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Jay J. Sangerman, PLLC
Attorneys at law
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JAY J. SANGERMAN, PLLC is a boutique law firm which focuses its practice areas in the development of supplemental needs trusts in medical malpractice and personal injury matters. As part of our services, we assist in the over-all planning for the placement of settlement proceeds, case settlement and document drafting for case settlement, including the drafting of infant compromise orders, parents affidavits and attorney affirmations. We also review and assist in the drafting of settlement agreements. We offer guardianship services and Medicaid planning as they relate to case settlement. We also offer general estate planning and estate administration services.
Mr. Sangerman began the firm in 1990, when he left Fried Frank Harris Shriver and Jacobson, where he worked on complex litigation matters, as well as in estate litigation. Mr. Sangerman began the firm as an Elder Law and Trusts and Estates Practice. By the end of 1991, the firm evolved into estate planning with the use of supplemental needs trusts. In New York and in New Jersey, Mr. Sangerman obtained approval for the creation of supplemental (special) needs trusts for the placement of medical malpractice and personal injury matters. In 1993, when Congress codified the law on the creation of supplemental needs trusts, Mr. Sangerman’s practice in supplemental needs trusts developed much further. It was at that time that Mr. Sangerman assisted with planning for the placement of settlement proceeds with structured settlement annuities and upfront cash. Due to the large growth in the firm’s practice area in the drafting of supplemental needs trusts and related planning, the firm, which had been a boutique practice, further focused its practice areas to those related to supplemental needs trusts, case settlement and trusts and estates.
Mr. Sangerman has a national reputation in use of supplemental needs trusts in case settlement and discusses the use of such trusts with national and regional regulatory agencies. Recently, Mr. Sangerman has clarified the Social Security and Medicaid rules in regards to the payment of structured settlement annuities into supplemental needs trusts.
JAY J. SANGERMAN, PLLC is listed in The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers published by Martindale-Hubbell. We serve as consultant to medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys, as well as to insurance companies, in the settlement of personal injury and medical malpractice actions with the use of Supplemental Needs Trusts. We also assist with the settlement of Medicaid claims. The firm performs fiduciary accountings for bank trust departments, executors, trustees and guardians. Our clients include individuals, hospitals and nursing homes, banks and stock brokerage companies, insurance companies and attorneys, especially personal injury attorneys who retain us for assistance in settling their tort actions and maximizing the settlement or awards for their clients. The firm practices law in New York, Florida and New Jersey.
Jay J. Sangerman, Esq. speaks extensively on issues pertaining to (special) supplemental needs trusts and case settlement. His audiences include bar, judicial and trade associations, as well as hospital, medical and social work staffs, and various social, educational, professional and philanthropic groups. Mr. Sangerman's articles have been published by the Practicing Law Institute, the New York State Bar Association, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the CPA/Law Forum and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. His hospital discharge article is cited in 42 U.S.C.A §1395x. Among the articles written by Mr. Sangerman are the following: "Supplemental Needs Trusts for the Settlement of Tort Claims, Estate Planning and Protection of Inheritances: A Nuts and Bolts Analysis," One On One, NYSBA, Summer, 1998. Co-author: "The Attorney's Role in the Hospital Discharge Planning Process for the Elderly," NYSBJ, February, 1993; “First-Party Supplemental Needs Trusts,” NYLJ, June 2, 2003, Outside Counsel; “Placement of Settlement Proceeds in Tort Matters,” 2003 and 2004 Fall editions for New York State Trial Lawyers publication, Bill of Particulars, articles on placement of award funds; “Supplemental Needs Trusts: The Second Decade,” NYLJ, July 26, 2004, Ethical Considerations for Elder Law Attorneys," Practicing Law Institute, 1992 (Estate and Financial Planning for the Aging and Incapacitated); "Medicaid Planning: Some Thoughts on Elder Law," CPA/Law Forum, April, 1993; "The Jewish Perspective on Death and Dying: A Multifaceted Response," Pride Institute, Spring, 1993; "Medicaid Planning," One On One, NYSBA, Summer, 1993; "Ethical Issues in Elder Law," NYSBJ, Sept. 1993; "The Guardianship Process: The Attorney's Perspective," NYS Psych. Assoc., May, 1995; "Legal Planning for the Person With Alzheimer's Disease," Chapter in Alzheimer's Disease: Questions and Answers, Merit Publishing, 1997;
Jay J. Sangerman, PLLC has successfully argued landmark cases in elder law and estate planning and has been responsible for changes in the law, e.g., Cano v. Shmonie Corp., which is one of the few decisions pertaining to the drafting provisions of the supplemental needs trusts, In re Klapper, in which the Court permitted the transfer of an incapacitated person's assets by Court order; In re Sutton, in which the Surrogate's Court authorized a Supplemental Needs Trust for a minor where it was unclear what the minor's future medical needs would be; In re McCullough, in which the Surrogate's Court permitted the late renunciation by a guardian of an incapacitated individual's interest in an estate and the reversal of the deed to real property which had been previously transferred; The Commissioner of the Department of Social Services of the City of New York v. Fishman, in which an action against a community spouse for Medicaid paid for the institutionalized spouse was dismissed by the lower court for reasons that Medicaid failed to properly plead the case. The lower court decision was reversed upon appeal, but the appellate court stated that a cause of action required that DSS plead that the community spouse have both sufficient income and sufficient resources, and resources alone is insufficient to maintain a lawsuit. The firm has also successfully changed both federal and state Medicaid laws relating to the exemption of Holocaust Reparations; and In the Matter of the Appointment of a Guardian of the Person and Property of Claire Spingarn, an Alleged Incapacitated Person, in which we represented the alleged incapacitated person to avoid the appointment of petitioner as guardian. This case is a landmark case pertaining to the award of attorney's fees in a guardianship matter. Jay J. Sangerman’s law practice is cited in a major federal court case pertaining to the rights of the disabled. Click here to review the case.
Among Mr. Sangerman's professional memberships are the Supreme Court Committee of the New York County Bar Association, New York State Bar Association Section on Trusts and Estates, the Association of the City of New York, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, New York State Trial Lawyers Association and National Structured Settlement Trade Association. Mr. Sangerman is a founding member of the Elder Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, served on its board and was Chair of the Elder Law Section Committee on Practice and Ethics. Mr. Sangerman is a past Trustee of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, Inc. and the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health and a Fellow of the Brookdale Center on Aging.
Mr. Sangerman graduated cum laude from Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was a member of Law Review, and an Alexander Fellow which provided him the opportunity to be a full-time student clerk to Chief Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York. Upon graduation, Mr. Sangerman worked for Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where he handled complex litigation matters. Before attending law school, Mr. Sangerman was a practicing Reform Rabbi. Mr. Sangerman was ordained in 1971 from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Sangerman earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from the University of Illinois in 1968. Mr. Sangerman is admitted to practice in New York, Florida and New Jersey.
Jay J. Sangerman, PLLC in Independent.
We are not associated with the “Special Needs Alliance”
or
“The Academy of Special Needs Planners.”
Making an Appointment at Jay J. Sangerman, PLLC
JAY J. SANGERMAN, ESQ.
Jay J. Sangerman, PLLC
171 84th Street - Unit 21B
New York, New York 10028
Telephone (212) 922-0711
Facsimile (212) 439-0056
4115 NW 60th Circle
Boca Raton, Florida 33496
561-989-9095