(Note: The pdf for the issue in which this article appears is available for download: Bifocal, Vol. 36, Issue 1.)
Each September 1, a new roster of commissioners is appointed by the ABA president.
Most commissioners serve for multiple years with a handful of new faces starting in any given year; this year, there are four new commissioners. The next page provides a short biography of our new additions; you will find them to be a diverse and highly expert group in their individual disciplines.
The full roster of this year’s Commission is below.
Chair:
Prof. David M. English
University of Missouri Columbia Law School Columbia, MO
Commissioners:
Marcos Acle
Organization of American States
Washington, DC
Rawle Andrews, Jr.
AARP
Washington, DC
Hon. Patricia Banks
Circuit Court of Cook County
Chicago, IL
Richard Browdie
Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging
Cleveland, OH
XinQi Dong
Rush University Senior Care
Chicago, IL
William E. Hopkins
Husch Blackwell LLP
Austin, TX
Jason Karlawish
Institute on Aging
Philadelphia, PA
Prof. Nina Adams Kohn
Syracuse University College of Law
Syracuse, NY
Keith L. Morris
Elder Law of Michigan
Lansing, MI
Kerry R. Peck
Peck Bloom LLC
Chicago, IL
Stephen B. Rosales
Rosales & Rosales LLC
Belmont, MA
Robyn S. Shapiro
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
Milwaukee, WI
Susan P. Shapiro
American Bar Foundation
Chicago, IL
Patricia D. Struck
DFI Division of Securities
Madison, WI
Newly Appointed Commissioners
Rawle Andrews Jr. is the regional vice president for AARP’s State and National Group, and a member of the Association’s Enterprise Strategy Leadership Team. His duties include providing leadership and oversight of AARP’s operations and activities in eight states. Previously, Mr. Andrews was the senior state director for AARP in Maryland and, before that, managing attorney of AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly. He was in private practice for 16 years before joining AARP in January 2007.
A frequent lecturer on consumer protection and elder law issues, Mr. Andrews holds adjunct professorships at Georgetown University and Howard University School of Law.
Richard Browdie is President/CEO of the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, a nationally recognized leader in service, research, and advocacy addressing issues of aging. Prior to his position with Benjamin Rose, he served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Aging from 1995-2002. Mr. Browdie also served as Executive Director of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging from 1993-1995. Mr. Browdie served as President of the American Society on Aging from 1998-2000. He was elected Chairman of the Board of the National Council on Aging in September 2011. Effective November 2013, he is Chairman of the Generations Editorial Board.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania and his Master of Business Administration degree from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Keith Morris is the President of Elder Law of Michigan, a nonprofit charitable organization that promotes and protects the rights, health, and economic well-being of older adults and people with disabilities by providing information, advocacy, legal advice and professional services. Prior to August 2013, Mr. Morris served in various positions of growing responsibility since joining the organization in 2001 as a volunteer while in law school. In 2007, Keith became the Project Director for the Center for Elder Rights Advocacy, which was established to provide technical assistance to senior legal hotlines throughout the nation. Mr. Morris was instrumental in designing and implementing Michigan’s Legal Services Information System, a statewide reporting system for senior legal services. He also worked on the development of senior legal helpline standards for reporting.
Mr. Morris attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude in 2003. He completed his Masters in Public Administration from Western Michigan University, with a focus on non-profit administration, in 2008.
Stephen B. Rosales is the managing member of Rosales & Rosales LLC, a small firm in Belmont, MA, where he runs a general practice concentrating in estate planning, elder law, real estate, probate administration, and litigation.
He is a 1977 graduate of Boston College and earned his JD from Suffolk University Law School in 1980. He has been active for over twenty years in and is the current Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division. Stephen has achieved the prestigious AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been named a Massachusetts SuperLawyer by Thomson Reuters.
He resides in Belmont, MA, with his wife Debi, enjoys golf, plays a reasonable guitar, roots for his Boston College Eagles and is a passionate member of Red Sox and Patriot Nations. ■