New York Bar Foundation Board of Directors Elects Karen L. Nicolson, Esq. as Distinguished Fellow

Contact: Kelly Barrett Sarama, Esq.

Title: Director of Development & Communications

Tel: (716) 853-3087 x229

Email: ksarama@elderjusticeny.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - Karen L. Nicolson, Esq, CEO of the Center for Elder Law & Justice, received word on February 1, 2023, that she had been elected to a role reserved for extraordinary members of the NYS Bar Association.

Fellows are nominated by peers and recognized for distinguished achievement, dedication to the legal profession, and commitment to the organized bar and service to the public. "Being a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation is an honor," states Chair of the Fellows, James R. Barnes. "Fellows represent one percent of the New York State Bar Association membership. Being nominated and elected is a notable achievement."

Fellows help guide the charitable giving of the Foundation, and, according to the Bar Foundation website, "acknowledge that the practice of law is a helping profession with enhanced obligations of service to the community and the profession."

Said Nicolson, "I'm grateful to the Bar Foundation to be considered worthy of such a distinction as Fellow. As CEO of the Center for Elder Law & Justice, where our goal is to use the legal system to allow our clients to live independently and with dignity, I find the call for Fellows to use the practice of law to help and serve the community and profession, especially resonate. I'm excited to lend my efforts to furthering that noble pursuit."

Nicolson serves on the stakeholder advisory committee of New York State's Master Plan for Aging Council. She also serves on the NYS Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Aid, the President’s Committee on Access to Justice and co-chairs the Live Well Erie County Task Force, Older Adults Subcommittee. She is a member of the Health Foundation of Western New York’s 8th cohort of Health Leadership Fellows and was recently nominated as a finalist for the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Cause Award. Read more about Nicolson’s dynamic contributions to community aging matters on CELJ’s website.

As Foundation ambassadors, Fellows exemplify the spirit of caring and sharing by demonstrating their belief that the practice of law is a helping profession. For more information regarding the Fellows or The New York Bar Foundation visit www.tnybf.org.

###

At CELJ (pronounced CELL-JAY) (Center for Elder Law & Justice), we advocate for justice at all stages of life to ensure that our clients may live independently and with dignity. Since 1978, our team of lawyers, paralegals, and social workers has provided comprehensive free legal services to the WNY community’s older adults, individuals with disabilities, and financially eligible population. We serve as guardian for court-appointed older adults and people with disabilities, most of whom experienced abuse in the past. We are a trustee for WNY Coalition Pooled Trusts, which takes individuals out of the cycle of poverty, by allowing them to live in the community and maintain a comfortable quality of life. CELJ’s main office is located in Buffalo, New York, and we have satellite offices in Niagara and Chautauqua counties, as well as medical-legal partnerships at Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo General Medical Center, and John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.