Geraldine Champion_- Attorney at Law

Geraldine E. Champion is one of only nine attorneys in California dually certified in Estate Planning and Elder Law. Champion is a *Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law, by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Nationally, Champion is a **Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, accredited by the American Bar Association. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), served on the Board of Directors from 1992-1995 and also served as Treasurer from 1996-1998. Champion received a B.A. (summa cum laude) (Phi Beta Kappa) and an M.A. in Communications from the State University of New York at Albany, and a J.D. from Boston University Law School. She has an "A.V." (the highest) rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Champion was honored by the Area Agency on Aging?s award for "Media Advocate of the Year" for her radio program, "Senior Focus." Also, Champion is a licensed real estate broker and a member of the San Luis Obispo and California Association of REALTORS®.

*"Certification was established with public protection and professional competence in mind. It encourages attorney competence by providing the means for attorneys who wish to do so to obtain a professional credential that recognizes their proficiency. At the same time, it helps the public identify attorneys who are proficient in a particular area of law by providing a method of certification based on objective criteria." California Board of Legal Specialization statement of purpose.

**"Certification, while voluntary, has become an accepted measure of excellence within the American legal community." Wes Avery, 2008 National Roundtable on Lawyer Specialty Certification, sponsored by the American Bar Association.

Stephen W. Dale - Esq.

Mr. Dale is a disability rights advocate and spends much of his time attending disability rights activities, including legislative hearings and serving on boards and committees of disability-right’s organizations. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of disability related topics across the country, and is the recipient of the 2007 NAELA Powley Award. Mr. Dale regularly teaches courses to the public, financial professionals, and other attorneys on special needs trusts and trust administration with a special emphasis on achieving independence while maintaining essential government benefits. He also offers trustee classes to his clients and professional trustees on how to administer special needs trusts. 

The Dale Law Firm, PC has an office in Walnut Creek with three full time associates dedicated to providing quality estate planning to clients by working cooperatively with the clients’ tax, financial and insurance professionals. 

Mr. Dale regularly teaches continuing education courses accredited by the California Department of Insurance and the California State Bar on estate planning, special needs trusts, pooled trusts, and tax planning.

Robert Fleming - Attorney at Law

Robert Fleming is the author of The Elder Law Answer Book, now available from Panel Publishers. He is a Fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He has been certified as a Specialist in Estate and Trust Law by the State Bar of Arizona's Board of Legal Specialization, and he is also a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. Robert is a member of the State Bar of Arizona (he was President of the Young Lawyers Section in 1978, Chair of the Probate and Trust Section in 1992, and chair of the Mental Health and Elder Law Section in 1999), the Pima County Bar Association (he was President in 1986) and the Arizona Women Lawyer's Association. Robert is also a member of the Special Needs Alliance, the premier national organization of lawyers working with "special needs" trusts, and the Elder Law Alliance, an elite national group of ten lawyers with a common interest in improving the practice of elder law.

Daniel Fortuno - CEO - BEC, Benefits Education Center

Daniel has over seventeen years of progressive experience in training, counseling, and education in health care and benefits administration.

He is highly skilled in interpreting public and private health and welfare benefits programs, including Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, state disability, short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance.

Daniel possesses a strong working knowledge of related state and federal rules and regulations, including current legislation of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

He has demonstrated proven abilities in training, program development, benefits counseling, supervision, direct client services, and resource maximization.

He is proficient in working with individuals of diverse backgrounds.

Bradley J. Frigon, Attorney at Law

Mr. Frigon is a practicing attorney from the state of Colorado specializing in Medicaid, Trust and estate planning and administration as well as individual tax planning, along with a number of other services dealing with complex tax and trust issues.  As a certified Elder Law  Attorney, Mr. Frigon has written for a number of specialized publications and has presented at many prestigious conferences.  He is a member of the Board of Directors National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Advanced Elder Law Institute, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys

James Huyck, Consultant/Advocate

As a Consultant/Advocate Mr. Huyck successfully assists families, consumers, attorneys, organizations and others in “navigating the regional center system” and other public benefits programs. He currently focuses on helping families and their support system to access public benefits from government benefits programs.  This includes all local, state and federal public benefits programs and services.

He was Executive Director of the Alta California Regional Center in Sacramento, CA for over 9 years, which is a private, non-profit agency under annual contract with the State of California.  In this position, he lead his facility in planning and providing  comprehensive services, including healthcare, to children and adults with developmental disabilities who are residents of the ten-county region of Alpine, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba Counties.