The Future of Elder Law

Elder Law is unique in that it is one of the areas of law that is defined by the client (the age of the client) rather than the subject in defining the practice area.¹ Similarly, “[d]isability law is… defined primarily by the identification of a group within society as opposed to an area of law defined primarily by the cohesion of the substantive rules within the area-like contract law or tort law” (see Surtees, Chap. 7 at p. 94). The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA)² defines the practice of elder law as “[r]ather than being defined by technical legal distinctions, elder law is defined by the client to be served. In other words, the lawyer who practices elder law may handle a range of issues but has a specific type of clients — seniors.”³