Conference Highlights

The conference includes topics of interest and legislative updates for lawyers, social workers, students, academicians, and those interested in elder care issues. The morning session begins with a presentation on Predatory Lending Issues Affecting the Elderly by Amanda Glover Evans, Esq., who is the Director of the NMRLS Mississippi Taxpayer Assistance Project, a Low Income Taxpayer Assistance Project (LITC). This session provides information on current consumer scams targeting the elderly, including identity theft, payday lending, tax rebate scams, housing scams, and other important information. Next will be a presentation on The Vulnerable Persons Act Update: The Roles of Adult Protective Services and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Edna C. Clark, Program Administrator Senior, MDHS/Division of Aging and Adult Services, will present on the role of Adult Protective Services, and Treasure R. Tyson, Esq., Special Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Mississippi Attorney General, will present on the Role of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. This topic will include a discussion of the Mississippi Vulnerable Persons Act, responsibilities of caregivers, reporting requirements, and the responsibilities of Adult Protective Services and the Office of the Attorney General. The next session, Update on Health Care Reform: Nailing Jell-O to a Tree, will be presented by Richard A. Courtney, Esq., CELA. Mr. Courtney practices with the Jackson law firm of Frascogna Courtney, PLLC. He is a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the ABA-accredited National Elder Law Foundation. His practice is limited to elder law, estate planning, trusts and trust administration, special needs planning for persons with disabilities, nursing home and disability rights, guardianship, and probate related litigation.

All conferees are invited to a luncheon on the first floor of the Law Center in Room 1115.

The first session after lunch will be a presentation on "The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing; How can We Protect Elderly Wards in Mississippi Conservatorships? The Panelists include Barry K. Jones, Esq., LL.M. in Taxation, C.P.A., and Accredited Estate Planner, who practices with the Jackson, Mississippi law firm of Wise Carter Child and Caraway in the areas of estate planning, health law, and elder law; David L. Calder, Visiting Professor and Supervising Professor of the Guardian Ad Litem Clinic at the University of Mississippi School of Law; Catherine V. Kilgore, Esq., Elder Law Project Director at North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, and Judge Edwin H. Roberts, Jr., Eighteenth Chancery District of Mississippi. The next session will be A Safe and Decent Home: Practical Problem-Solving for Low Income Renters, by Desiree Hensley, Assistant Professor, Director of The Civil Legal Clinic, and Supervising Professor of the Low Income Housing Section at the University of Mississippi School of Law and Carol Gish, Esq., Housing/Fair Housing Director, West Tennessee Legal Services. The afternoon session will end with a session on Ethics: The Lawyer’s and the Social Worker’s Roles Related to End of Life Decisions by Tom Freeland, Esq. and Joyce Freeland, Esq., who have a general practice in Oxford, Mississippi with the Freeland and Freeland Law Firm.

Back to Conference Page