Event Overview
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Annual Meeting – Day 1
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
1:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
3.0 MCLE Credits
2.0 Areas of Professional Practice, 1.0 Ethics
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Annual Meeting – Day 2
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
2:30 p.m. – 6:05 p.m.
4.0 MCLE Credits
4.0 Areas of Professional Practice
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys including those newly admitted.
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Chair
Deepankar Mukerji, Esq.
Deepankar Mukerji PLLC
White Plains, NY
Program Co-Chairs
David R. Okrent, Esq.
CPA, The Law Offices of David R. Okrent
Dix Hills, NY
Lauren E. Sharkey, Esq.
Cioffi Slezak Wildgrube PC
Schenectady, NY
Gold Sponsors
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Annual Meeting – Day 1
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
1:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
3.0 MCLE Credits
2.0 Areas of Professional Practice, 1.0 Ethics
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys including those newly admitted.
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Chair
Deepankar Mukerji, Esq.
Deepankar Mukerji PLLC
White Plains, NY
Program Co-Chairs
David R. Okrent, Esq.
CPA, The Law Offices of David R. Okrent
Dix Hills, NY
Lauren E. Sharkey, Esq.
Cioffi Slezak Wildgrube PC
Schenectady, NY
1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Welcome Remarks, Business Meeting and Awards
Deepankar Mukerji, Esq., Chair Deepankar Mukerji PLLC, White Plains, NY Matthew J. Nolfo, Esq., Immediate Past Chair Matthew J. Nolfo & Associates, New York, NY David R. Okrent, Esq., Program Co-Chair The Law Offices of David R. Okrent, Huntington Station, NY Lauren E. Sharkey, Esq., Program Co-Chair Cioffi Slezak Wildgrube PC, Schenectady, NY
2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
Annual Elder Law Update
Review of significant changes of law and policy, as well as noteworthy cases and decisions rendered in 2021, as well practical pointers relating to the practice of Elder Law and Special Needs planning.
Speaker:
Fern J. Finkel, Esq. Finkel & Fernandez, LLP Brooklyn, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice2:50 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Break
3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.
An Ethics-focused Sprint through a Life and Death Long Attorney-Client Relationship
Speaker:
Alexis Gruttadauria, Esq. Tarter, Krinsky & Drogin LLP New York, NY 1.0 Credit in Ethics3:50 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Break
4:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.
Leaving IRA Benefits to Trusts for Disabled and Chronically Ill Persons and to Charitable Remainder Trusts under the SECURE Act
Speaker:
Bruce D. Steiner, Esq. Of Counsel Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. New York, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional PracticeElder Law and Special Needs Section Annual Meeting – Day 2
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
2:30 p.m. – 6:05 p.m.
4.0 MCLE Credits
4.0 Areas of Professional Practice
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys including those newly admitted.
Elder Law and Special Needs Section Chair
Deepankar Mukerji, Esq.
Deepankar Mukerji PLLC
White Plains, NY
Program Co-Chairs
David R. Okrent, Esq.
CPA, The Law Offices of David R. Okrent
Dix Hills, NY
Lauren E. Sharkey, Esq.
Cioffi Slezak Wildgrube PC
Schenectady, NY
2:30 p.m. – 2:35 p.m.
Welcome and Introduction
David R. Okrent, Esq. CPA, Program Co-Chair The Law Offices of David R. Okrent Dix Hills, NY Lauren E. Sharkey, Esq. Program Co-Chair Cioffi Slezak Wildgrube PC Schenectady, NY
2:35 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.
Update on the New Home Care Regulations – What is in Place and What is Coming
Speaker:
Valerie J. Bogart, Esq. New York Legal Assistance Group Evelyn Frank Resources Program New York, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice3:25 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Break
3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
Digital Assets Update and Planning Tools (Bitcoin, NFT, Blockchain, etc.)
Focusing on reviewing relevant statutory language, we will discuss recent cases addressing digital assets and cryptocurrency issues of which practitioners should be aware.
Speaker:
Robert M. Harper, Esq. Farrell Fritz, P.C. Uniondale, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice4:20 p.m. – 4:25 p.m.
Break
4:25 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Estate Taxes, Federal and New York: Current Issues for the Elder Law Practitioner
Panelists:
Martin S. Finn, Esq. Lavelle & Finn, LLP Latham, NY David R. Okrent, Esq., CPA The Law Offices of David R. Okrent Dix Hills, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice5:15 p.m. – 6:05 p.m.
The State of the Economy Amid the Ongoing Pandemic and What it Means for Overall Growth, Interest Rates and Monetary Policy and the Impact of Recent and Proposed Legislation
Speaker:
Lindsey M. Piegza, Ph.D., Managing Director and Chief Economist Stifel Financial, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. Chicago, IL Brian F. Gardner Chief Washington Policy Strategist Stifel Financial Washington, DCModerator:
David R. Okrent, Esq., CPA The Law Offices of David R. Okrent Dix Hills, NY 1.0 Credit in Areas of Professional Practice
Virtual Programming Pricing
Virtual Meeting General Registration Fee
$25
Required to attend any virtual CLE programs
+plus…
EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION (Before 12/31/21)
$140: Section Member | $170: NYSBA Member | $290: Non-NYSBA Member
REGULAR REGISTRATION (1/1/22 and after)
$190: Section Member | $230: NYSBA Member | $390: Non-NYSBA Member
Please note: The pricing provided reflects the total cost for attending the entire Annual Meeting program provided by the Section. During the registration process, you will be able to add each day/part of the program separately at a portion of the total rate, so your final cost will be reduced if you do not register for the full program.
Speakers coming soon!
Ira Salzman, Esq.
Goldfarb Abrandt Salzman, New York
Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Ira Salzman is the former Chair of the Elder Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and a Vice-Chair of the Section’s Guardianship Committee. He is a past Co-Chair of its Medicaid Committee and a past Co-Chair of its Legislation Committee.
He is a Fellow of the Brookdale Center on Aging. He is a former editor of the quarterly journal of the National Academy of Elder law Attorneys.
He has written articles for the quarterly journal of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Elder Law News (a publication of Little, Brown & Company), and for the Elder Law Attorney (published by the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association).
He is the former co-author of the Guardianship Section of the New York Lawyer’s Form Book (published by the New York State Bar Association).
He is the author of the chapter on the responsibilities of the attorney for an alleged incapacitated person in Guardianship Practice In New York (published by the New York State Bar Association). He prepared the original draft of the New York version of what ultimately became Article 83 of the Mental Hygiene Law.
Honorable Louis B. Gigliotti
Justice of the Surrogate's Court, Oneida County
Friend of the Section Award Winner
Judge Gigliotti has been serving as the Oneida County Surrogate since 2009. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gigliotti was in private practice for over 25 years handling a variety of civil litigation matters, including estate and trust litigation.
In addition to serving as Surrogate, Judge Gigliotti is designated an Acting Supreme Court Justice. In that capacity, he presides over the Oneida County Mental Hygiene calendar. This calendar includes guardianship petitions filed under Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law.
Judge Gigliotti is a Past-President of the Surrogates’ Association of New York State. In addition to being a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Elder and Special Needs Law section, he is also a member of the Trusts and Estates. He has been invited to speak at conferences sponsored by these sections on several occasions. He is also a Past-President of the Oneida County Bar Association and a former Member of the New York State Bar Association’s House of Delegates.
Judge Gigliotti is a graduate of the University of Buffalo Law School and is a summa cum laude graduate of the State University College at Oswego where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics.
Honorable Bernice D. Siegal
Justice of the Supreme Court, Queens County
Friend of the Section Award Winner
Allison Wick
Syracuse University School of Law Student
David Stapleton Scholarship Award Winner
My name is Allison Wick and I am from San Luis Obispo, California. I came to Central New York to study at the Syracuse University College of Law in 2020. Throughout law school, my passion to be an advocate and attorney for at-risk populations has been my biggest motivation to succeed. In the past two years, I have worked in a range of legal areas including Elder Law, Disability Law, and Mental Health Law. From these experiences, I have found that my professional goal is to advocate for and defend aging populations with legal issues. My involvement with the SU Elder & Health Law Clinic has offered me a meaningful place in the legal community to collaborate with other professionals and offer constructive legal guidance to seniors. As I progress in my career, I look forward to expanding my involvement with and advocacy for vulnerable populations in Central New York.
Samantha Bardwell
Joel K. Asarch Scholarship Award
Albany Law School Student
Samantha Bardwell has been passionate about elder law and special needs planning since she worked in nursing home Medicaid eligibility. She is continuing to foster that passion at Albany Law School and in internships at the school’s Health Law Clinic and the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.
