Elder Financial Exploitation: What are the Laws, Claims, and Defenses?

AGENDA:

3:00 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.

Nuts and Bolts of Elder Financial Exploitation (1.0 MCLE Credit Areas of Professional Practice)

This Panel will cover the nuts and bolts of Elder Financial Exploitation (“EFE”), including both out-and-out scams (e.g., tech, romance, and imposter) and caregiver/POA/family financial exploitation. We will discuss the role of the state attorneys general, potential claims that victims can pursue, the interplay of the various competing sources of law (e.g., state EFE laws, FINRA Rules, SEC Rules, UCC, contracts), and typical defense strategies.

PANELISTS

• Elissa Germaine (Moderator) – Co-Chair of the Securities Disputes Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section; Associate Professor of Clinical Legal Education, Co-Director of Securities Arbitration Clinic; Faculty Director of Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution, St. John's University School of Law
• Melanie S. Cherdack: Associate Director, Investor Rights Clinic, University of Miami School of Law
• Shantelee Christie: Assistant Attorney General, Investor Protection Bureau, Office of the New York State Attorney General
• Howard A. Fischer: Co-Chair of the Securities Disputes Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section; Partner, Moses & Singer

4:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.

How to Prove your Elder Financial Exploitation Claim and Potential Defense Pitfalls (1.0 MCLE Credit Areas of Professional Practice)

This Panel will take a deeper dive into all brokerage firm back and front office lines of defense against EFE that could support a failure to supervise/failure to train cause of action, as well as typical defenses raised by financial institutions. A financial institution’s Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, Senior and Vulnerable Adult, and Suspicious Transaction departments may all play a role, as does training. We will also discuss permissible information sharing between financial institutions and reporting EFE to the state.

PANELISTS

• Jenice L. Malecki (Moderator: Chair of the Securities Arbitration Committee of the Commercial & Federal Litigation Section; Founding Partner, Malecki Law
• Jack Duval: Managing Partner, Accelerant LLC (Front Office Expert Witness) 
• Patricia Koetting, Koetting & Associates (Statistical Analyst Expert Witness)
• David F. MacNair, Managing Member, MacNair Consulting, LLC (Back Office Expert Witness)
• Dr. Stacey Wood (Forensic Expert on decisional capacity, testamentary capacity, elder abuse, trial competency, probate conservatorship, and undue influence)

5:00 p.m. – 5:50 p.m.

Ethics and the Elderly: Retainers, Powers of Attorney, and How to Avoid Elder Financial Exploitation (1.0 MCLE Credit Ethics and Professionalism)

This session will discuss retainers, how to arrange for family or friend assistance for elderly clients and potential pitfalls, and underlying power of attorney and trusts & estates issues in your case. We will also address best practices to avoid EFE.

PANELISTS 

• Yana Feldman: New York Legacy Lawyers by Yana Feldman & Associates, PLLC
• Additional speakers coming soon

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Reception and Networking