Hugs are not usually part of the deal at most law firms, but at Berg and Associates, an all-woman firm specializing in elder law, they are needed and welcomed by the clientele. Daily Record staff writer Michele Newbern Gillis met recently with the firm’s president, Rebecca Berg, to learn the story behind the hugs.
ALL WOMEN?
“It’s different. I don’t think there any other all-women firms locally of this size, given the comments from judges and other attorneys. I think we are it. We didn’t start out thinking that, it just happened that the best-qualified are those that are here. We have such respect for each other and probably have the smoothest running firm in town.”
HOLISTIC APPROACH?
Berg described elder law as a holistic approach to the law. “When we take on a client, we look at more than just their will and where their stuff goes when they die. We care about that, but that is not the focus. The focus is them. The focus is, What is their life like now? How can we help them make it better? How do they pay for long-term care if they need it? Do they need assistance in their home and how can we plug them into the resources in the community that provide that? We look at their tax issues, insurance policies and review deeds. We do guardianship issues, we do a lot of guardianship work here. It really is a holistic approach.”
DO YOU ONLY WORK
WITH THE ELDERLY?
“Our focus is the elderly, but we may work with the children of the elderly or the brothers and sisters of the elderly. In addition to the elderly, it is so closely tied in to the disabled community that we do a lot of disabled work as well.”
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT WORKING WITH THE ELDERLY?
“Because it is holistic, we don’t just look at their assets if we are doing tax planning. We talk about their family and how the family works or doesn’t work. We have to look at everything. Our goal is to make sure that the client has made the best decision for him or herself that will have a positive impact on their life. We don’t look to see what is best for the client’s child, we look to see what is best for the client.”
WHO MAKES UP THE FIRM?
Berg and three associates, Ailish O’Connor, Vicki Bowers and Louise Stanton Warren. Also, there is an office manager, business manager, law clerk, four paralegals, three administrative assistants, a part-time clerical person and a receptionist/scheduler. There are no partners in the firm, but that may change in the future. And with that change will come a name change for the firm.
TEAM APPROACH
They have annual retreats out-of-town which everyone attends. “We developed our mission statement and guiding principles all together, not just the attorneys. We do it together. There is not one of us more important than the other when it comes to providing service to the clients. We have a team approach where we have staff meetings once a week to discuss the cases.” She said they do that so that everyone in the firm can hear the client’s name and relate to them if they call. “They are not strangers, they are people.”
A PICTURE IS WORTH
A THOUSAND WORDS
An interesting thing they do is that they take photographs of their clients. “There are a couple of reasons that we do that. One reason is that when we open a file, I want everyone in this office to remember that we are working for people, not paper.” The other reason she said is that it helps them to remember the client by face as well as by name. Also, if they haven’t seen the client in a year or two, they will take another picture and can see any progression or changes in the appearance of the client.
ADDING THAT PERSONAL TOUCH
“Another thing that we do different, and it’s not so much of a women thing as it is an elder law thing, is that we have a couple of wheelchairs and blankets around the office. We want clients to feel comfortable. I had a woman in here the other day when it had been raining. She was soaking wet and so cold she could barely talk, so I wrapped her up in a blanket. It’s the personal touches that really make a difference for us and for them.”
HUGGING?
“We do a lot of hugging. What I personally have found, especially with the older men, is that often times they have not been touched in a long time, in any way. And, if they are the primary caregiver, I give them my caregiver 101 lecture. I ask them what they are doing to take care of themselves, because if they get sick who will take care of their spouse? Generally, that is the first time anyone has ask them about them and if I hug them, the tears just start falling. And that’s good for them. They need to know we really do care about them. In many cases, I worry more about the caregiver, than I do about the person who is ill because the person that is ill, is always going to get cared for. But, the caregiver rarely gets cared for.”
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND
In addition to overseeing the day to day activities of her firm, Berg will take over as chairperson of the Elder Law Section of The Florida Bar in June. She also does a lot of public speaking and is on a number of charitable boards in Jacksonville.
EXPAND YOUR MIND
“I am a firm believer in continuing education for everybody, including the paralegals, attorneys and clerical staff. I want the paralegals to go to seminars and learn more.”
HOW ARE THE PARALEGALS DIFFERENT THAN IN OTHER FIRMS?
The paralegals at the firm specialize in different areas. “I have one paralegal who specializes in probate matters, two paralegals that specialize in long term care planning and the other specializes in primarily Medicaid issues. I have been looking for the longest time for a paralegal to do guardianship work and a paralegal to do estate planning. The paralegals become very familiar with those areas. They really take hold of the client’s hand and walk them through the process. For us it works and the clients really like it because they can’t always reach us [the attorneys] and they need to reach somebody. They need to get answers to their questions.”
HOW LONG HAS
THE FIRM BEEN OPEN?
Since 1997. Berg has only hired one new associate since she opened the firm, but said she is considering expanding the firm. “The work is certainly there and the clients are there.”
INTERESTING
INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUE
Whenever anyone is interviewed for any position in the firm, they are interviewed by everyone in the firm, not just Berg. “Everybody interviews, because we are not that large of a firm and we work so closely together that it may be that the rest of the staff may see something in this person that I don’t see.”
WHERE DO YOUR
CLIENTS COME FROM?
“Primarily, they find us from referrals from other clients and attorneys. Often times nursing homes and hospital social workers send them to us. A wide range of professionals send them to us.”
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
The firm is involved in Hubbard House, Grove House and participates in the Port of Jacksonville Pilot Club’s cemetery walking tour in October.