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Jennifer B. Cona, Esq., managing partner of Cona Elder Law, Melville, was voted by legal professionals as the top trusts and estates attorney on Long Island in 2015.
Considered to have outstanding expertise and practices, Ms. Cona’s recognition is included in The Top 10 Legal Eagles list in the March issue of LI Pulse. For the peer review process, professionals in all areas of the law were invited to nominate their peers whose expertise and practices were so outstanding, they could be considered the best. According to LI Pulse, this list serves as a reference for those who are seeking the best legal counsel on LI.
Ms. Cona’s practice focuses on asset protection, Medicaid planning, estate planning and litigation, probate and administration of estates, special needs planning, Veterans benefits, guardianships and healthcare reimbursement and recovery.
“Out of all of the practicing attorneys on Long Island, it is an incredible honor to be named one of the Top 10. I am proud to be recognized as the leading L.I. elder law, trusts and estates attorney along with an esteemed group of colleagues in other practice areas,” says Ms. Cona. “Many of our cutting edge cases and decisions have changed and continue to change the elder law landscape.”
In her “death before determination” case, Ms. Cona changed the way Medicaid home care determinations are rendered. When a 94-year old diabetic, legally blind and deaf client applied for Medicaid to get funding for a home health aide after his own funds were exhausted, the review process took so long that the man died before the benefits were approved. Ms. Cona proved that his care plan and daily services were a de facto nursing assessment in accordance with state regulations. The tribunal ruled in her favor and established the amount of care that should have been authorized by the agency and directed Medicaid to pay for the home health care. The client’s estate and his family were absolved of responsibility for the home health agency’s bill. This decision has been relied upon in numerous subsequent cases, sparing many families from responsibility for health care bills they could not afford resulting from state agency delay.
As a client advocate, Ms. Cona has successfully argued against healthcare budget cuts affecting the elderly and works to secure and ensure a payment source for long term health care, working together with both families and health care facilities to sustain quality care for seniors.
Ms. Cona is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for her business acumen and commitment to the community. Ms. Cona earned the Leadership in Law award, the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Business award and the 40 Under 40 Rising Stars on Long Island award from Long Island Business News. Ms. Cona has been honored by Touro Law School with the “Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney” award for her legal services provided to a severely disabled woman. Ms. Cona serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation (“LIAF”) and the Corporate Leadership Committee of Mom-mentum, a working mothers advocacy organization. She is the founder and chair of the Advanced Elder Law Focus Group, an industry think-tank. Ms. Cona is a New York State Certified Guardian, Court Evaluator and Counsel to incapacitated persons and is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the preparation, presentation and prosecution of claims for Veterans benefits.
A frequent author and lecturer, Ms. Cona has appeared as a guest on WNBC-TV, WABC-TV, CNN, WLNY TV and News 12 LI. She has also been featured in many publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsday, The New York Law Journal, Long Island Business News, Kiplinger’s and Reader’s Digest.
Cona Elder Law is recognized as a leading elder law and estate planning firm on Long Island. The firm was ranked the #1 Elder Law firm by Long Island Business News for four consecutive years and was a finalist in the 2014 HIA Business Achievement Awards.
