Read the full article at SMU here.

Congratulations to Heather McKinney, class of 2015, for receiving the Equal Justice Works Fellowship. She will work at Legal Aid of North West Texas for the next two years to address the gap in civil legal services for victims of elder abuse and exploitation, with a special emphasis on serving rural communities.

The Elder Justice Program has placed 22 Fellows across the country at legal services organizations for a two-year term, where they work with victims of elder abuse and exploitation to enforce their rights and address wide-ranging civil legal issues, such as financial exploitation, housing, protection orders, guardianship, and public benefits, and make referrals to other supportive services.

Heather McKinney Fellowship Information

Sponsored by: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime
Service Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Issue Area: Elder Abuse
Fellowship Class Year: 2020
Program: Elder Justice Program

The Fellowship

The primary issues of focus her fellowship will be physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, financial exploitation, multiple forms of abuse, cognitive impairment, and physical disability. Heather’s project will create an organized, community-based response aimed at protecting the elder population from scams, exploitation, and other legal issues facing that community.
Heather’s advocacy interest in protecting the elder population springs from her personal, familial experience assisting older family members as well as from her prior career experience. Heather began her professional career advising clients as an Investment Advisor, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Lindus Advisors, Inc. where she saw firsthand the devastating impact of financial exploitation when the firm assisted senior clients in recovering after victimization. Heather also worked as a solo practicing attorney, providing legal hospice services to seniors and terminally ill clients.
She then worked as a private equity associate at Weil, Gotshal and Manges, where she had the opportunity to work with the firm’s impressive roster of pro bono clients. That rewarding experience led her to now make it her career’s mission to provide high-quality legal services to low-income individuals in the vulnerable senior population.

The Project

Heather’s project is designed to provide high-quality legal representation to victims of elder abuse and exploitation; enforce victims’ rights; address wide-ranging civil legal issues such as financial exploitation, housing, protection orders, guardianship, and public benefits; and make referrals to other supportive services.

She will also be conducting community education and outreach to foster an organized, community-based response to instances of senior abuse and exploitation. If you or your organization could benefit from a presentation on any aspect of recovery from senior abuse or exploitation, please reach out to Heather at mckinneyh@lanwt.org.

Read more about Heather McKinney.

Read more about the Class of 2020 Equal Justice Works Elder Justice Program.