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For close to thirty years, Katherine C. Pearson’s academic focus in research and writing has been on laws and policies connected to aging.
Professor Pearson served for more than ten years as director of Penn State’s Elder Protection Clinic (2001 to 2012), where students provided pro bono representation of older adults on cutting edge legal issues. Some of her clinical students have specialized in representation of older adults or care providers for disabled or older persons. For example, one of her former Clinical students was the recent Chair of the Elder Law Section for the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Today, Professor Pearson continues to use student-involved topics and practical experiences to inform her writing and research. She is the author of articles and book chapters on domestic long-term care, financing issues, and filial obligations, and is the co-author of The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (Bisel 2011), a book about protection of vulnerable persons from financial exploitation. She is an author of two chapters for a forthcoming research handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, with Edward Elgar Publishing, set for August 2024 and edited by S. Westwood and N. Knauer.
A Fulbright Scholar, Katherine Pearson was recently named the 2024-25 Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Health Law, Policy and Ethics with plans for an autumn residency in Ottawa Canada. In 2009-10, she was a Fulbright Scholar for U.K., with her residency based at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Professor Pearson’s cross-border work includes international, comparative analysis of laws and policies affecting older persons, including work as an international research consultant in the U.K. and Northern Ireland to promote better systems for safeguarding and adult social care. Her international work is not limited to aging concerns; thus, Professor Pearson’s international work also has taken her to Cuba with a group of students for an embedded course on Introduction to Cuban Legal Systems in January 2016.
During 2013 and 2014, Professor Pearson served as a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Elder Law Task Force at the invitation of Justice Debra Todd to examine issues of guardianships, abuse and neglect, and access to justice for older Pennsylvanians. The Task Force issued a report with 125 recommendations addressing guardianship and fiduciary duty issues in November 2014.
Professor Pearson frequently introduces concerns about both rights and responsibilities for older persons in her doctrinal courses, including her first-year course on Contract Law, and upper division courses on Conflict of Laws and Nonprofit Organizations Law. She has developed a modular approach to a basic Elder Law curriculum, allowing students to take up to 6 individual credits organized around themes in financing, capacity, and comparative approaches to planning and care. Each module incorporates a “practical” component to problem-solving, research and writing.
Books and Book Chapters
“Older People and Filial Support Laws,” in Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, Westwood, Sue, and Nancy J. Knauer, editors. Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.
“Older People and Access to Justice” (with Joe Duffy and Subhajit Basu), in Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing, Westwood, Sue, and Nancy J. Knauer, editors. Research Handbook on Law, Society and Ageing. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.
The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (with Trisha Cowart) (Bisel Publishing, 2011)
“Filial Support Obligations in Pennsylvania Adult Children, Parents, and Spouses,” in Elder Law in Pennsylvania (Jeffrey Marshall, ed., 3d ed. 2011)
Reports
Professor Katherine Pearson’s Presentation on “Extreme Home Takeovers: Dealing with those ‘Concerned’ Relatives” for Oklahoma Legal Aid Services’ Annual Symposium on Elder Abuse, June 22, 2020
“Can Guardians for Adult Patients Assist Health Care Professional to Provide Coordinated Care?” — Penn State Cancer Institute poster presentation by Mimi Miller, J.D. Candidate 2021, under guidance of Dr. Eugene Lengerich and Professor Katherine Pearson, August 6, 2019
The Stage is Well Set — The Pennsylvania Legislature’s Important Role in Guardianship Reform, September 19, 2018
“Review of Legislation and Policy Guidance Relations to Adult Social Care (in Northern Ireland and Internationally, including the US),” commissioned by Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland (June 2015) (with co-authors and researchers, on team headed by Dr. Joe Duffy, Principal Investigator, Queen’s University Belfast).
“Report and Recommendations of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Elder Law Task Force,” (November 2014), as a member of task force, during its 18-month investigation, chaired by The Honorable Debra Todd, Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
“A Review of the Adult Safeguarding Framework in Northern Ireland, the UK, Ireland and Internationally,” commissioned by Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland (January 2014) (with co-authors and researchers on team headed by Dr. Janet Carter Anand, Principal Investigator, Queen’s University Belfast)
Selected Journal Articles
Katherine Norton & Katherine Pearson, “Pennsylvania Law Schools Form Consortium in Support of Justice for Older Adults in Pennsylvania,” The Pennsylvania Lawyer (May-June 2023).
Douglas R. Roeder & Katherine C. Pearson, “Putting the Charity Back in Purely Public Charities,” 93 PA B. Quarterly 101 (No. 3, July 2022).
“Ongoing Challenges for Pennsylvania Continuing Care and Life Plan Communities,” (with Prof. David Sarcone), PA B. Quarterly, Vol. 90, No. 1., pp 1-15 (January 2019) (with Prof. David Sarcone)
“The Perils of Serving As a Financial Caregiver,” Bifocal: Journal of ABA Commission on Law and Aging, Vo. 39, No. 3 (2018)
“Implications of Divergences in Adult Protection Legislation,” UK Journal of Adult Protection (with Lorna Montgomery, et al.), Vol. 18, No. 3 (2016), pp 1-11.
“Capacity, Conflict, and Change: Elder Law and Estate Planning Themes in an Aging World,” 117 Penn State L. Rev. 979 (2013)(Introduction to Symposium Issue)
“Filial Support Laws in the Modern Era: Domestic and International Comparison of Enforcement Practices for Laws Requiring Adult Children to Support Indigent Parents,” 20 Elder Law Journal 269 (2013)
“Older People and Legal Advice: The Need for Joined Up and Creative Approaches,” UK Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law (with J. Duffy & S. Basu), Vol. 34, No. 1. (2012), pp 31-47
“Will Continuing Care Retirement Communities Continue?” 82 Pa. B. Quarterly 69 (2011) (with Joshua Wilkins) (Symposium on the Future of Elder Law)
“The Lesson of the Irish Family Pub: The Elder Law Clinic Path to a More Thoughtful Practice,” 40 Stetson L. Rev. 237 (Fall 2010, Elder Law Symposium Issue)
The Responsible Thing to do About “Responsible Party” Provisions in Nursing Home Agreements: A Proposal for Change on Three Fronts, 37 U. Mich. J. Law Reform 757 (No. 3, 2004)
Relevant Activities
Project Lead on a $500,000 Penn State Dickinson Law Strategic Plan Grant entitled The Pennsylvania Adult-Fiduciary Project: Developing Statewide Online Education in Support of Aging and Vulnerable Adults
Government Activities
The Responsible Thing to Do about Responsible Party Provisions in Nursing Home Agreement cited by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Issue Spotlight Report
Protection vs. Autonomy? The Challenges of Advancing Effective Justice for Older People
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