Meet SJ Chapman

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my guiding philosophy is that I’ve been

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there so a lot of the work that I do

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with elder law actually comes from my

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experience of having parents who

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themselves need elder law assistance so

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my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in

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2012 and so we knew at that point that

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he was eventually going to need

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long-term care we were able to work with

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him to create a Medicaid asset

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protection trust so that we could

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protect what my parents had spent a life

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building to really give them peace of

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mind that when my dad eventually needed

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long-term care that they wouldn’t need

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to spend all of their assets to get that

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for him now when someone is diagnosed

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with an ailment such as Parkinson’s

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there’s a lot of family stress there’s a

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lot of uncertainty and worry that comes

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along with that so I personally have

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been there myself so my guiding

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principle when I’m practicing is that

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I’ve been there I bring empathy to my

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practice and I really am able to give my

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clients Peace of Mind based on my own

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personal experience with the same life

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experiences that they’re going through

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foreign

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giving back to the community has always

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been very important to me I recently

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traveled to Africa with lawyers Without

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Borders to teach prosecutors immigration

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officers and judges how to arrest and

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put on cases and try cases under a new

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anti-human trafficking act that had been

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passed in Tanzania

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so that really has taken me to some

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great places

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on that trip I actually got to be

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personally introduced to Justice Sonia

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Sotomayor so I know that the work that

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I’m doing outside of the firm is also

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having a big impact on communities

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whether they are Global communities or

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local communities I also like to spend

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my holidays volunteering at food banks I

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prefer food banks that are local so in

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Chicago I like to volunteer at Rogers

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Park food banks and in New York City I

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like to volunteer at local food banks in

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in and around Brooklyn