PENN STATE DICKINSON LAW PROFESSOR KATHERINE PEARSON SUPPORTS THE SEARCH FOR EQUITY IN AGING
February 2024 — Professor Katherine C. Pearson recently hosted a monthly session of Penn State Dickinson Law’s course on Race and Equal Protection of the Law by focusing on equity in aging and the potential for age-related bias to compound concerns regarding race, ethnicity, gender and more. A number of guest speakers facilitated the discussion, including:
- Sahar Takshi, staff attorney for Justice in Aging,
- Pam Walz, supervising attorney in the Health and Independence Unit at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia,
- Olivia Robbins, paralegal in the Homeownership and Consumer Rights Unit at CLS in Philadelphia,
- Crystal Edwards, CELA, principal in Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, PC,
- Allison Lintal, visiting professor at Dickinson Law.
Professor Katherine C. Pearson has deep experience in the field of “law and aging,” including elder law. She is the author of articles and book chapters on long-term care, financing issues, and filial obligations, and is the co-author of The Law of Financial Abuse and Exploitation (Bisel 2011) — a treatise about protection of vulnerable persons from financial exploitation. A former Fulbright Scholar (U.K., Queens University Belfast, 2010), Professor Pearson’s 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.
Professor Pearson has served in leadership positions on national and state organizations for academics and attorneys specializing in elder law, including the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the AALS Section on Law and Aging, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Elder Law Section. She was a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Elder Law Task Force that issued an influential report. For more than ten years, she served as director of Penn State’s Elder Protection Clinic and continues to serve as a writer and editor for the Elder Law Prof Blog. She is an author for two chapters in an upcoming international publication (Edward Elgar) on legal and social issues in aging.