What is Elder Law?

Elder law is a special area of the law that deals with the needs of the elderly or disabled. It encompasses several areas of law, including estate planning (wills, trusts, etc.); so-called "end of life" issues such as living wills, durable powers of attorney and guardianships; estate and gift tax planning; Medicare and Medicaid; nursing home abuse; fraud against the elderly; long term care financing; retirement benefits; age discrimination; and disability planning and insurance, among others. Elder law attorneys are not specialists in all of these areas, but generally focus on two or three of the areas. Typically elder law attorneys approach a client from a holistic viewpoint, addressing legal, medical, social, financial and family needs at once.

Lindsay Lohan Settles E-Trade Lawsuit

Lindsay Lohan sued E-Trade, an online brokerage company, over a Super Bowl ad that featured talking babies. In the ad, one of the babies, a male, apologizes to a female baby for not calling her the night before. Suspicious, the female asks if he had been with that "milkaholic Lindsay."

Ms. Lohan claimed that she had attained "one name recognition" like Madonna or Oprah, and that the use of the name Lindsay in the E-Trade ad used her celebrity status for its own profit. E-Trade responded that Lindsay is a popular name and happened to be the name of one of the ad team's members. It moved to dismiss the lawsuit as meritless.

Under the terms of the settlement, which is confidential, Ms. Lohan dismissed her lawsuit with prejudice. The settlement of the $100 million action came the same day a judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest. Settlement leaves her free to focus on her other legal problems, including the current probation-violation claim for failing multiple drug tests.

Bankruptcies Reach 5-Year High

With data through the second quarter of 2010, bankruptcies have reached highs not seen since the fourth quarter of 2005, just before the dreaded BAPCPA, which was designed to halt a perceived flood of bankruptcies, became effective.

In the three month period ended June 30, there were over 422,000 filings in the United States, the highest since the October-December, 2005, period when 667,431 bankruptcies were filed. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010, consumer bankruptcies were up 20% while business bankruptcies rose 9% over 2008-2009 levels.

The obvious reasons are the prolonged financial crises, poor job market, rising mortgage foreclosures and ever-present medical emergencies, according to Deborah Thorne, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University. Until the economy improves, she expects bankruptcies to continue to rise.

For the year ended June 30, 2010, Utah ranks 12th in the nation, with 6.12 filings per 1,000 people. Nevada is first with 11.74 filings per 1,000 people.