Alzheimer’s and the L aw, which was published by the American Bar Association.
Kerry R. Peck
Peck Ritchey, LLC
Kerry R. Peck is the managing partner of Peck Ritchey, LLC. His clients include families, hospitals, banks, the State of Illinois, County of Cook and City of Chicago. Peck was retained by the City of Chicago Department of Aging to rewrite the State of Illinois Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, and he coauthored the book Alzheimer’s and the L aw published by the American Bar Association. Peck also has written articles for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Chicago Bar Association Record, Illinois State Bar Journal, and various other bar association publications. He frequently teaches attorneys and healthcare professionals across the country. He has extensive experience in advising individuals and banks charged with the administration of estates and trusts; guiding fiduciaries through the probate process, including appearing in court; assisting in the transfer of assets and resolution of claims; and the implementation of decedent’s estate plans. He vigorously represents all parties in will contests and contested guardianships, including minors and disabled adults. In addition, Peck assists families with planning for disabled children or other family members who are, or are likely to become, disabled and require special protection.
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Amy Sherman
Compassion & Choices
As the Midwest regional campaign manager for Compassion & Choices, a national non-profit organization, Amy Sherman is an advocate for expanding end of life options and empowering people to take charge of their own journeys. Sherman is leading a statewide coalition in Illinois, in partnership with Final Options Illinois and the ACLU-IL, and oversees activities in several other Midwestern states. Over the course of her career, Sherman has led national and state policy initiatives and provided technical assistance to government, business and institutions on a variety of issues, including adult learning and workforce development. Sherman earned her JD from Northwestern University School of Law and previously practiced in the area of employment law. Sherman also served as a dean of students at Northwestern. Prior to her legal career, she managed emergency services at the University of Illinois Hospital and the emergency services house staff program at Cook County Hospital. These experiences led her to develop a passion for patient-centered and compassionate approaches to health care.
Anita Ventrelli
Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, LLP
Anita Ventrelli is a senior partner at Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, LLP, the largest family law firm in the U.S. Ventrelli’s passion lies in working with people to improve their lives, and not just by representing them in legal proceedings. Ventrelli uses what she has learned in her 30 years of family law practice to raise consciousness to the short- and long-term effects of decisions people often make without her advice that can negatively affect their businesses, investments and other important life choices, as many realize too late that those decisions have unexpected downstream consequences. No matter what questions Ventrelli answers for her clients, her joy comes from helping people avoid regrets. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan and received her JD from DePaul. She currently serves on the board of the ABA/ NITA Trial Advocacy Institute, as a Family Law Section delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, on the board of the Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center at DePaul, and on the executive committee that governs her firm. She has been consistently named in the Best Lawyers in America, Illinois Super Lawyers, the Leading Attorneys Network, and other “top” lists in various publications. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and in 2019, DePaul College of Law selected her as their outstanding law school alumnae.
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