Sharing Our Memories: Anthony Enea
4.10.2026
In honor of our 150th anniversary, we asked longtime, involved members for their recollections of the New York State Bar Association.
Anthony Enea, past chair of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section, remembered the successful fight against a law that criminalized advising clients on transfers of assets to qualify for Medicaid, otherwise known as “Granny’s Lawyer Goes to Jail,” in the late 1990s.
“That was a big seminal moment for the association and the section where there were assertions being made and possible statutes presented that would have made engaging in Medicaid planning a crime. Federal law criminalized transferring assets for Medicaid eligibility. It was repealed in 1997. And then they tried to propose ‘Granny’s Lawyer Goes to Jail,’ which made it a crime to advise for a fee on asset transfers for Medicaid purposes.
“However, in 1998, it was deemed unconstitutional due to First Amendment free speech violations. So that was a very big moment for us.
“We fought back against it. We contacted our legislators. At the Elder Law Section, we’ve always been very proactive in working with lobbyists and the legislators involved in senior and special needs issues.
“There’s been a lot of times that we’ve been very active, but this was the one that stood out. First, it was ‘Granny Goes to Jail.’ Then, they wanted to make the person doing the planning a criminal, and then it was ‘Granny’s Lawyer Goes to Jail.’ So, it’s that whole period of time. We rose up as a section and members of the state bar and actively fought it.”
Do you have a special memory you want to share in honor of our 150th anniversary? Email rmelnitsky@nysba.org and your memory may be featured on our website.
