October 16, 2018
Contact: Abby Matienzo, Communications Manager
703-942-5711 #230
NAELA Announces 2018 Charles P. Sabatino Excellence in Public Policy Award Recipients
Washington, DC — The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) named René H. Reixach, Jr., and Ron M. Landsman, Esq., CAP, as the recipients of the 2018 Charles P. Sabatino Excellence in Public Policy Award for their outstanding achievement and dedication to litigation on behalf of older adults and persons with disabilities.
Reixach is a Partner at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP in Rochester, NY, leading the firm's Elder Law and Health Care Practice Group. He is a NAELA Fellow and recipient of the Theresa Award. He has litigated about 100 Medicaid eligibility cases over a 40-year career, including one case in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as cases in the First, Second, Third, Sixth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and numerous federal district courts and state courts. Reixach’s achievements on litigating on behalf of older adults and persons with disabilities include Matter of Shah, 95 NY2d 148 (2000) (amicus brief filed on behalf of NAELA in conjunction with NAELA member A. Frank Johns, CELA, CAP); Morenz v. Wilson-Coker, 415 F.3d 230 (2d Cir. 2005); and Lopes v. Dep’t of Social Servs., 696 F.3d 180 (2d Cir. 2012).
Reixach chaired NAELA’s Litigation Committee from 2012 to 2016. He has also served on the New York NAELA Chapter’s Board of Directors and as the Chapter’s Treasurer. He participates actively on NAELA’s Public Policy Steering Committee.
Landsman is a founding member and Fellow of NAELA. He co-founded and is a former president of the First Maryland Disability Trust, a pooled special needs trust. He practices law in Rockville, MD, having established in 1983 one of the first elder law firms in the country. He has filed briefs on behalf of NAELA in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits and has filed briefs or appeared on elder law and special needs trust issues in the highest or second highest appeals courts of Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, and New Jersey. Among his favorite successes are Saccone v. Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System, 219 N.J. 369, 98 A.3d 1158 (2014); and DeCambre v. Brookline Housing Authority, 826 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2016).
He is now Chair of NAELA’s Litigation Committee and serves ex officio on the NAELA Foundation Board of Directors.
Learn more about NAELA’s advocacy and public policy efforts.
About NAELA
Members of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) are attorneys who are experienced and trained in working with the legal problems of aging Americans and individuals of all ages with disabilities. Upon joining, NAELA member attorneys agree to adhere to the NAELA Aspirational Standards. Established in 1987, NAELA is a non-profit association that assists lawyers, bar organizations, and others. The mission of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys is educate, inspire, serve, and provide community to attorneys with practices in elder and special needs law. NAELA currently has members across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NAELA.org, or to locate a NAELA member attorney in your area, visit NAELA.org/FindLawyer.
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