Sharing Our Memories: David Goldfarb
2.20.2026
In honor of our 150th anniversary, we asked longtime, involved members for their recollections of the New York State Bar Association.
David Goldfarb, past chair of the Elder Law and Special Needs Section, recalled the New York State Bar Association’s victory in amending the power of attorney law five years ago.
“I was a member of the Elder Law Section’s Legislation Committee. I drafted the proposal on the new power of attorney law. The original one. It was proposed then by the Elder Law section, and the bar adopted it as their proposal. It took five years, but we got it through the legislature. It was a lot of negotiating with the banking association, with different groups that were concerned about elder abuse. For that, we went up multiple times to Albany to meet with the Assembly members and state senators who were working on it.
“The bar has been very successful in legislation in different areas. It’s prevented some catastrophic things from happening in the area of Medicaid. We’ve lobbied every year against changes that would make it more difficult for people to get benefits. Things that help attorneys, like the power of attorney and notarization. In that area, there’s no other group that really has the contacts with the Legislature that the state bar has.”
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.
