New Elder Law and Special Needs Section Chair Richard Marchese Jr.: Helping Lawyers Help Clients
6.10.2025
Richard Marchese Jr., the new chair of the New York State’s Bar Association’s Elder Law and Special Needs Section, aims to guide his fellow practitioners through the many challenges in the field.
“What stands out with our section is the passion of our members for the work they do,” Marchese said. “And what we do is very personal. It can be very emotional, and the Medicaid work is very complicated. It’s like navigating through the tax code. So, it’s wonderful that we have people who are willing to present on complicated issues at our meetings.”
Marchese is a partner at Woods Oviatt Gilman in Rochester. His practice focuses on Medicaid and Estate planning, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid eligibility and recovery matters, asset protection, issues of spousal support, and the use of trusts in Medicaid planning.
The work of Elder Law and Special Needs can take its emotional toll, as practitioners aid clients with personal difficulties. Marchese discussed raising awareness and developing support to help attorneys who are stressed by the emotional components of their work.
“We get involved with families in crisis,” he said. “Whether they have developmentally disabled kids who need to be placed right away or need a trust, or whether it’s nursing home residents who are transitioning back to the community or from the community to a nursing home. I tell people, my weeks are filled with crying daughters and spouses.”
In addition, Marchese anticipates that attorneys will need guidance due to cuts to services, including Medicaid, in the current administration’s proposed budget.
“It’s going to be very impactful for the clients that that we service,” he said. “We don’t know how that’s going to shake out yet, but from what we’ve been told, it’s going to be very, very severe. So it’s going to be a challenging year to try to deal with the impact of budget cuts and what that means for the services that our clients receive through Medicaid.”
Marchese would also like to increase diversity in the section – including racial, geographic, socioeconomic, and age diversity.
Overall, Marchese is looking forward to bringing his fellow Elder Law and Special Needs lawyers together for networking and brainstorming, including at the section’s upcoming Summer Meeting in Baltimore and Fall Meeting in Lake Placid.
“It’s just a very rewarding experience – not only with NYSBA – but in particular with the Elder Law and Special Needs Section,” Marchese said. “It’s all been very good.”
