Current Employment Position(s)

Associate

Lawyer Overview

While in law school, Ms. Shafer clerked for Chief Administrative Law Judge Joseph Davidson, of the Social Security Administration's Elkins Park Office concentrating on Medicare and disability adjudication.

With over 20 years of experience in healthcare settings, Ms. Shafer brings to her practice of law extensive knowledge of long term care and geriatric physical and mental health. Her private Marriage and Family Counseling practice focused on mediation and negotiated agreements, providing a basis for her work today in Elder Mediation, Medicaid and Disability Planning. Additionally, Ms. Shafer worked for the office of the New Jersey Commissioner of Health & Human Services focusing on funding and policy legislation for mental health, Medicaid, Medicare and Family Support Programs. She is a member of the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators.

Her teaching credentials include geriatric care-giver seminars and clinical in-service development for long term care providers as well as a Masters-level course entitled, "Legal Issues in Health Care" for St. Francis University of Joliet, Illinois at a location in the Lehigh Valley.  She has also taught for the Pennsylvannia Bar Institute's Elder Law Institute and Estate Law Institute.

An active member of her community, Ms. Shafer serves on the Foundation Board of a local hospital and serves on the Ethics Committee.  She also Co-Chairs the Ethics Committee of an area retirement community.

Ms. Shafer is a member of the Pennsylvania, Montgomery County and American Bar Associations, and a member of the Montgomery County Elder Law Section and the Health Law Section of the ABA.

On July 23 and 24, 2009 Jacqueline Shafer presented on the Medicaid application process at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Twelfth Annual Elder Law Institute in Harrisburg, PA.  The Institute is attended by more than 500 Elder Law Attorneys and paralegal professionals.  She reprised this lecture with co-presenter, Julian Gray, Esquire at another PBI event that focused solely on the Medical Assistance Application process in Philadelphia in early August. 

Mrs. Shafer also recently authored and presented on the topic of Elder Abuse to an audience of 50 nursing and ancillary healthcare professionals in mid October at the Atria Assisted Living facility in downtown Philadelphia.  All three seminars gave attendees professional CLE or CEU credits for their participation.

Areas of Practice

• Elder Law; Medicaid Planning
• Health Law; Long Term Care Dispute Resolution
• Elder Mediation
• Disability Planning & Guardianships
• Estate Planning and Administration

West Practice Categories

Elder Law, Health & Health Care Law, Mediation

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 2006
• New Jersey, 2005

Professional Associations and Memberships

• New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (Member)
• Pennsylvania Bar Association (Member)
• Montgomery County Bar Association (Member)
• American Bar Association
• Montgomery Bar Association's Elder Law Section and Health Law Section of the ABA (Member)

Past Employment Positions

• Peter Becker Community (Continuing Care Retirement Community), Vice President, Marketing & Development; Director of Resident Support Services (a social work position)
• New Jersey Department of Health & Human Services; Policy Analyst for Intergovernmental Affairs Division
• Marriage & Family counseling practice
• Information Media: print and broadcast positions in both sales advertising and on-air production

Education

• Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, Delaware, 2005
  Juris Doctor
• Rutgers University, 1988
  Master of Social Work
• Cedar Crest college, 1987
  BA - Psychology; BSW (social work)
  Honors: magna cum laude
  Honors: Stone Award for Community Involvement

Published Works

• Advance Directives and Act 169, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Spring, 2007
• Guardianships 101: Practical Advice for the Beginning Practitioner, Pennsyvlania Bar Institute, Fall/Winter, 2007
• Understanding and Working With Long Term Care Facilities: What You Really Need To Know, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Elder Law Section Newsletter, Spring, 2008
• Assisted Living Contracts: What every practitioner needs to know., Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Summer, 2008

Address

40 East Airy Street
Norristown, PA 19404

Phones

610-275-0700

Faxes

610-275-5290

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.highswartz.com