Part of the Chat with the Expert series.

Once I’ve realized I need an elder care attorney, now what? Join our roundtable of seasoned elder care attorneys about how to go about searching for and choosing an attorney.

Presenters are Tamara Jordan, Esq. (Owner of The Law Office of Tamara I. Jordan P.L.L.C.), Peter Kempner, Esq. (Legal Director & Senior Law Project Director at Volunteers of Legal Service), Lorese Phillips, Esq. (Owner of Law Offices of Lorese Phillips), and Peter Travitsky, Esq. (Associate Supervising Attorney, Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program at New York Legal Assistance Group).

Biography:

Tamara I. Jordan, Esq. is the founder, principal attorney, and member of the Law Office of Tamara I. Jordan P.L.L.C. since 2005. Prior to Tamara becoming an attorney, she obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Binghamton University with a minor in Women’s Studies. Tamara later acquired her Juris Doctor from Northeastern School of Law. Shortly thereafter, Tamara accepted a competitive judicial clerkship with the Superior Court of New Jersey. After completing her clerkship, she accepted a position with an insurance defense and subrogation law office in Long Island. In addition, Tamara worked as a volunteer attorney with the Housing Court of the City of New York, Queens County Civil Court where she assisted the general public with non-payment, holdover, and housing part proceedings.

Tamara provided walk-in clients with step-by-step instructions on commencing landlord and tenant cases. Tamara previously worked as a hearing officer for the Transit Adjudication Bureau and she conducted hearings, rendered decisions, and served on appeal boards involving violations of the Public Authorities Law of the State of New York.

Tamara also serves as a Small Claims Arbitrator, Guardian Ad Litem, Referee, Guardian, Court-Appointed Attorney for Alleged Incapacitated Persons, and Court Evaluator throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Tamara is admitted to the New York Bar, United States District Court; Southern District and Eastern District of New York. Tamara is an active member of the New York City Bar Association; the NYC Bar Legal Problems of the Aging Committee, the American Bar Association, the Queens County Bar Association, and the New York State Women’s Bar Association.

Peter Kempner, Esq. oversees VOLS’ legal department and pro bono program. He joined VOLS as the Senior Law Project Director in May 2018 and moved into his current role as Legal Director in May 2019. He received his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in 2001 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2002. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York College at Purchase in 1996 and he received an M.A. in Political Management from the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University in 1998. He is admitted to practice in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York and is accredited to practice by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to working at VOLS he worked in Brooklyn Legal Services’ HIV Unit from 2001 until 2011 as a Senior Staff Attorney and Government Benefits Specialist. In May 2011, he helped found the Veterans Justice Project, an innovative general legal services practice focusing on veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families. In April 2015, Pete became the Director of the Veterans Justice Project and Deputy Director of the Housing Unit at Brooklyn Legal Services where he worked until 2018. He has been a member of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York since 2019, and served as a member of the Social Welfare Law Committee of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York from 2007 until 2013. Later he served as the Chairperson of the Committee from 2013 until 2016. He served on the Advisory Committee to the Brooklyn Veteran Treatment Court from 2012 until 2018. He is currently a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Veterans and previously served on the committee from 2013 until 2017. In 2022 he was appointed by the Chief Judge of the State of New York to serve on the Attorney Emeritus Advisory Council. He is also an Adjunct Clinical Professor at New York Law School where he created and has taught their Veterans Justice Clinic since 2015.

Lorese Phillips, Esq. is an attorney in private practice with over twenty-five years of experience in all aspects of trusts and estates and Elder Law. Her practice includes both simple and sophisticated estate planning, including preparing Last Wills, trusts and advanced directives; counseling clients, including the elderly and persons with disabilities and special needs on planning for long-term care; asset protection planning, Medicaid planning, planning with supplemental and special needs trusts, and Medicaid applications. She also has extensive experience in probate and estate administration, Surrogate’s Court matters, and guardianship proceedings. Ms. Phillips has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America in Elder Law for 2022, 2023, and has lectured before the New York City Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Practicing Law Institute, and the Dickenson School of Law at Penn State University. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Elder Law & Special Needs Section of the NYSBA, and is the acting Co- Vice Chair and former Co-Chair of the Section’s Committee on Elder Abuse. Ms. Phillips also currently serves on the NYCBA’S Committee on Legal Problems of the Aging and the Small Law Firm Committee, and is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA). She has a B.A. from SUNY Stony Brook, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, an M.F.A. from Columbia University School of the Arts, and a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she was co-President of the Arts & Entertainment Law Society.

Peter Travitsky, Esq., Associate Supervising Attorney, joined NYLAG as a Staff Attorney in the Evelyn Frank Legal Resources Program in 2014 as a Borchard Foundation Fellow in Law & Aging. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2014, where he was an Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Fellow and a Health Law and Policy Fellow. Prior to law school, he was a social worker with United Neighbors, a community-based non-profit organization that provided case management services to frail, homebound seniors living on the East Side of Manhattan. Peter earned both a bachelor’s degree and a Masters in Social Work at New York University.