The ninth annual Senior Law Day drew more than 650 Denver-area senior citizens June 2. Participants met with more than 30 area attorneys, DU Sturm College of Law professors and scores of volunteers.
The event featured hours of free seminars in topics critical to seniors, such as Social Security, wills and trusts, estate planning, housing and computer skills.
Jean Long, who worked at DU for 17 years, retired last year as assistant to the director of Sturm’s Institute for Advanced Legal Studies. She continues to work with the Senior Law Day program she helped shepherd from the start.
“This is a gap in elder education,” Long says. “There isn’t anywhere that a senior citizen can go and get this much information from the experts.”
Long says many seniors are too intimidated to ask an attorney questions about areas that are becoming important to them as they age. They are either afraid of the cost or worry about being taken advantage of, Long says.
The program, sponsored by DU, the Colorado Bar Association, the AARP and local businesses, introduces seniors to complicated issues in an easy-to-understand way and shows seniors how to navigate the system.
James Reardon, 78, a retired accountant, said he attended because he was interested in a variety of issues.
“I’ve look into some of the issues, like wills and trusts and living wills, but I haven’t looked as deeply as I wanted,” he said after a seminar on identity theft and security. “There are so many issues, like when does a person reach a level where they are not able to make important decisions for themselves.”