Certification as an Elder Law Attorney is offered through The National Elder Law Foundation, “The Foundation,” a nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to the development and improvement of the professional competence of lawyers in elder law and to seek the recognition of the speciality by the judiciary and other members of the private bar. In 1993, The Board of Directors formed the Foundation of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. Attorneys have made voluntary applications for certification in this area since 1993. In February 1995, the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association approved The National Elder Law Foundation as the certifying entity for specialization in elder law.
Paul Mitchell was certified as an Elder Law Attorney1 as of May 1998. He was recertified again effective January 18, 2008 for another five years. He is one of nine lawyers certified by The Foundation in the private practice of law in the Denver Metropolitan Area.
According to the Foundation, “Elder Law” is the legal practice of counseling and representing older persons and their representatives about the legal aspects of:
- health and long term care planning
- public benefits, particularly Medicaid and Medicare
- the conservation, disposition and administration of older persons’ estates
- implementation of older persons’ decisions about their estates
- the tax consequences of estate planning decisions
- surrogate decision-making, such as acting as Agent or Guardian for another
- older persons’ legal capacity
In addition during their representation of older persons, certified attorneys must be able to recognize issues arising from:
- abuse, neglect or exploitation
- life, health and long term care insurance
- long term care
- employment
- ethical and professional conduct issues
- housing including Nursing Home Rights
- retirement
To be certified or recertified the applicant must pass an examination on all of the areas shown above. The applicant must be licensed and in good standing as an attorney and must have practiced in the area of elder law for five years or more. During the three years prior to the filing of an application, the Foundation requires that its applicants demonstrate that they have spent at least sixteen hours per week practicing elder law in each of the prior three years and have satisfied a “depth and breadth” requirement by identifying sixty elder law cases that the applicant has handled and that are distributed among the categories established by the Foundation. The applicant must demonstrate that he or she has met a Continuing Legal Education requirement. Finally, the applicant is subject to “Peer Review”: five attorneys, who meet the certification criteria and who are familiar with the applicant’s qualifications, must provide satisfactory written confidential evaluations to the Foundation.
In 1994, 3.5 million persons were 85 years of age or older: an increase of 274 percent from 1960! This population, the “oldest old,” will double by 2010. The need for legal expertise in this complex area will become greater each year. No doubt Colorado and the nation will see many more attorneys obtain this certification.
