Eric Carlson
ecarlson@nsclc.org
Directing Attorney
National Senior Citizens Law Center
Los Angeles, California

Eric Carlson, a directing attorney for the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC), has specialized in long-term care since 1990.  His fields of expertise include facility-based long-term care (nursing homes and assisted living facilities), along with community-based services and the Medicaid programs that help pay for them.  He counsels attorneys and others from across the country, and co-counsels cases on behalf of consumers.  Mr. Carlson is the author of numerous publications and articles, including the legal treatise Long Term Care Advocacy (Matthew Bender and Co.) and the consumer guide 20 Common Nursing Home Problems, and How to Resolve Them.  He serves as President of the Assisted Living Consumer Alliance and member of the Leadership Council for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care.

Kevin Hansen ’08
kevinhansen@mail.usf.edu
Doctoral Student, School of Aging Studies
University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Kevin Hansen is a doctoral student at the University of South Florida’s School of Aging Studies. Prior to this, he worked with the Ombudsman Office for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and the ElderCare Rights Alliance. Mr. Hansen has worked in the areas of elder law conducting research and pursuing legislative reform with the Vulnerable Adult Justice Project. He has researched many topics, including substitute decision-making and the Vulnerable Adult Act. Mr. Hansen holds a Bachelor’s degree from Gustavus Adolphus and a Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law.

Peter M. Hendricks ’04
Attorney, Garvey, Boggio & Hendricks, P.A.
Bloomington, MN

Peter Hendricks is an shareholder with Garvey, Boggio & Hendricks, P.A. representing clients inestateplanning, probate and trust administration, elder law and ong-term care planning.  Prior to joining the firm in 2006, Peter represented nursing homes and other long-term care providers.  He also served as a law clerk with the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis – Senior Law Project, and with the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Peter is a 2004 graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law.  He is frequent presenter at CLE seminars on Medical Assistance and a contributor to the Minnesota CLE Elder Law Handbook chapter on Medical Assistanceestaterecovery and post-eligibility issues.  Peter has served as a member of the Governing Council of the Minnesota State Bar Association Elder Law Section and he is regular contributor to the Minnesota Elder Law Section Weekly E-Newsletter.  He is a member and past chair of the Ramsey County Charter Commission responsible for reviewing and proposing necessary amendments to the Ramsey County Home Rule Charter.  Peter has also served on the Citizens Budget and Finance Advisory Committee of the St. Paul Public Schools.

Paulette Joyer ‘89
pjoyer@voamn.org
Estate & Elder Law Services
Volunteers of America Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Paulette Joyer is an attorney at Estate & Elder Law Services. Ms. Joyer concentrates her practice in Elder Law, including estate planning, probate. guardianship and conservatorship. She is a member of the Minnesota State and Hennepin County Bar Associations. She is on the advisory board for the Center for Elder Justice & Policy, is a member of the state bar Elder Law Governing Council and Strategic Planning Committee, the Medical Assistance Committee, and the Hennepin County Delivery of Legal Services Committee. Ms. Joyer is a long-time member of MAGiC, the Minnesota Association for Guardianship and Conservatorship. She is a 1989 cum laude graduate of William Mitchell College of Law.

Richard Kaplan
rkaplan@illinois.edu
Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law
University of Illinois
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

Richard L. Kaplan is the Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law at the University of Illinois, specializing in federal income taxation and policy and elder law. In addition to numerous books and articles involving taxation and tax policy, he is the co-author of Elder Law in a Nutshell, published by Thomson/West (5th ed. 2010), as well as articles on various elder law topics, including Social Security, Medicare, long-term care financing, and retirement funding. He has served as the faculty advisor to The Elder Law Journal, the oldest scholarly publication devoted to this subject, since that publication was created in 1992. He was a delegate to the National Summit on Retirement Savings and is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Diane K. Kjervik
kjervik@email.unc.edu
Professor and Chair of Health Care Environments Division in the School of Nursing
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Diane K. Kjervik, J.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., is Professor and Chair of the Health Care Environments Division in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  She received a B.S. in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.S. in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of California at San Francisco, and a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota.  She recently served as Director of the Carolina Women’s Center and as President of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA). She is also member of numerous organizations such as the American Bar Association and the American Nurses Association.  In both 2004 and 1998, she received the TAANA Outstanding Advocate Award. And in 2006 she received the prestigious Mary Turner Lane Award from the Association of Women Faculty and Professionals at UNC-Chapel Hill for her work on behalf of women.  She is a peer reviewer for many journals and has reviewed grants for federal agencies including the National Library of Medicine, the Bureau of Health Professions in Rockville, Maryland, and the Advisory Council for the National Center for Nursing Research at NIH.  She also served as Chair of the Committee on Standards for Legal Content in Nursing Education of TAANA, and as Director of Governmental Relations and Associate Director of Research for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.  Prof. Kjervik served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nursing Law for 16 years and is now Research Editor; she is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and books, and a frequent speaker on topics dealing with the legal rights and ethical responsibilities of health professionals.

Lynn H. Nelson
lhnelson@ku.edu
Professor Emeritus, History
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

Philip J. Ruce, ’08
Relationship Manager, Minneapolis
Trust Point Inc. 

Phil Ruce has worked as a corporate fiduciary since his graduation from William Mitchell in 2008.  He has acted as a fiduciary for many types of entities and individuals, including irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, special needs trusts, partnerships, and conservatorships.  Previously a trust officer at Wells Fargo, Philip now works for Trust Point Inc., an independent trust company.  In addition to his J.D., Philip has an LL.M. in wealth management law.

Mark Schulz, J.D., ’10
Mark.Schulz@state.mn.us
Regional Ombudsman
Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care

Mark A. Schulz is a 2010 alumni of William Mitchell College of Law. During law school Mark focused his studies in elder law, disability law, and estate planning classes.  During his last semester of law school Mark was selected to be an Elder Justice Scholar with the Center for Elder Justice & Policy where he earned a CALI Award of Excellence for his efforts and work.  Mark currently serves the long term care populations working as a Regional Ombudsman with the Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care.

Janelle Januschka Schrupp ’08
Attorney
Minnetonka, Minnesota

John Simshauser, J.D., ’09
john@lookingforwardlegal.com
Attorney and Counselor at Law
Brooklyn Park, MN

John Simshauser is currently the Director of Operations and Legal Counsel for Audio Logic Systems in Bloomington.  After graduating from WMCL in 2009 John practiced estate planning, elder law, small business law and entertainment law for two years as a solo practitioner. John returned full time to the entertainment industry in October of 2011 but still continues to practice estate planning and entertainment law when time permits.  John currently lives with his wife and two sons in Brooklyn Park, MN.

Jessie Ware ’90
Ware Mediation
St. Paul, Minnesota

Jessie Ware is an attorney and a mediator. She earned her JD from William Mitchell in 1990 and clerked for Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Wahl before beginning her legal practice. Ms. Ware practiced civil litigation for six years before discovering the power and promise of mediation. She has completed Certified Civil Mediation Skills Training and Certified Family Mediation Training and maintains a private mediation practice. In addition to her private practice, Ms. Ware teaches mediation, provides conflict resolution training and coaching for community organizations and businesses and coordinates a mediation program for the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

Michael Zdychnec
mjzhealth@comcast.net
Collaboration Health Care, Inc.
Bloomington, Minnesota

Michael Zdychnec is the Program Chair for Health Care Management for the Minnesota School of Business and Co-Founder of Collaboration Health Care. Mr. Zdychnec has spent over 30 years in executive and management positions within the health care industry working with provider organizations, health plans, employers, and consumers. In addition to teaching and program development for MSB, Mr. Zdychnec is focused on creating and executing educational programs and services to assist individuals better understand the complexities of today’s health care system, their roles and responsibilities, and introducing methods to assist health care stakeholders to work together to create a more efficient and effective health care system than we have today.