Managing Director, Health Advocacy

• Jan 2019 - Present

Senior Staff Attorney

• Feb 2013 - Jan 2019

Justice in Aging is a national nonprofit organization that fights senior poverty through law. We secure health and economic security for older adults of limited income and resources by preserving their access to courts, advocating for laws that protect their rights, and training advocates around the country to serve the growing number of older Americans living in poverty.

Part-Time Clinic Instructor

• Jul 2017 - Dec 2020

General Counsel

• Apr 2012 - Feb 2013

Director of Medical Legal Partnership

• May 2006 - Feb 2012

Licensed in Missouri, Illinois, and California. Director of Medical Legal Partnership, St. Luke’s Hospital, January 2011 – January 2012 Implemented Medical Legal Partnership with St. Luke’s Hospital; supervise intake paralegal; generate reports to maintain grant funding; provide monthly MLP and substantive law presentations to hospital staff; provide extensive representation to patients with legal issues including Social Security disability appeals, Medicaid appeals, Medicare appeals, special education, consumer debt defense, housing defense, guardianships, and other legal issues within our program’s priorities. Staff Attorney, May 2006 – December 2010 Provided extensive legal representation in over three hundred cases; represented clients in eighty hearings before an Administrative Law Judge in Social Security claims; obviated the hearing process by obtaining twenty favorable on-the-record decisions for clients seeking disability benefits; appealed ten disability claims to the Appeals Council; filed appeals in the United States District Court for the Western District Court of Missouri; obtained favorable outcome in twenty-two consumer debt lawsuits in Missouri State Court, saving clients $104,392 in unsubstantiated alleged debt; filed and obtained favorable results in five lawsuits in Missouri State Court for violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and violations of the Missouri Title Loan Statute.

Legal Intern

• Sep 2005 - May 2006

Social Worker

• Aug 2002 - May 2006

Social worker in nursing home. Social worker in nursing home.

Legal Intern

• May 2005 - Aug 2005

Legal Intern

• May 2004 - Aug 2004

Paralegal

• Oct 2001 - Aug 2002

Acted as a liaison between assistant district attorneys and defense counselors in felony court part; mailed/faxed supporting affidavits to police offers for misdemeanor crimes; filed and maintained prosecution documents. Acted as a liaison between assistant district attorneys and defense counselors in felony court part; mailed/faxed supporting affidavits to police offers for misdemeanor crimes; filed and maintained prosecution documents.