KAREN C. BUCK, ESQUIRE, Executive Director .  Karen has served as SeniorLAW Center’s Executive Director since 1997.  She serves as SeniorLAW Center’s Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for the organization's achievement of its mission, its financial stability, and overall supervision of SeniorLAW Center’s staff of attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff.  Karen earned her law degree from the Villanova University School of Law, where she served as Chair of the Moot Court Board.  Prior to joining SeniorLAW Center, Karen was in private practice at a Philadelphia law firm, focusing on complex litigation and serving as Pro Bono Coordinator.  Karen has many years of experience working with various other public interest and community organizations, as a volunteer attorney, child advocate and mentor, and teacher of ESL (English As a Second Language) and GED.  She is especially committed to ensuring that SeniorLAW Center services are available to the many diverse communities of elders in Philadelphia, launching new programs in the Latino and Asian communities during her tenure, in bilingual, culturally sensitive community settings.

NANCY R. COBB, Office Manager.  Nancy serves as SeniorLAW Center’s Administrative Assistant, a position she has held since 1996.  Prior to joining SeniorLAW Center, Nancy enhanced her clerical skills at the Lincoln University Urban Center for Adults.   Her present duties include telephone and walk-in receptionist, providing information about SeniorLAW Center’s services and appropriate referrals to other legal and non-legal resources, communicating with Volunteer Attorneys, clients, and SeniorLAW Center’s Board of Directors, maintaining SeniorLAW Center’s client database, preparing statistical reports, and providing the staff with secretarial services.  Nancy takes great pride in doing her job and is very committed to helping our senior citizens.

ROXANE CROWLEY, ESQUIRE, INDEPENDENCE FOUNDATION FELLOW.  Roxane joined SeniorLAW Center in September 2007 as an Independence Foundation Fellow.  Her fellowship project addresses the legal needs of elders at the end of life. The project centers on a unique partnership between SeniorLAW Center and Penn Home Care and Hospice Services, University of Pennsylvania Division of Geriatric Medicine, and other medical and long term care organizations that provide medical care for thousands of elderly Philadelphians.  Roxane’s duties include direct legal representation, community outreach, training hospice and medical staff about the legal issues their patients may experience, and staffing the SeniorLAW Center’s legal clinic at the Lehigh Senior Center.  Prior to attending law school, Roxane worked for four years as Research Coordinator in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  There her work focused on end-of-life care, hospice, patient and family decision making, and research ethics. She is a published author on seven occasions, including articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, among others.  Roxane is a 2007 graduate of Temple University, Beasley School of Law, and as a student she interned for SeniorLAW Center and Community Legal Services’ Elderly Law Project.  In 2000, she graduated magna cum laude from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

BRIAN KRASE, ESQUIRE, Coordinator, Family Law and Project S.A.F.E.  Brian joined the SeniorLAW Center staff in August 2007 after serving as a volunteer pro bono attorney for SeniorLAW Center for over a decade and as a SeniorLAW Center Board Member for several years.   Brian coordinates SeniorLAW Center’s services in the areas of family law, custody for grandparents raising grandchildren and other kinship caregivers, and SeniorLAW Center’s Project S.A.F.E. (Stop Abuse and Financial Exploitation), which focuses on elder abuse, domestic violence and financial exploitation. Brian received his B.B.A. from Temple University (1965) and his Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School (1972), where he was chair of The Moot Court Board.  Brian has 35 years of legal experience, practicing law in Pennsylvania in the areas of family law, corporate and real estate law, and estate planning and administration.  He has also been an active volunteer to several other community and public service organizations.   

Bryan Liberona, J.D., Legal Advocate.  Bryan joined SeniorLAW Center in December 2007 as a legal advocate and intake worker.  His duties include conducting initial client interviews, and providing legal advice, information and referrals to seniors who call our telephone intake line.  In addition, he assists with general advocacy and legal work in a variety of different areas including wills, personal planning, utility-related issues and property tax issues.  Bryan is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He worked as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer for a year in New York, NY, where he gained his desire to work in public interest law.

MARCUS LUK, Legal Advocate for Asian Elders.  Marcus Luk joined SeniorLAW Center in November 2000.  Originally from Hong Kong, Marcus is fluent in speaking his native Cantonese, reading and writing Chinese, and conversant in Mandarin.  His bilingual ability and interest in the legal field landed Marcus a career in translation.  He free-lances for various translation agencies in the Delaware Valley to interpret in court and private settings, and translate legal and commercial documents.  His more than 6 years’ experience as an interpreter/translator and possession of a second language has helped SeniorLAW Center to break ground into yet another ethnic sector.  SeniorLAW Center has 2 community-based legal clinics focusing on the needs of Asian elders to improve access to legal services to this underserved community, providing bilingual bicultural services.  SeniorLAW Center’s partners for the Asian Legal Clinics are Nationalities Senior Center at 4837 N. Marvine Street and American Postal Workers House residence at 801 Locust Street.  Marcus is available to meet with clients at both centers; please call 215-238-6390 for an exact date.  SeniorLAW Center is also interested in developing new legal clinic sites to continue to improve services to Asian elders.  Aside from staffing the Asian Legal Clinics and working on individual cases, Marcus also assists in serving as SeniorLAW Center’s liaison to the Asian community, coordinating outreach, education and training efforts, helping to assess needs of Asian elders, translating legal documents, SeniorLAW Center brochures, and community education materials, and promoting SeniorLAW Center services in the Asian community. 

MARGARITA MARTINEZ:  Legal Advocate for Hispanic Elders.  Margarita joined SeniorLAW Center in December 2004.  She is primarily responsible for the provision of legal services to Spanish-speaking clients and the Hispanic community, whose elders often face crises of housing, family violence, abuse and financial exploitation.  Her duties include direct legal representation, community legal education workshops, translation of legal documents and community education materials.  She also staffs the legal clinics at SeniorLAW Center’s Hispanic elderly neighborhood legal clinic sites: the Mann Older Adult Center and Norris Square Senior Center.  Margarita is originally from Colombia, where she obtained her law degree from the University of Santo Tomas de Aquino, Bogotá, in 2000.  She worked as a civil master in the 41^st Court of Common Pleas of the Civil Circuit of Bogotá for two years, and also practiced in the areas of civil and family law and represented the Colombian National Police and their families. She then lived in Spain, where she received her Master of Law from the University of Barcelona, School of Business Administration, in 2002, and worked as an assistant attorney in the legal department of KPMG until 2003.

Jennifer Russell, Legal Intern.  Jennifer joined SeniorLAW Center in September 2009 as an Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow.  Her fellowship project addresses the legal concerns and needs of senior relatives who wish to participate in the care and placement of children in their families who are involved in the Philadelphia child welfare system.  Jennifer’s duties include direct legal representation, community education and outreach, as well as conducting initial client interviews, where she provides legal advice, information and referrals for seniors during telephone and walk-in intake.  Jennifer graduated from Temple University, Beasley School of Law in May 2009.  While a student, Jennifer interned at SeniorLAW Center, and also served as a founding member and President of Temple Alternative Break, a student group dedicated to providing pro bono services to individuals in needy regions of the United States.  A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Jennifer then interned at the United States Mission to the United Nations.  After moving back to Philadelphia, she served the elderly homebound while working at Aid For Friends, and gained her desire to pursue legal advocacy while working for a family law attorney in California.

Elizabeth P. Shay, Esquire, Homeowners Assistance Program Coordinator / Attorney. Beth arrived in Philadelphia in 2007 from Illinois where she had worked as a Staff Attorney for Prairie State Legal Services in Waukegan.  Working primarily with the chronically homeless under a grant from HUD, Beth’s job was to help this population gain housing and become financially independent.  During her ten-year career in public interest law, she represented displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors, veterans and the disabled in a variety of forums including Social Security disability appeals, public housing appeals, special education hearings and domestic violence proceedings. As coordinator of SeniorLAW Center’s Homeowners Assistance Program, Beth is responsible for direct legal representation of homeowners in matters involving probate, deed transfer, wills, home repair contractor fraud and property damage.  She is also responsible for systemic advocacy on legislative initiatives in Philadelphia and Harrisburg which impact SeniorLAW Center clients.   Beth  educates our clients and the agencies that support and advise them on topics including how to safely provide for the passing of title upon death and how to protect seniors from fraud and property damage.    

RAQUEL SMITH, LEGAL ADVOCATE, Pennsylvania SeniorLAW HelpLine.  Raquel joined SeniorLAW Center as a Legal Advocate for the Pennsylvania SeniorLAW HelpLine in September, 2007. Formerly, she served SeniorLAW Center as a paralegal extern from September 2006 to December 2006 and as a volunteer in early 2007. Raquel assists the HelpLine director in addressing the often unmet legal needs of Pennsylvania’s elderly population, serving seniors in each of Pennsylvania 67 counties.  Her duties include conducting initial intake interviews, completing intake forms, maintaining records and databases, making appropriate referrals and providing immediate information as needed, and scheduling appointments for callers to speak with an attorney for legal counseling. She is dedicated to serving our seniors and derives immense satisfaction from her work. Raquel has over 35 years of professional experience as a co-owner of a market research company and Office Manager of a psychological services company.  Raquel earned her degree in Paralegal Studies from Delaware County Community College.

SUE Wasserkrug, ESQUIRE, Pennsylvania HelpLine Supervising Attorney.  Sue Wasserkrug joined SeniorLAW Center’s staff in January 2006 as Supervising Attorney of the Pennsylvania SeniorLAW HelpLine.  Launched in December 2003, the HelpLine is a toll-free statewide service providing legal information, advice and referrals to Pennsylvania elders.  Sue began her public interest career in Philadelphia as the Public Interest Coordinator of the Philadelphia Bar Association, where she managed and facilitated the work of the many local legal services organizations.  As a result, she has extensive knowledge of both the legal issues that face Philadelphia’s low-income population and the many efforts underway to address those issues.  Prior to coming to SeniorLAW Center, Sue worked as Director of Policy at the People’s Emergency Center, a social services agency for homeless women, children and teens in West Philadelphia.  Before that, she was a staff attorney at the Homeless Advocacy Project, where she coordinated a project providing legal services to homeless women and children in Philadelphia.  Sue graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1998.  During law school, she interned with the Legal Services Corporation of Iowa and the Legal Department of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, and she founded a volunteer immigration project in which law students provided representation for asylum seekers in Harlingen, Texas.  Sue received her B.A. from Oberlin College and has two masters degrees, one in anthropology and one in journalism, both from the University of Arizona.

JENI WRIGHT, ESQUIRE, Legal Advocate for Consumer and Tenants’ Rights.  Jeni joined SeniorLAW Center in September 2006 as an Independence Foundation Fellow. Her fellowship project focused on assisting elderly tenants of public and private housing who faced eviction and/or unsafe condition. She now serves as Legal Advocate for Consumer and Tenants’ Rights, assisting Michele Cohen with the representation of elderly tenants and consumers, volunteer training and recruitment, and outreach and education in these areas. Her duties also include conducting initial client interviews and providing legal advice, information and referrals for the seniors who come to the office for walk-in intake.  She also staffs the legal clinics at SeniorLAW Center’s neighborhood legal clinic sites at Haddington Senior Center. In 2006, Jeni earned her law degree from the City University of New York, the only law school in the nation with the mission of producing public interest attorneys. During law school, she interned at the Harlem Regional Office of the Attorney General and participated in her school’s Battered Women’s Rights Clinic. She is a 1998 graduate of The George Washington University.

Lillian F. Youman, MSW.  Social Work Volunteer.  Lillian joined SeniorLAW Center as a volunteer in February 2007, after retiring from almost 45 years of employment as a social worker. For 25 years, she provided supervisory and psychotherapy services in mental health settings; she then became the director of the Information and Referral Service of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, where she supervised staff and volunteers, and provided counseling, advocacy and referral services. At SeniorLAW Center, Lillian provides support to the attorneys and advocates by obtaining information from clients prior to their meeting with an attorney, and assisting with social work needs and referrals to social agencies and other supportive services.  A graduate of Swarthmore College, she received her Masters degree in Social Work from Columbia University.