NAELA News October/November 2013

Transcription

1 NAELA News October/November 2013 FEATURED MEMBER William J. Brisk, CELA: Elder Law s Renaissance Man Keeps the Intellectual Fires Burning By Harry S. Margolis, Esq., CAP Bill has successfully melded two careers: teaching and academic publishing along with client representation. Elder Law s renaissance man has taught Latin American and international politics in Puerto Rico and South America, taught Elder Law and end-of-life decision making at two law schools, published books in the areas of Elder Law and international politics, edited both Elder Law and general law journals, and, past age 70, maintains a thriving Elder Law practice. Unlike many members of NAELA who do whatever they can to avoid the inside of a courtroom, this attorney s practice includes a significant element of probate litigation. If you know him at all, you know that this summary describes William J. Brisk, CELA, a NAELA Fellow, who has served as president of the Massachusetts Chapter, Editor in Chief of the NAELA Journal and NAELA News, and as a member of the National Board of Directors. Bill has successfully melded two careers: teaching and academic publishing along with client representation.

2 Lifelong Interest in Latin American Development While at the New York University School of Law, Bill was one of 10 Root Tilden scholars who went to Concepción, Chile, to lend a hand after a devastating earthquake. Although Bill returned to law school, Latin American development became his abiding interest and upon graduation Bill headed straight to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, from which he received a PhD in Latin American and International Politics. While in Washington, D.C., Bill met Maria Allende, an Argentine from Cordoba. The couple married about 10 months later. For a decade, Bill taught and administered programs in Puerto Rico, Latin America, the University of New Mexico, and Harvard University where Bill ran the Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities. During this time, Bill translated a book on Argentine constitutional law from Spanish to English, spent three months in Honduras searching (on mule) for places to build farm-to-market roads, and worked with Roger Fisher (author of Getting To Yes) to support Anguilla when it declared its independence from St. Kitts and Nevis to become the smallest mini-state in the world. Looking for a Change in Focus After a 15-year career in academia, Bill found that he had ended up on the administrative side of the profession, running various programs related to Latin America, rather than the more intellectual teaching side. He was looking for a next

3 step and wanted to stay in the Boston area, where Maria was teaching bilingual education at Boston University. Bill recalled that he had a law degree and he started studying for the bar (which was something of a challenge after being away from the field for 15 years). He passed and joined the litigation department of a mid-sized Boston firm. Due to his academic background, Bill was also invited to join the editorial board of the Massachusetts Law Review, an instrumental development in Bill s career and ultimately of great benefit to those of us who practice Elder Law in Massachusetts. At the very dawn of the field of Elder Law in 1981, Bill was asked to edit an article submitted by Attorney William Talis on Medicaid planning.1 Bill edited the article, became aware of the brand-new practice area, and proposed to Talis that they write a book on the topic. Talis agreed, Bill found a publisher, and Massachusetts Elder Law, now published by Lexis Nexis, is still in print three decades later. In order to find the time to write this book, Bill left the downtown firm where he worked as a litigator and set up practice in the Boston suburb of Newton, where 30 years later he continues to represent clients, mentor younger practitioners, and write and teach in the field of Elder Law. Through the practice of Elder Law and his extracurricular activities, Bill has been able to meld his academic and legal pursuits. Bill s publications continue unabated including, most recently, his article in the Spring 2013 issue of NAELA Journal, Exploring the Future of Elder and Special

4 Needs Law, 2 which charts changes both in Elder Law and long-term care over the last 25 years, making the point that we can anticipate significant changes in both over the next 25 years changes that we can guess at, but can t predict with certainty. The result, he says, is that we must be ready for change and be flexible in our reactions to it. An Educator and Mentor Bill continues to have a teaching career as well. His article in this issue (page 9) discusses his role as a mentor to younger attorneys who have gone on to successful careers in the field of Elder Law, and in one case, as a Massachusetts district judge. Commenting on Bill s role as a mentor, Cape Cod practitioner Joyce Collins said: Quintessential Bill is that he has been a very good friend through thick and thin. Bill also teaches more formally. For more than a decade, Bill and I have cochaired an annual program on MassHealth sponsored by Foxmoor Continuing Education, the successor to PESI. He also has taught Elder Law at the Boston College School of Law and continues to teach an annual course on end-of-life issues at the Suffolk University Law School in Boston. He is currently teaching a course at Suffolk with fellow NAELA member Alex Moschella, CELA, who when asked to describe the essence of Bill Brisk, said that Bill is a real renaissance man: eclectic, loquacious, witty, funny, the consummate orator. On the last point, Moschella also commented that he will eloquently exceed any time limit, and warned, Be prepared if you ask Bill to edit you. He is a real grammaritician. (One wonders what Bill would do with that last word.) Bill s wife, Maria, is Chair of the Department of Teacher Education, Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction at Boston College. No slouches in this family, his daughter, Angélica, is a filmmaker and educator while Bill and Maria s

5 granddaughters, Alejandra, 18, and Isabela, 15, are bilingual and bicultural. Fortunately for all of us, Bill continues to be an active member of NAELA, writing, editing, mentoring, teaching, participating on the Fellows committee, and most important to some of us in Massachusetts, hosting, along with his wife, an annual dinner of current and former chairs of the Massachusetts Chapter. Bill, please keep it all up. Citations 1 William G. Talis, Medicaid: An Estate Planning Tool, Mass. L. Rev. (Spring 1981). 2 William C. Brisk, Exploring the Future of Elder and Special Needs Law, 9 NAELA J. (Spring 2013). Harry S. Margolis, Esq., CAP, is a NAELA Fellow. He is editor of The ElderLaw Report and founding general editor of the ElderLaw Portfolio Series. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and has served on the adjunct faculty of Boston College of Law School. Copyright 2013, National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. Any use of the contents of this publication without the express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.