types of lawyer

luber: hey everyone – marc luber here. todayon jd careers out there, we’re looking at one of the growing types of law. we’re gonnahere what it’s like to be an elder care lawyer – so let’s get started! [themesong] alright – as you may already know, at jdcot we explore career paths you can dowith a law degree – both in and out of law. and we do this to help you find a career thatfits you and help you succeed. today’s guest is victoria collier. she’s a certified elderlaw attorney with her own law firm called the elder & disability law firm, which isin the atlanta, georgia metropolitan area. before law school, victoria spent 6 yearsin the us air force during desert storm – and she now incorporates an expertise in veteran’sbenefits into her practice. victoria is a

fellow of the national academy of elder lawattorneys and the georgia governor appointed her to the advisory board for the georgiacouncil on aging. she’s got a great story! let’s meet victoria. victoria, welcome tothe show! victoria: thank you. i appreciate being here. luber: thank you for being here. so we’reall excited to learn all about practicing elder law, so i’m going to be asking youquestions along the lines of a typical day, trying to learn about that and who makes theright fit for this path, how to break in and how to succeed. so how about we start by yougiving us an overview of your practice and explaining to us what elder care law is.

victoria: sure. my practice is called theelder and disability law firm and it’s exactly what it says; we help senior citizens andthose who are planning for disabilities. people confuse estate planning with elder law becausepeople are most familiar with estate planning. but what elder law does is a bit differentand the question is what makes the difference. with estate planning they ask you, “whatare you going to do with your stuff, your estate, your things when you die?” as anelder care attorney our focus is, what are we going to do with you if you keep living?we have to make sure that your stuff is still here as long as you are to pay for your longterm care. so our focus is on the living and the quality of life while you’re here versushow are we going to protect it for others—your

heirs. now, if we can achieve both, then we’vereally done our job. luber: interesting. so let’s break thatdown into some small component parts because i’m curious to learn when you’re workingto help someone, if they’re going to be living and staying alive for a long periodof time, what are some of the things that you’re doing to help them? what would yousay your mission is there? victoria: the components of elder law typicallyinclude traditional estate planning for non-taxable estates. so for people who have assets lessthan $5 million if you’re single, $10 million if you’re married. that’s the foundation,we use those documents for everything else we do. the second foundational piece is veteran’sbenefits for elderly veterans, which means

over the age of 65 who spent time in a war-timeperiod; doesn’t mean they were in the war, but it means they were in the military duringthe war-time period. we can get them additional tax-free income to help pay for home healthcare,assisted living care and nursing home care. and the third main component is medicaid,planning for people who are going into a nursing home or they think, and the probability ishigh, that they will go into the nursing home in the future. and so they want to be ableto preserve those resources so they can preserve their quality of life by accessing good care.and so the focus is on care and diminishing health. luber: interesting. so what does all thatinvolve? are you sitting down with someone

and doing paperwork? are you going to court?what are the things that you’re doing to make all this happen? alright, we’re gonnacover that and lots more in the full interview with victoria on elder law! if you’re watchingon youtube, please give us the thumbs up if this was helpful. whether you’re podcastingor watching, please visit us at jdcot.com. there you’re gonna hear lots more from victoriaon what it’s like to work in elder law, how you can break in and how you can succeed.if you’re already watching at the site, you could just scroll down to the full versionof the video there. make sure you all join our membership – that way you get accessto all the helpful video content and the transcripts. thanks again for watching everybody – i’mmarc luber and i’ll see you soon.

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