Minutes of the Elder Law Section Council
Saturday, April 13, 2002
The Westin Hotel
St. Louis, MO
Presiding: Bill Cleaver
Present: Lee Beneze, Susan Dawson-Tibbits, John Erbes, John Foltz, Karl Menninger,
Dan Moore, Naomi Schuster and Marjan Staniec.
Absent: Stanley Balbach, Lionel Brazen, Tina Coffey, Janna Dutton, Thomas Giger,
Richard Hart, Dan Hawkins, George Johnson, Ford June, Lori Levin, Jamieson Long, Marc
Miller, Ed Mitchell, Mardyth Pollard, Connie Renzi, Sherri Rudy, Jay Rheingold, Larry Smith,
Ed Stanula and Rhoda Sweeney.
Others present: Mary Staniec
Mr. Steve Komie, candidate for Third Vice President arrived at 12:10
and remained for part of the meeting
- Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m. by the Chair, Bill Cleaver.
- Introduction: Due to the small number of members present, it was not necessary for them
to introduce themselves.
- Administrative Matters:
A. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the February 8, 2002 meeting with corrections
suggested by the Chair were resubmitted by the Secretary and distributed at the
beginning of the meeting. The resubmitted Minutes were reviewed. A motion
was made by Dan Moore to approve the resubmitted Minutes, the motion was
seconded by Lee Beneze, and the motion carried.
B. Roster Review: The Chair asked the members to contact Selina Thomas with any
necessary corrections.
- Newsletter: Co-editor, Karl Menninger indicated that Issue #3 of the Elder Law
Newsletter was sent this week and should be published in 4-6 weeks. Issue #4 has a
deadline of May 15, 2002, and Karl stated that if that deadline was met, the last issue
could be published and available for the Annual Meeting.
- Education: Susan Dawson-Tibbits indicated that a proposal was being completed for a
reenactment of the previous one presented at the Midyear Meeting to be scheduled in the
Fall in Collinsville. Karl advised that the CLE Committee would be meeting to look at
next year's proposals at the Annual Meeting, so the proposal needed to be submitted in
May. Naomi Schuster asked whether we should try to schedule a section council meeting
in conjunction with the program. There was concern as to whether a meeting downstate
in the St. Louis area would be well attended.
- Internet Liaison & Website Report: In the absence of George Johnson, there was no
report..
- Long Range Planning: Naomi Schuster expressed that with the Elder Rights publication,
the CLE Program and the legislative initiatives that the Council had more than enough
work Bill Cleaver produced a pamphlet he had received pertaining to National
Healthcare Decisions Week in October, 2002. The packet contains resource information
created by the ABA, AMA and Department of Health and Human Services. It was given
to Naomi Schuster. Bill also brought up a letter received from Susan Frances of the SIU
Law Journal staff regarding an Elder Law section to be written for the SIU Survey of
Illinois Law issue. The letter was given to Naomi. John Erbes agreed to discuss the
deadlines with Ms. Frances and get back to Naomi with that information.
- Legislation: The Chair reported that Dan Hawkins had talked to Tina Coffey about the
proposed legislative change in the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act to create a private cause
of action for reporters of elder abuse. Tina has sent a proposal for this legislation to Jim
Covington. The Chair also apprized those present of a fax from Mr. Covington pertaining
to proposed legislation for a private cause of action under the Nursing Home Care Act in
response to the Fisher v. Lexington case decided by the Illinois Supreme Court. This had
been sent to section councils for their input. The Council discussed what section councils
and groups would be interested in commenting on this proposal, and the Council thought
of the health care section, Ombudsmen and the Illinois Long Term Care Association.
Naomi commented that a similar rationale would apply to a legislatively created right of
action under the Elder Abuse and Neglect Act. She was given the consent of the Council
to submit such a proposal.
- Publications and Media Relations: Judge Staniec discussed his progress on obtaining
funding through LifeTimes, a group associated with Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the
Retirement Research Foundation for the republication of the pamphlet, Set Your Sights on
Elder Rights. Those two groups have agreed to commit up to $15,000 for the project.
There was discussion about a target publication date in the Fall of 2003, about
distribution of the pamphlet and possible cost. Naomi advised the Council of cost figures
she obtained from Isolde at ISBA. For 10,000 copies with 140 pages, the cost would be
$6,600 and with 144 pages it would be $8,200. Given those figures, Judge Staniec
recommended using BC/BS and RRF. There was also discussion concerning the
possibility of putting it on the Internet and whether the Illinois Bar Foundation or BC/BS
would be interested in funding for that. The Council granted authority to move forward
with the project, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors. Lee agreed to put
together a proposal and attempt to get the matter on the agenda for the Board's May
meeting.
- Old Business:
- Legislative Proposals regarding Advance Directives/Powers of Attorney: There
was discussion about ideas for possible legislation regarding amending the
Property Power of Attorney relating to Totten Trusts and a provision to permit
agents to act as agents for the principal's minor children. Also discussed was
increasing the monetary limit on Small Estate Affidavits. Dan Moore was very
interested in the Small Estate Affidavit provision and agreed to formulate a
proposal and send to Naomi and the Trusts & Estates Section Council.
B. Do Not Resuscitate Orders: No new legislation or information.
- Elder Abuse: Already discussed with regard to Legislation.
- Communications for Related Organizations: John Erbes reported on the
Guardianship Monitoring group that has been meeting for the past couple of
months discussing the possibility of a project to determine to what extent courts
are monitoring existing guardianship cases.
A. Amendment to Rule 5.5 (Exhibit C): the ISBA Standing Committee on Legal Education,
Admission and Competence has circulated commentary regarding proposed changes to
Rule 5.5 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct which would create certain "safe
harbors" of multi-jurisdictional practice. There was general discussion about the
proposed amendments. The Chair indicated his belief that the Council was not ready for
a formal statement and there was consensus for that position.
- Next Meeting: the next meeting has been scheduled for Friday, June 21st at 9:30. Naomi
agreed to work on a social event for Thursday evening.
- Adjournment: There being no further business, a motion was made and seconded and the
meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John F. Erbes
Secretary
Elder Law Section Council