Minutes of the Elder Law Section Council

Thursday, December 13, 2001

Chicago Sheraton Hotel

Presiding: Bill Cleaver

Present: Lee Beneze, Susan Dawson-Tibbits, John Erbes, John Foltz, Dan Hawkins, George Johnson, Ford June, Lori Levin, Jamieson Long, Karl Menninger, Marc Miller, Ed Mitchell, Dan Moore, Mardyth Pollard, Connie Renzi, Naomi Schuster, Marjan Staniec, Rhoda Sweeney.

Absent: Stanley Balbach, Lionel Brazen, Tina Coffey, Janna Dutton, Thomas Giger, Richard Hart, Jay Rheingold, Sherri Rudy, Larry Smith, Ed Stanula.

Others present: Selina Thomas, Staff Liason; Mary Staniec, guest; Bob Downs, candidate for ISBA Third Vice President; Russell Hartigan, candidate for ISBA Third Vice President (present for brief period during the meeting).

• Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m. by the Chair, Bill Cleaver.



• Introduction: The Chair asked the members present to introduce themselves.

Bob Downs and Russell Hartigan, candidates for Third Vice President of the ISBA were present at separate times for a brief period during the meeting to discuss their candidacy for ISBA Third Vice President.

• Administrative Matters:

A. Approval of Minutes: the Minutes of the September 21, 2001 Meeting were

reviewed. A motion was made by Dan Moore to approve the Minutes, it was seconded by Marc Miller, and the motion carried.

B. Roster Review: the Chair reminded those present at each meeting to review the

Roster of members and make any necessary corrections.

• Newsletter: Co-editor, Karl Menninger indicated that Issue #2 of the Elder Law Newsletter had been mailed earlier in the week to ISBA for printing, with a projected publication in January. He further reminded the Council that the next issue would have a deadline of March 15, 2002. The Chair commented on the Newsletter and commended the Council members for providing articles of substance for publication in the Newsletter.



• Education:



• December 14^th Program - Susan Dawson-Tibbits stated that the sections's CLE program at the Midyear Meeting was set for the following day, December 14^th, 9:00 - 4:00. The program, entitled "Planning in the 21^st Century for the Older Client" will be held in Ballroom 8. Selina Thomas indicated that 70 people were registered for the program
• Annual Meeting Proposal - Ms. Dawson-Tibbits indicated there would not likely be interest in doing a new program for the Annual Meeting. However, discussion was had concerning the possibility of doing a repeat of the Midyear program sometime during 2002 in Collinsville.



• Internet Liaison & Website Report: George Johnson stated that he was interested in receiving information that Council members believed would be meaningful on the website. Lori Levin mentioned that the ABA Commission on the Elderly had much useful information on its website as a link to our website. Lee Beneze provided information about Department of Aging links.



• Long Range Planning: Naomi Schuster indicated that there would be no separate LRP Report, but that several long range items would be discussed as part of today's Agenda. Naomi stated that the LRP Committee needed to meet before the Council's next meeting.



• Legislation: Dan Hawkins reported that there was no elder law legislation in the Fall. He would be gearing up for the Spring session. There was discussion about the Guardianship Reform legislation and an assumption that similar legislation would again be introduced in the Spring. K. Parker was the Senate sponsor of the legislation in 2001.

At this point in the meeting, Tom Speede, Director of the ISBA's CLE Committee came into the meeting and discussed his thoughts on the need for a CLE program focusing on current elder law issues, to be held in the St. Louis metro-east area. He suggested that such a program scheduled in the Fall of 2002 would likely be supported by the CLE Committee. There was general discussion about doing a program similar to the Midyear program in Collinsville.

• Publications and Media Relations: Jaime Long started discussion concerning the possible redraft of the pamphlet, Set Your Sights on Elder Rights, originally published in 1995. Judge Staniec indicated his willingness to proceed with the redraft project and sought direction from the Council on whether to move forward. He also provided information to the Council about his contacts with LifeTimes, a group associated with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, who had offered assistance with the art, writing and printing costs for a 2002 edition of the pamphlet. The Chair indicated that this pro-offered financial assistance provided an opportunity to the Council that we might want to utilize. Jaime stated that he felt this was a worthwhile project that the Council should probably proceed with. Lee Beneze indicated that he had checked into the possibility of using DOA Caregiver funding for the project, but it was not available for such a project. Dan Moore made a motion, seconded by Lee Beneze to proceed with pursing the republication of the Elder Rights Pamphlet. The Motion passed unanimously. Lee asked for a point of clarification regarding who the authors would be and whether the original authors would be contacted and provided an opportunity to rewrite their sections. It was indicated that previous discussions had implied that the original authors would be offered the opportunity first. It was agreed that the previous authors would be contacted first. If they declined, new authors would be sought.



• Old Business:

A. Legislative Proposals regarding Advance Directives/Powers of Attorney: Dan Moore indicated that the committee's view was that new legislation was not needed, rather there was a need for more knowledge on the part of the bar and the public concerning the implementation and use of the current legislative advance directives. There was a general discussion about guardianship reform and advance directives. Jaime discussed the recent Wingspan Guardianship Conference at Stetson University. Judge Staniec commented on the October Newsletter article concerning the rise in nursing home abuse, and questioned whether the ISBA should sponsor legislation to address this issue. There was also discussion about the Ombudsman program and the need for volunteers to visit nursing homes and family councils in nursing homes. The Chair asked Chet June to come back to the Council with any ideas for action.

B. Do Not Resuscitate Orders: No discussion.

• New Business



• Discussion on Future of the Courts (Exhibit E): The ISBA is hosting a Future of the Illinois Courts conference April 11-13, 2002. President Eaton has asked section councils to provide input regarding problems or need for change in the six substantive areas covered at the conference. Selina Thomas indicated that the President was seeking examples of what is needed. There was discussion concerning examples of problems for the elderly in attending and participating in court proceedings, as well as mechanisms for the review of judges. Susan Dawson-Tibbits informed the Council of the study already done by the ABA Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly. The Council discussed who would be attending this conference and the general effectiveness of a three day conference with such a set format. The Chair suggested that someone from the Council should attend.

• Operational Study (Exhibit F): The ISBA has obtained an organizational effectiveness study from the Center for Association Resources and created a Special Committee to Implement the Operational Study. The executive summary of the Study and the Special Committee's blueprint to implement the study were attached for the Council's review. The Chair suggested that this information be reviewed by the Council for its February meeting. Lee Beneze asked how the Elder Law Section's member numbers had been calculated, because from his review of Exhibit 3 of the Special Committee's blueprint, our numbers (approx. 700) were lower than what had been reported to us in the past (approx. 2000). Selina Thomas indicated that the 2,000 member number included "comped" or non-paying members, while the blueprint's numbers only included paid members. There was general discussion of the who and why of these "comped" members. Connie Renzi brought up the idea of inviting and urging non-council members of the section to attend meetings of the section council.





• Informational Items: Judge Staniec alerted the Council to the January 23, 2002 Program in Chicago on the government benefits, services and protections available to senior citizens. Speakers will include Lee Beneze, Kerry Peck, former CBA President and Dick Devine, Cook Co. States Attorney.

• Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Council was scheduled for February 8, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. in Chicago.



• Adjournment: There being no further business, a motion was made and seconded and the meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

John F. Erbes

Secretary

Elder Law Section Council