Journey

I graduated law school in 1983 and began my legal position for a small Akron Firm as a law clerk. I then moved on in 1984 to the Trust Department of the Mahoning National Bank of Youngstown as a Trust Department Attorney. I found banking to not be the right fit for my interests and went to work in 1986 for a 2-man law firm in Canton Ohio where I practiced in the areas of Probate and Pension Law. After 4 years it was time for a change and in 1991 I made the move to a ten lawyer firm in Akron which was a very big change and in a good way. A very good law firm under which I was mentored by the co-founder of the firm, ( The late Michael L. Stark Esq. ) a great man and outstanding lawyer respected by all his peers. Michael L. Stark sat down with me and said that increasingly, when clients had appointments for estate planning, a common question was becoming “how do I protect our wealth from possible long term care in a Nursing Facility” ? Attorney Stark is the one who got me interested in the field of “Elder Law” and “Medicaid Planning”. I am forever grateful to him for that. I attended my first seminar about Medicaid in Cleveland in 1992 and for some reason I found the subject very interesting. I later took my first Medicaid case with a very dear older German woman who had just placed her ill husband into a Nursing home. It was not a complex case looking back on it it but it was my first case and after a little help with the Supervisor of the Summit County Medicaid Office I obtained approval for her Husband’s Medicaid. From that law firm I moved to the most prestigious law firm in Canton, a large firm, and was made Partner.

Finally, I decided to start my own practice in 2013. I knew I had the skills, referral sources, knowledge and experience to do it and it worked. A lot of work at the start (and still a lot of work involved now in the practice) but I love what I do. I believe of all the different areas of the law an attorney can practice in there is none more sincerely rewarding than to assist a spouse or family in alleviating concerns about their loved one’s health care and the concern about how to pay for that care. Using all the legal exemptions and strategies available under the Ohio Administrative Code to protect as much of the assets as possible from being expended prior to obtaining Medicaid eligibility, we achieve those objectives.

I have been in practice 37 years with the last 27 years focused in the areas of Elder Law, Medicaid Planning and Asset Protection Planning. Experience in this complex area of the law is absolutely critical in achieving the correct result. There are many potential legal “landmines” hidden in the facts OR the process which need to be avoided for a favorable outcome. “The devil is in the details…..”

I am able to meet family at the Nursing Facility, Assisted Living Facility or the family residence. If the Children wish to meet with me privately first to discuss things that can be done as well.