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SeniorLAW Center
Protecting
the Legal Rights of Philadelphia’s Elderly
Board
Officers and Directors
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Officers |
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 WENDY
E. BOOKLER, ESQUIRE, Board Chair.
Wendy is Of Counsel to the Philadelphia law firm of
Blank Rome LLP.
Ms. Bookler practices in both Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, where she focuses on the acquisition,
financing and construction of affordable housing projects,
low income housing tax credit and historic certification
matters, port-related real estate activities, and
on commercial real estate leasing transactions, representing
both landlords and tenants in both retail and office
leases and in shopping center development. Ms. Bookler
received her BA from George Washington University
and her JD, cum laude, from Temple University.
In addition to SeniorLAW Center Board, she
is a member of the American Bar Association Forum
on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law,
the International Council of Shopping Centers and
Women in Retail Real Estate. |
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JOSEPH B. SILVERSTEIN, ESQUIRE,
Vice-Chair.
Joe serves as a Vice-Chair of SeniorLAW Center’s
Board. He received a Bachelor of Science degree
from The Pennsylvania State University in 1991, with
a marketing major and a classical literature minor.
He received his Juris Doctor in 1994 from Widener
University School of Law, and is admitted to
practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Joe is a
solo practitioner, concentrating his practice in all
areas of complex civil litigation, including
insurance coverage, commercial disputes, product
liability and personal injury. He is currently an
Adjunct Professor of Law at Villanova University
School of Law. He has served as a volunteer
attorney with
SeniorLAW Center, as well as
several
other
community and public interest organizations, and has
many years of pro bono experience serving
disadvantaged populations.
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 CYNTHIA
WISHKOVSKY, MSSA, LSW, Vice-Chair.
Cyndee Wishkovsky has been professionally
involved with aging services for over thirty years.
She received a B.A. from State University of New York
at Buffalo and a Masters in Social Science Administration
from Case Western Reserve University, School of Applied
Social Sciences under a NIMH grant in aging, specializing
in aging and mental health.
For the last 15 years, she has been the Director of
Aging Services at Intercommunity Action (“Interac”),
located in Northwest Philadelphia, administrating
a senior center, adult day service program and a Geriatric
Counseling Program, reaching out to 17 sites in Philadelphia.
Most recently, Cyndee has been part of Interac’s team
that is developing independent, affordable housing
with supportive services. Cyndee has held leadership
roles in numerous national and state organizations.
Currently she is active member of the Pennsylvania
Joint Committee on Aging and Mental Health, Aging
Planning Committee of the Greater Philadelphia Jewish
Federation, Advisory Board to the Emergency Services
for Elderly Holocaust Survivors, Philadelphia Association
of Senior Center Administrators, and a Board member
of Congregation Beth Am Israel. |
 WILLIAM
J. DONOHUE, ESQUIRE,
Vice-Chair.
Bill has been on the SeniorLAW Center Board since 2002.
He has also served as a volunteer attorney, providing
services for SeniorLAW Center clients in the areas of
wills, advance planning and tangled real estate titles.
Bill has spent over twenty-five years as an in-house
corporate counsel, and is currently an attorney with
Exelon Business Services Company, specializing in corporate
and commercial law. Bill is dedicated to encouraging
and supporting pro bono service by in-house attorneys.
To that end he is on the Board of Directors of the Delaware
Valley Corporate Counsel Association (DELVACCA) and
Chairs the Pro Bono Committee. Other efforts include
serving as a member of the Corporate Counsel Subcommittee
of the Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor’s Pro
Bono Task Force, the Steering Committee of the Law Works
Project of Philadelphia VIP, the HomeSmart Collaborative
Summit on Tangled Titles, the Exelon Law Department
Pro Bono Committee, and mentors law students on pro
bono cases through the Villanova Law School Lawyering
Together Program. He is also an Adjunct
Professor of Law at the Haub School of Business at St.
Joseph’s University. Bill received a B.S. in Economics
from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
and a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, where he
was a member of the Law Review. Bill and his wife,
Margie, have four sons and reside in Drexel Hill, PA.
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 CAROLE SHEFFIELD,
ESQUIRE, Treasurer. Carole joined the SeniorLAW Center
Board in 2006. She is an attorney at Reed Smith, LLP,
who concentrates her practice in the planning,
administration and taxation of Trusts and Estates.
Carole is also an adjunct professor at Temple University
Beasley School of Law, where she teaches transactional
skills in Estate Planning and Administration, Tax-Exempt
Organizations and Business Law to upper level students.
Carole is a graduate of Temple Law School and holds an
LL.M in Taxation and an MBA in Finance. She also earned
a B.F.A. from the
University of the Arts in Metalsmithing. Carole
especially enjoys the
personal and business financial analysis when developing
Trust and Estate plans as well as the unique taxation
challenges which arise during Trust and Estate
administrations. However, Carole finds the greatest
rewards in working with the diverse range of clients and
students she meets while providing legal services and
teaching classes. |
 RONALD
J. SHAFFER, ESQUIRE, Secretary. Ron Shaffer is a partner and
the Chairman of the Litigation Department at the firm of
Fox Rothschild LLP. He graduated from the Pennsylvania
State University in 1976 with a B.A. in political
science and received his J.D. from Villanova University
School of Law in 1980. Upon graduation, Mr. Shaffer
served a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Robert N.
C. Nix, Jr., Justice of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania. In 1983, he joined Fox Rothschild LLP.
Mr. Shaffer has been admitted to practice in both
federal and state courts in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. His work encompasses a broad range of
commercial litigation matters, including shareholder and
other business disputes, federal guaranteed student loan
litigation, securities, trademarks, antitrust, trade
secrets, restrictive covenants, and real estate. Ron is
a member of Fox Rothschild’s Executive Committee and
serves on the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Commission
on Judicial Selection and Retention. Ron’s advocacy
skills and dedication to protecting the rights of the
elderly will be a welcomed addition to the SeniorLAW
Center board. |
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 SHARI
J. ODENHEIMER, ESQUIRE, Immediate Past Chair.
Ms.
Odenheimer is a partner with the Wilmington,
Delaware law firm of Potter, Anderson & Corroon, LLP.
She concentrates her practice in the areas of Estate
Planning, Tax Law, Trusts and Estate
Administration. Shari serves both as a volunteer
attorney providing pro bono services to SeniorLAW
Center clients and as consultant to SeniorLAW Center
staff. She earned her bachelor of arts degree at
the University of Michigan and her law degree at
Boston University School of Law where she was a
member of the International Law Journal. Shari is a
member of the Orphans' Court Rules Committee of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and a member of the
Board of the Jewish Relief Agency and the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Ms. Odenheimer
is also a member of the National Young Leadership
Cabinet of United Jewish Communities. |
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Directors |
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 Danielle
Banks, Esquire.
Since 1993, Danielle Banks has been a
member of Stradley Ronon’s Litigation Department, focusing
on both commercial and civil rights litigation. She
routinely represents clients ranging from large public
corporations to individuals before federal and state
courts, both at the trial court and appellate court
levels. Ms. Banks has also handled personal injury matters,
including asbestos personal injury. Complimenting Ms.
Banks’ commercial practice is her work in civil rights.
Her commitment to representing the underprivileged and
under represented has been both a service to the community
and an inspiration to Stradley Ronon. Over the years,
Ms. Banks has been involved in several high-profile
and precedent-setting civil rights cases. |
 Aisha Barbour,
Esquire.
Aisha M. Barbour joined the SeniorLAW
Center board in 2005. Aisha is an attorney at
Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP, who
concentrates her practice in employment litigation
and traditional labor law. Aisha is a graduate of
Tufts University (B.A., summa cum laude, Phi
Beta Kappa, 2000) and of Columbia Law School (J.D.
2005) where she was a Stone Scholar, and served as a
member of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law,
and as the director of the First Year Moot Court
Program. Aisha is a SeniorLAW Center volunteer
attorney and has represented a great-grandparent in
a child custody matter.
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 NINA
ALLEN BLACKSHEAR,
ESQUIRE. Nina joined the SeniorLAW Center Board of
Directors in 2007 and is an attorney working on complex
pharmaceutical litigation projects at Dechert LLP. Nina
received a B.A. degree in Political and Social Thought
from the University of Virginia in 1998, and her J.D.
degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in
2001. She clerked for the Hon. Charles Toliver IV in
the Delaware Superior Court, ran her own event planning
business, and worked as a realtor for Prudential Fox &
Roach, Realtors. Originally from Philadelphia, Nina is
excited about using her legal and event planning
backgrounds to attract attention and important financial
support to the worthy work done at SeniorLAW Center.
She lives in Wyndmoor with her husband, Kenneth, and her
stepson, Kenneth, Jr. |
 Francene
Brown, MSW.
Francene joined the
SeniorLAW Center Board of Directors in 2003
and served as board secretary in
2006 and 2007. She has over 30 years of professional
experience working in non-profit organizations with a
progression of management positions and
responsibilities, providing leadership and direction to
the support of the mission of the organizations where
she has worked. She has managed day hospital programs
and activities for the mentally ill, developed and
implemented a regional transportation program, and
coordinated special projects and workshops with internal
and external managers and directors. Currently she is
employed by the Philadelphia Health Management
Corporation where she is contracted by the City of
Philadelphia Department of Health to coordinate
transportation services in Southeast Pennsylvania for
persons with HIV/AIDS. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree
in Social Welfare from Penn State University, Masters of
Social Work Degree from West Virginia University and she
is a graduate of the Urban League of Philadelphia
Leadership Institute. |
 JOHN
M. BRUZA, M.D. is an assistant professor of clinical
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chief of
Geriatric Medicine at University of Pennsylvania -
Presbyterian Medical Center. He serves as the director
of clinical programs for the Division of Geriatric
Medicine at Penn and the medical director of Penn's
inpatient geriatric unit. He regularly teaches medical
students, residents, fellows, nurses, social workers and
pharmacists on the principles of geriatric medicine at
Penn. He received his M.D. in 1991 from the University
of Oklahoma and completed his residency training in 1994
at Johns Hopkins University. He has expertise and
experience in consultative and primary care for complex
medical care for the elderly. Dr. Bruza provides
nursing home care in West Philadelphia and has served a
medical director of a long-term care facility. He looks
forward to bringing his medical expertise to the
SeniorLAW Center Board. |
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 RICHARD
J. CONN, ESQUIRE. Richard
has a long and proud history with SeniorLAW Center,
having served on the SeniorLAW Center volunteer attorney
panel since its inception (when we were known as
Judicare). He continues his service to elders on the
SeniorLAW Center Board of Directors. Richard
graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1971.
He has been practicing law since graduating in 1974, cum
laude, from Villanova University School of Law, where he
was an associate editor of the law review, and a member
of the Moot Court Board. For three years he was
judicial law clerk to a family court judge in the
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Since that time has
been in an active general practice representing clients
in personal and business matters, family law, and
personal injury cases. He is admitted to the bars of
Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is a member of the
American, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Montgomery Bar
Associations. In addition, Richard teaches at Penn
State, in its Paralegal Program, and has taught an
undergraduate business law course. He is faculty
advisor to the program at the Abington Campus and has
served on a Paralegal Advisory Board which administered
the program for the University, state-wide.
Richard has been treasurer of the Lower Merion-Narberth
Democratic Committee since 1988. He served on the board
of directors of Narberth Community Theatre for many
years, was its president from 2003-05, and plays bass in
pit orchestras for community theaters and in other
ensembles. |
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 Stephen
A. Feldman, Esquire.
Steve Feldman holds B.A.
(1974) and J.D. (1981) degrees from Temple University.
He founded Feldman and Feldman in 1988, with his brother,
Paul L. Feldman, after serving as the Executive Director
of Judicare, and several years in private practice.
Steve chaired the SeniorLAW Center Board for many years,
in addition to serving in other Officer roles. A champion
advocate of the disabled and elderly, Stephen has successfully
instituted suit on behalf of an Alzheimer's victim who
was the subject of discrimination by a nursing home,
on behalf of a nursing home resident who was improperly
discharged after applying for medical assistance under
consumer protection laws, and on behalf of spouses of
nursing home residents whose assets were being improperly
reduced by the state's incorrect application of the
Medicaid law. Stephen has written and lectured
frequently on various aspects of the rights of the elderly,
and is widely recognized as an expert on the subject
of financing long term care and protecting patient rights.
He also co-authored the Older Adults Protective Services
Act. He is a member of the American, Pennsylvania
and Philadelphia Bar Associations, and the National
Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. |
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 PETER
A. MUHIC, ESQUIRE. Peter A. Muhic joined
the SeniorLAW Center Board in
2006. He is an attorney in the
Philadelphia office of Cohen, Placitella & Roth,
P.C., where he represents plaintiffs in diverse
matters including complex torts, fraud and
product liability. Peter has successfully tried
cases to verdict in federal and state courts
throughout the country. He received his
bachelor of science degree from Syracuse
University in 1990 where he was a dual major in
finance and marketing. Peter graduated, cum
laude, from Temple University School of Law in
1994, where he was a member of the Temple Law
Review from 1992-1994 and served as managing
editor from 1993-1994. He also was a member of
the Moot Court Team and a recipient of various
academic awards. Peter has represented pro bono
clients in a variety of matters, including
guardianship issues and fraudulent services. In
2004, Peter received the White Hat Award from
the Legal Clinic for the Disabled for
outstanding pro bono advocacy on behalf of
persons with disabilities.
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 Judith
A. Neale.
Ms. Neale is an Advocate
for the Elderly and Disabled, a Grassroots Lobbyist
for Health and Aging Issues and a Geriatric Care Manager.
She was a Pennsylvania Delegate to the 1995 White House
Conference on Aging which remains an ongoing active
position. She is a Senator representing Pennsylvania
to the National Silver-Haired Congress, which was unanimously
voted into law by Congress in 1996. She is a member
of the National Home Care Coalition. Ms. Neale
is also serving on the President’s Second Term Commission
for Health Care Policy. She has done this variety
of work for over 20 years and combines her national
work and the work for her clients to meet their varying
needs. She has been on the Board of Judicare since
1992. Judicare is a very special part of her life,
as she believes the services that are provided to the
most needy of our elder population can make a real difference
in their lives. She also believes that there is
no limit to where Judicare can expand. |
 Gay
Parks Rainville, Esquire.
Gay is a partner in the
Philadelphia office of Pepper Hamilton LLP.
She concentrates her practice in complex commercial
litigation, including securities, corporate governance,
breach of contract, commercial tort and antitrust
matters. She also provides life sciences clients with
regulatory compliance and risk avoidance counseling
regarding their clinical research practices, product
labeling and product distribution. Gay received a B.A.
degree in English from Denison University, and M.A.T.
and J.D. degrees from Northwestern University. Before
entering law school, she taught high school English and
studied, taught and performed modern dance. |
 RUTH TANUR, CPA.
Ruth Tanur is
the manager in charge of handling the individual tax
practice of Isdaner & Company, LLC. She provides tax
planning services to clients including counseling them
on strategies for saving for college education and
funding retirement. Ruth represents clients at federal,
state and municipal audit hearings. In 2000, she
began her career at Isdaner & Company, LLC. Prior to
joining the firm, she worked at two national accounting
firms. At one of the national firms, she was a tax
manager. Her experience also includes serving as an
internal audit manager for a major corporation. She has
more than 20 years of experience. Her
professional affiliations include: member of the board
of directors of the Utility Emergency Services Fund;
member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public
Accountants; and the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. She previously served as Board
Member and Treasurer of the Women’s Law Project. A
graduate of Temple University, she has a degree in
accounting. She looks forward to bringing her financial
expertise to the service of senior citizens through
SeniorLAW Center’s important work. |
 Ezra Wohlgelernter,
Esquire.
Ezra Wohlgelernter is a founding member
of the law firm of Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter,
Tanner & Weinstock. Ezra was born and raised in
Philadelphia and received his Juris Doctor from Temple
University School of Law in 1981. He is a member of
the Pa, NJ and NY bars. Wohlgelernter concentrates his
practice in the field of complex personal injury
litigation. Ezra is an active member of the board of the
Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Organization. In 2006 he was
appointed to the Board of Directors of the SeniorLaw
Center. Over the past 20 years, Ezra has served on the
boards of numerous non profit organizations on both a
local and national level. He is a past trustee of
the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. While
serving in that capacity he was deeply involved in the
resettlement of émigrés from the former Soviet Union
in Philadelphia. Ezra has also served on the boards of
the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education,
Hillel of Greater Philadelphia, Torah Academy and is a
past President of Hebrew Academy. Ezra brings to the
SeniorLaw Center his skill as an advocate combined with
an innate commitment to improve the lives of the less
privileged members of our community. |
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