ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER SEC Whistleblower Program Awards The Securities and Exchange commission has just doled out it’s second-largest award ever, a whopping $17 million, to a Wall Street employee who provided insider information that helped advance an SEC investigation. Due to the nature of the investigation and the anonymity of the […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Opiods and Elder Abuse The opioid epidemic in America has brought about profound changes in many aspects of healthcare, the justice system, law enforcement, and mental health. As professionals from these areas try to cope with the extent to which opioids and opioid users affect their duties, it […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Who is a Mandatory Reporter of Elder Abuse? One of the many difficulties that comes with working in the elder law field is the variance of laws, regulations, and reporting across state lines. It’s not uncommon for abusers to move their victim across the country to live with […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Rethinking the Conservatorship Model In California and many other states, a conservatorship or guardianship is essentially the last word in deciding who has the authority to manage an elder or dependent adult’s estate. There are different varieties, some temporary, some permanent, but they generally confer complete control of […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Reviewing the Variable Annuity Annuities are financial products that are often fraught with complications, miscommunications, and disappointment for policyholders. When seniors or retirees initially buy the product, they are generally expecting that the annuity will be both a sound investment and a means of providing stress-free guaranteed income […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A Shrinking Long-Term Care Insurance Market May Put the Squeeze on Policyholders Seniors and retirees who are looking into their insurance options for old age may have noticed a disturbing trend: Long Term Care insurance, designed to help the elderly afford costs like retirement homes, Continuing Care Retirement […]

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 This newly signed law strengthens the protections for whistleblowers who report illegal practices to the government, particularly with regards to trade secrets. In the past, employees who signed “gag orders” or non-disclosure agreements were hampered in their ability to report malfeasance, particularly in the […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA levies $25 Million Fine Against Metlife FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, recently brought down the hammer on Metlife, in the form of the second largest penalty in the history of the agency. Although Metlife did not admit to wrongdoing in the settlement, the core of FINRAs […]

Congress Looks at Reforming the False Claims Act The False Claims Act was originally created during the Civil War to allow ordinary citizens to sue fraudulent companies on behalf of the government. Companies that intentionally sold low-quality goods to the Union Army could be brought to task by civilians who […]

Types of Elder Abuse Cases Elder abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional or financial. However, most cases involve financial abuse, as shown in two recent cases; The first case involved a couple who claimed to be family friends of the victims. They used the art of distraction,;when the first one […]