Defendant Lawyer Calls His Own Attorney Unprepared in Criminal Court Spat and Says He Prays for Him

A Pennsylvania lawyer charged with stealing nearly $200,000 from an elderly widow is looking for a new attorney after a criminal courtroom spat yesterday in which he publicly called his own attorney unprepared and not up to the job of defending him. The contentious hearing in front of Allegheny Common…

Sep 15, 2011 9:35 PM CDT

Heiress Huguette Clark’s Will Leaves $500K to Her Lawyer

A wealthy heiress who died last month in New York at age 104 left $500,000 of her estimated $400 million fortune to her attorney of 15 years in the will he drafted for her six years ago. Huguette Clark also left $500,000 to her accountant, Reuters reported. She had no…

Jun 23, 2011 6:32 PM CDT

Hike Social Security to 50% of Average Worker’s Preretirement Earnings, Labor Lawyer Says

Labor lawyer Thomas Geoghegan has a problem with Social Security. Some people worry that the program is too expensive, but Geoghegan worries that it’s too cheap. Some elderly people survive on Social Security with earnings of less than $10,000 a year, he writes in an op-ed for the New York…

Jun 20, 2011 12:04 PM CDT

Calling Mom Senile, Old and the B-Word Doesn’t Justify Restraining Order, Appeals Court Says

A New Jersey appeals court has overturned a restraining order against a defendant who stole from his 88-year-old mother and called her a “senile old bitch.” A trial judge had found the mother’s complaints about her 56-year-old son to be credible, and that the son was underestimating his mother. The…

May 19, 2011 12:18 PM CDT

Fending for the Elderly: ABA Sees Elder Justice Act as Partial Solution

May 1, 2011 5:50 AM CDT

Georgia Court Clerk with Alzheimer’s Says She Was Tricked Into Resigning

Linda Carter, the former DeKalb, Ga., superior court clerk, claims that she has Alzheimer’s disease, and last month was tricked into resigning from her position by a woman who is Carter’s successor. Carter’s attorney, Lee Parks, told the Fulton County Daily Report that Debra DeBerry, the county’s chief deputy clerk,…

Apr 12, 2011 4:24 PM CDT

Childless Lawyer Worries About Her Future, Does Advance Planning

Seniors without children are more likely to end up in a nursing home, a fact that isn’t lost on Ann Logan. The 63-year-old New York lawyer has three sisters, a stepbrother and seven first cousins, the New York Times reports. All are childless. Logan worries that no one will be…

Apr 1, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer Loses License, Gets OK to Run Guardian Business, Is Now Accused of Stealing $68K from Client

Terri Ann Hauge had her license to practice law suspended in 1995. But that didn’t prevent the former Minnesota attorney from getting a large guardianship business up and running, along with a partner. Now Hauge is accused of stealing $68,000 from 10 vulnerable clients, the Star Tribune reported. The case…

Mar 17, 2011 1:07 AM CDT

Lawyer Is Suspended Over Her Marriage to an Elderly Client

Back in 2002, Linda Lowney drafted a will for her client, Thor Tollefsen, that provided for his estate to go to his sister and two nieces in Norway. But by 2005 the 54-year-old California attorney had become involved with Tollefsen, 85. He gave her $339,000, with his nieces’ consent, and…

Mar 9, 2011 9:59 PM CST

Actor Mickey Rooney Says He Lacked Courage to Stop Financial Abuse

Actor Mickey Rooney told a congressional committee on Wednesday that for years he suffered in silence because he didn’t have the courage to seek legal help to stop a family member who was taking his money. “If elder abuse happened to me, Mickey Rooney, it can happen to anyone,” the…

Mar 3, 2011 3:42 PM CST

Dementia Patient Charged in Death of Another Resident at Nursing Home

A 78-year old dementia patient has been charged with aggravated assault in the death of another resident at the Pennsylvania nursing home where they lived. Police charged Ray Dunmyer Jr. with aggravated assault in the death of Thomas Shaw, 70, at the Cambria Care Center in Ebensburg, the Associated Press…

Feb 17, 2011 1:01 PM CST

Parrot’s Chilling Comments Aid Police in Elder Abuse Case

A talking parrot provided what could be taken as chilling evidence in the case of a 60-year-old South Carolina woman charged with neglecting her 98-year-old mother, who was found on the verge of death suffering from severe bedsores. “The parrot was mimicking, ‘Help me. Help me.’ Then he would laugh,”…

Dec 8, 2010 7:12 PM CST

Lawyer, 71, Awaits Trial in Record Alleged $2M Theft as Guardian for Disabled Veterans

Some disabled veterans reportedly have been shorted on living expenses, as a result of a claimed record-breaking guardianship theft by a Texas lawyer. Responsible for overseeing funds of some veterans for decades, attorney Joe Phillips, 71, allegedly evaded detection for years with the help of doctored records even though his…

Nov 10, 2010 1:13 AM CST

Hospital Tries to Nix Power of Attorney After Daughter Seeks More Care for Her Mom

An adult daughter who holds a power of attorney to make medical decisions for her 86-year-old mother says Dolores Bedin, who is suffering from inoperable pancreatic cancer, isn’t strong enough to go home. But Northwestern Memorial Hospital disagrees. In an effort to get Bedin discharged, the medical center has asked…

Nov 9, 2010 3:13 PM CST

Lawyer with Alzheimer’s Diagnosed When His Wife Discovered Unpaid Bills

By the time Arthur Packel’s wife realized he had Alzheimer’s disease, the now-retired lawyer had stopped paying their bills for some time. And she couldn’t figure out what he had done with much of the money, reports the New York Times. Now Renee Packel, 75, works as a receptionist to…

Nov 1, 2010 11:37 PM CDT