PROFESSOR PEARSON TO SPEAK AT THE 2021 AALS ANNUAL MEETING

Katherine PearsonOctober 2020 — Professor Katherine Pearson will join a panel of experts at the 2021 AALS Annual Meeting who will address the topic of Intersectionality, Aging, and the Law. This program is sponsored by the AALS Section on Aging and is co-sponsored by numerous sections. Professor Pearson will address the topic of Pandemic Protections: Where is the Line in Patient Autonomy.

This Association of American Law Schools’ program will address the topic of intersectionality and aging from numerous perspectives. The topics include structural discrimination based on race and gender, demographic changes, age diversity, wealth inequality, and the impact of the pandemic on autonomy and rationing. Additional information about this program is available on the Elder Law Prof Blog, which Professor Pearson co-edits with one other professor.

Professor Pearson has deep experience in the field of 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 book 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. She currently is the Project Lead on a $500,000 Penn State Strategic Plan grant entitled The Pennsylvania Adult-Fiduciary Project: Developing Statewide Online Education in Support of Aging and Vulnerable Adults designed to develop resources for Pennsylvania judges. For more than ten years, she served as director of Penn State’s Elder Protection Clinic.


Professor Katherine Pearson has deep experience in the field of 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 book 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. She currently is the Project Lead on a $500,000 Penn State Strategic Plan grant entitled The Pennsylvania Adult-Fiduciary Project: Developing Statewide Online Education in Support of Aging and Vulnerable Adults designed to develop resources for Pennsylvania judges. For more than ten years, she served as director of Penn State’s Elder Protection Clinic.