Elon Law’s Elder Law Clinic, led by clinic director Hannah Vaughan, sponsored a series of events in Greensboro this fall featuring Paul Greenwood, a pioneer in the prosecution of elder abuse in America.
By Samuele Viscuso L’15
Greenwood, an English barrister who graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Leeds University in Yorkshire, England, began practicing law in California in 1991. After working in private practice, Greenwood joined the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. In Jan. 1996, San Diego was one of the first municipalities in the nation to develop an Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit. Greenwood was appointed the Head Prosecutor of the unit which focused on charging perpetrators for physical abuse and financial exploitation of the elderly. Greenwood has since become one of the foremost authorities on elder abuse and has published articles to educate the legal community on this emerging area of criminal prosecution.
Greenwood visited the Triad this fall, informing lawyers, students and community members at the Smith Senior Center, Elon Law and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro about emerging elder law issues. Greenwood noted that the U.S. elderly population is growing rapidly, reaching 70 million Americans over age 65 by 2030. Greenwood said the elderly are exploited frequently by family members and scam-artists. Unfortunately, few district attorneys in the United States pursue claims against people abusing and exploiting the elderly due to lack of resources. In addition, Greenwood emphasized that the elderly are put in a precarious situation because they often feel embarrassed about their mistreatment and they frequently rely on the people abusing them for daily care, such as transportation, cooking, cleaning and general companionship. Therefore, many victims are often hesitant to report abuses to law enforcement and, even when the incidents are reported, charges are frequently dropped because seniors fear retaliation, are unable to testify or may pass away before the alleged crimes can be fully prosecuted.
Greenwood is optimistic about improving the enforcement of laws designed to protect seniors. In his Prosecutor’s Brief article, “Our Graying Society: Issues of Elder Law Abuse and Age Bias,” Greenwood writes that local agencies need additional training in identifying signs of elder abuse. Specifically, this includes educational programs that train medical community members and law enforcement how to identify physical signs of elder abuse and educating financial institutions to be more proactive and responsive to protecting the elderly from financial exploitation. Greenwood emphasized that younger Americans need to help abused and exploited seniors now, because otherwise the deficiencies in the elder abuse prosecutorial system will end up affecting them as they age.
Professor Hannah Vaughan, director of Elon Law’s Elder Law Clinic, said that Greenwood gave an inspiring talk to law students and that more than 200 service providers to the elderly, including attorneys across the region, attended events featuring Greenwood that were sponsored in part by the clinic. Vaughan is quoted in a Times-News article available here about Greenwood and the efforts in Alamance County to combat elder abuse.
Elon Law’s Elder Law Clinic enables second- and third-year law students, under attorney supervision, to provide legal services to low-income residents of Guilford County, free of charge. More information about the Elder Law Clinic at Elon Law is available here.
In addition to sponsoring events featuring Greenwood this fall, the Elder Law Clinic hosted a Continuing Legal Education forum on Nov. 3 titled, “Legal and Medical Perspectives on Capacity.” The forum featured presentations by Kaycee Sink, MD, MAS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Kulynych Memory Assessment Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; and, Doris Wiggen, Special Counsel for Schell Bray PLLC, with a practice concentrating in elder law, special needs and trusts and estates. The forum also included presentations from students participating in Elon’s Elder Law Clinic – Tim Dugan, Meredith Harris, Sarah Kettles, Nick Leger and Jennifer Biggerstaff – and from Elon University’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies, including: Stephanie Reese, Lance McGhee, Andy Tillery and Marah Holz. The student panelists discussed best practices in legal and medical disciplines for promoting client capacity in an interview setting.