William J. Brisk is a graduate of Brown University (AB), New York University School of Law (JD), and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (MA and PhD). He co-authored three decades ago Legal Planning for the Elderly in Massachusetts and Massachusetts Elderlaw from 2001 until 2014 and has published nearly two dozen articles on elder law topics in the NAELA Journal, NAELA News, Massachusetts Law Review, and Estate Planning. Mr. Brisk served as president of the Massachusetts Chapter of NAELA and served two terms on the Board of Directors. He has lectured on elder law at Boston College and Penn State Law School, and he has taught Elder Law and End of Life as adjunct law professor at Suffolk Law School. For 14 years he prepared material and was a major presenter at this annual event. In December of 2017, he joined Lannik Law as Of Counsel.

Don Cordell is a partner at the law firm of Casner & Edwards in Boston. His law practice is primarily concentrated in the areas of estate and related tax planning and business law with particular emphasis in the representation of closely held and family businesses. He also specializes in administering trusts and estates, long-term-care planning and other elder law matters, estate planning for disabled persons, guardianship and conservatorship matters and representation of clients in probate controversies. He is a graduate of Boston College and Boston College Law School.

Marlee Cowan is an associate with Pabian & Russell, LLC, concentrating in estate and probate administration, probate litigation, estate planning, trust administration, real estate and tax matters. Marlee received her J.D. degree, cum laude, from New England School of Law, where she earned numerous academic awards.Ms. Cowan represents asylum seekers pro bono through Community Legal Services and Counseling Center in Cambridge and volunteers her time with Green Pro Bono. She is also a co-founder of Mobilize.org.

Jessica A. Demmerly is an associate with Pabian & Russell, LLC, concentrating in the areas of estate planning, estate administration and elder law. Jessica received her J.D. degree from Rutgers School of Law in Camden, New Jersey, and a B.A. degree in Human Development and Philosophy from Boston College. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Demmerly worked in the field of geriatric social services.

John R. Hope founded Hope Elder Law in 2003 in Watertown, to assist elders and/or special needs/disabled clients with accessing public benefits while preserving assets, estate planning, special needs planning and advocacy, and guardianship and conservatorship of adults. He received his Juris Doctor degree with honors from Boston College Law School and his undergraduate B.S. degree in Business Management with a concentration in Applied Math from Rensselaer (RPI).He has been an active participant in the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys since 2003. Attorney Hope enjoys having a positive impact on people’s lives through his work as an elder law attorney.

Rebecca Tunney (Flewelling) is an associate at Day Pitney, LLP where she concentrates her practice in estate and trust planning, estate and trust administration, taxation, long term care planning and elder law. She works with clients to structure their estate plans and lifetime gift programs through estate, gift, generation-skipping and income tax planning in order to meet client objectives. She advises personal representatives, trustees and other fiduciaries on the administration of estates and trusts, including preparing and filing gift and estate tax returns. She counsels clients on long-term care planning, Medicaid applications, guardianships and conservatorships. She graduated magna cum laude from Suffolk University Law School and received her L.L.M degree in Taxation from Boston University.

Joblin C. Younger is founding partner of the Law Office of Joblin C. Younger, P.C. in Beverly, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of taxation, trusts, estate planning and administration, and probate litigation. He received his LL.M. degree in Taxation from the Boston University School of Law, his J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School, and his B.A. degree from The City College of New York. Mr. Younger is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York, and serves as a Public Administrator of Suffolk County.